Bombardier Exec to Join Ørsted as COO

Denmark-based offshore wind developer Ørsted has named Richard Hunter as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) and new member of the Executive Committee of Ørsted as of June 1, 2021. 

Hunter joins Ørsted from a position as President of Rail Control Solutions and Wayside in Bombardier Transportation.

The position of COO is new, following a decision announced earlier this year to reorganize Ørsted to position for future growth. 

As COO, Hunter will head Ørsted’s EPC & Operations for all of Ørsted except the Onshore business, which is organized in a separate business unit. 

EPC & Operations is Ørsted’s EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) provider and operator of offshore wind farms as well as combined heat and power plants. The EPC organization manages multiple large-scale offshore construction projects in parallel across the globe, while the Operations organization manages 28 offshore wind farms in operation that supply carbon-free power to more than 18 million people worldwide as well as combined heat and power plants delivering green power and district heating in Denmark, Ørsted said.

"Richard Hunter has had a long career as executive leader within engineering, manufacturing, and operations in the global and UK-based railway industry, and, until recently, he was President of Bombardier Transportation’s global Rail Control Solutions and Wayside business. During his 17 years with Bombardier, Richard Hunter has held executive positions within engineering, manufacturing, and operations in Europe and Asia-Pacific, and he has led projects and product supply in more than 50 countries," Ørsted added.

Mads Nipper, CEO and Group President, says: "I’m truly excited to see Richard join the Executive Committee as our COO.  Richard is a world-class executive and has the right set of skills to continue the development of EPC & Operations as a crucial part of our actions to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. Richard has a  strong technical foundation in engineering, he has impressive  international experience leading manufacturing, operations, and development across the globe, and last but not least, Richard has  proven himself to have a strong commercial mindset delivering high value to the business and customers.” 

Hunter will be based in Gentofte in Denmark and work on a regular basis from Ørsted’s London office as well as from other locations worldwide.

He said: "I really look forward to joining the team at Ørsted. Having worked for many years in businesses delivering the  most environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of transportation, I’m honored to take this role with one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world with a clear ambition to be a leader in the global energy transformation.”