Former Golden Ocean chief executive Birgitte Ringstad Vartdal has been named as the new CEO of Norway’s largest utility Statkraft, succeeding Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.
Vartdal was promoted from the role of executive vice president for the Nordics at Statkraft and will assume her new role as CEO on April 1, 2024. Tønnesen, the previous CEO of the company, decided to step down after 14 years in the role.
Before leading Statkraft’s largest business area, the Nordics, for the past two years, she headed the European wind and solar business area at the company. Vartdal has previously been a board member at Yara and Mowi, and a member of the corporate assembly at Equinor. She currently serves on the board of Renewable Norway and several of Statkraft’s subsidiaries.
Prior to joining Statkraft, she was the part of dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean. Her career in the shipping company started in 2010 as CFO and after six years she took over as CEO. She left the company in late 2019 after nearly four years as the head of the company.
“The board is very pleased that Birgitte has accepted the position as CEO of Statkraft. It is a strength that we are appointing a new CEO from within our own ranks, who knows the company, the organisation, and our key stakeholders well,” said Alexandra Bech Gjørv, chair of Statkraft’s board of directors.
In a social media post, Vartdal stated that she was very humbled to be given the responsibility of leading Statkraft.
“Statkraft is well positioned with great opportunities to contribute to the green shift in Norway, Europe, and on an international level. We will continue to contribute as Norway’s largest power producer and be the industry’s most important partner by offering stable, green energy at competitive prices in the markets we operate,” she added.
