Newsletter - Special Edition

Change in the management of VGB PowerTech e.V.

• With effect from 1 April 2018, Dr Oliver Then takes over the management of VGB PowerTech as successor to Erland Christensen
• VGB PowerTech stands for technical and economic optimization to face the challenges of digitization and the energy transition

The Board of Directors of VGB PowerTech e.V. has appointed Dr Oliver Then new Executive Managing Director of the international technical association VGB PowerTech e.V. and its commercial arm VGB PowerTech Service GmbH. Then (51) will take on the executive management role at the Essen-based international association for the generation and storage of power and heat on April 1, 2018. Erland Christensen, Executive Managing Director of VGB since July 2011, will be leaving at his own request after leading VGB together with Oliver Then for a transition period until the end of June 2018.

Dr. Oliver Then

Dr Oliver Then is a recognized expert in power generation. After studying and obtaining his doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) with a focus on energy technology at the Ruhr University in Bochum and RWTH Aachen University, he began his professional career as a trainee and power plant engineer at RWE Energie AG at the Huckingen and Karnap power plants. As a senior project engineer and project manager, he then worked internationally for RWE Power AG and RWE Technology GmbH, with responsibility for technology in new-build projects. Since October 2013, Dr Then has headed the “Power Plant and Environmental Technologies” office of VGB PowerTech e.V. In this field, he also represents the association on national committees of DIN, VDI and BDEW and internationally at EURELECTRIC and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Dr. Hans Bünting, Chairman of the Board of Directors of VGB PowerTech e.V.: “With Dr Oliver Then we have gained an expert for the management of our association. His outstanding expertise in all fields of power generation and his deep understanding of the energy market and its players are his distinguishing features. I would also like to thank Erland Christensen for his outstanding service over the past seven years. Together with the VGB team, he has laid a very good foundation for the future of the association. Building on that basis, VGB together with Oliver Then will continue to strengthen its role as the technical competence centre of the power industry. It is our declared objective as an association to support our members in the operational area and in strategic questions and to be their contact and link for international contacts and world-wide exchange of experience and knowledge concerning the generation and storage of electricity and heat exchange.”

Oliver Then: “I am looking forward to the task of supporting our member companies in their work together with the staff members of VGB. VGB is not only a link for the exchange of know-how, but also a platform and coordinator for safe and efficient and thus cost-optimized power generation technologies. Our focus is technology-neutral. To put it in a nutshell: VGB brings renewable-based and conventional power generation together to jointly face, in the best possible way, the changes brought about by digitization and the energy transition.”

The duties of the Executive Managing Director of VGB PowerTech e.V. also comprise the Managing Director role at VGB PowerTech Service GmbH and the VGB Forschungsstiftung. VGB Power-Tech Service GmbH makes its expert knowledge available by providing technical services to the industry, organizes conferences and other events, and publishes VGB Standards and the international trade journal VGB POWERTECH.