CEO, Aker Offshore Wind

Biography

Philippe Kavafyan started his career in 1990 with EDF International before joining General Electric in 1993. He held positions in Manufacturing and Technology in GE Medical Systems, moving to sales in 1997 within GE Oil & Gas. He joined GE Energy Services in 2001 before integrating the wind business acquired by GE in 2002. Philippe remained in GE Renewables until 2008, when he joined AREVA and led the Key Account Management program. From 2011 to 2017, he worked for AREVA Renewables in France and Germany, and ended up chairing the Board of Adwen Offshore. In 2018, Philippe joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and was nominated CEO of MHI Vestas Offshore Wind in Denmark. He restored the offshore wind turbine OEM to profitability and led the joint venture until November 2020, when Vestas bought it back. In 2021, Philippe Kavafyan joined the Board of Maersk Supply Service until November, when he moved to Oslo and was named CEO for Aker Offshore Wind. Graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines de Paris, Philippe was first elected President of the Offshore Wind Committee of the French Renewable Association in 2013, then President of the industrial Wind Committee in 2016. In September 2020, he was elected by the wind industry to become Chair of the WindEurope Board. Philippe is 54 years old, married, and has two children.