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Back to Press Releases 20 May 2019

Magnus Hall elected President of Eurelectric

Today, Magnus Hall, President and CEO of the Swedish-based electricity company, Vattenfall, takes over the presidency of Eurelectric. The priorities of his two-year mandate will be to continue the efforts of the electricity industry in becoming carbon-neutral by 2045 and leading a timely energy transition. Under his Presidency, Eurelectric will call upon new EU policy leaders to enable widespread electrification, while ensuring a fair and inclusive transition.

With millions of customers in Europe, Vattenfall is a leading energy company that has been supplying electricity to private homes and businesses for over 100 years. Vattenfall has the strategic ambition to make fossil-free living possible within one generation and 75% of its electricity production is already fossil free. Against this background, it has become a pioneer helping other sectors become carbon-free through electrification. The utility is notably in partnerships with industry developing the world’s first fossil free steel and CO2-neutral cement.

The prime objective of Mr Hall’s Presidency will be to lead the transition towards an energy system powered by carbon-neutral electricity, supported by a best-in-class model for electricity distribution. Another key priority will be to gain better insights into the needs of customers and identify new ways to support them in adopting low-carbon lifestyles. Last but not least, Eurelectric will advocate and analyse ways to strive for a fair transition for all customers and cooperate with policymakers to put in place measures that ensure broad social acceptance of the energy transition. 

“Electrification is the key enabler of a carbon-neutral future in Europe. We want to cooperate with policymakers and industry to accelerate electrification in transport, heating and industry.” said Magnus Hall.  

During his mandate, Magnus Hall will be supported by Patrick O’Doherty, CEO of the Irish utility ESB, and by Leonhard Birnbaum, Member of the Board of management of German E.On SE, as Vice-Presidents. Magnus Hall takes over from Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, who has headed Eurelectric as President for the last two years.

During his Presidency, the association went through a thorough transformation, which saw the adoption of a new industry vision and strategy but also the streamlining of its internal structure and the introduction of a comprehensive rebranding reshape the organisation.

“These have been two challenging and busy years, in which I am proud to have driven the association through a tremendous transformation, whereby electrification and decarbonisation have become the bywords of our industry. I am happy to hand Magnus the reins of an association that today is at the forefront of the energy transition as I am sure he will continue leading its journey towards an outstanding future for the European energy sector”, said Francesco Starace.