WindEurope has announced the appointment of Tinne Van der Straeten as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 2 February 2026. The leadership change comes at a pivotal moment for Europe’s energy security, industrial competitiveness and climate objectives.
Van der Straeten brings extensive political and policy experience to the role, having served as Belgium’s Energy Minister from 2020 to 2025. During her tenure, she played a central role in expanding Belgium’s wind energy capacity and building broad political consensus during the 2022 energy crisis. She also led European-level energy cooperation, chairing the North Sea Energy Cooperation in 2020 and early 2025, presiding over the European Energy Council in 2024, and serving as Vice-Chair of the International Energy Agency Ministerial Meeting in 2022. Most recently, she was a Member of the Belgian Parliament.
Speaking about her appointment, Van der Straeten said she was honoured to take on the role at what she described as a defining moment for Europe.
“Wind energy is central to Europe’s energy independence, industrial competitiveness and climate ambitions,” she said. “It is a home-grown and scalable technology that delivers affordable power, strengthens energy security and supports a strong industrial base with high-quality jobs across Europe.”
WindEurope Chairman Henrik Andersen welcomed the appointment, highlighting Van der Straeten’s influence on European energy policy.
“Tinne has consistently ensured that wind energy remains high on the political agenda, both in Belgium and across the EU,” Andersen said. “She has worked effectively across government and industry to shape policy and create stable investment frameworks for sustainable wind deployment. I look forward to working with her as WindEurope supports Europe’s transition to a more competitive and home-grown energy system.”
The WindEurope Board also paid tribute to outgoing CEO Giles Dickson, thanking him for a decade of leadership that helped shape the organisation and strengthen the European wind sector.
Focus on the Clean Industrial Deal
As CEO, Van der Straeten will prioritise maximising the contribution of wind energy to affordability, competitiveness and security, with a strong focus on delivering the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.
With geopolitical risks and energy import dependencies still high, WindEurope under her leadership will push for a faster rollout of renewable capacity and electrification across the economy. According to the industry, a renewables-based energy system with wind at its core could save Europe up to €1.6 trillion, even when accounting for grid investments and backup capacity.
Wind energy currently supplies around 20 percent of Europe’s electricity demand. With supportive policies, this share could rise to 34 percent by 2030 and exceed 50 percent by 2050. However, deployment remains well below what is needed. The EU installed just 13 GW of new wind capacity in 2025, less than half the annual volume required to meet 2030 climate and energy security targets.
“The wind sector is at a turning point,” Van der Straeten said. “The industry is ready to scale up and deliver more than 600,000 jobs by 2030, but it is held back by permitting bottlenecks and infrastructure delays. I look forward to working with all stakeholders to unlock the full potential of wind energy for Europe.”
For the offshore wind sector in particular, the appointment signals a strong alignment between industrial policy, energy security and Europe’s long-term decarbonisation goals, themes that are expected to dominate WindEurope’s agenda in the years ahead.
This official announcement also confirms what BalticWind.EU reported already in December, when our sources indicated that Tinne Van der Straeten was set to become the next CEO of WindEurope. At the time, BalticWind.EU outlined both the strategic rationale behind her expected appointment and the broader context of leadership change following Giles Dickson’s decision to step down.
