Philip takes Siemens Gamesa hot seat as boss warns 'no room for more errors' at wind giant

Siemens Gamesa’s new CEO Vinod Philip formally took the helm today (Thursday), as its owner’s chairman warned “there is no room for more errors” at the troubled wind turbine giant.

Philip takes over from outgoing CEO Jochen Eickholt, who was parachuted in by parent group Siemens Energy in early 2022 to revitalise the loss-making manufacturer.

Philip, a long-serving Siemens Energy executive, was named Eickholt’s successor in May and has spent the intervening months preparing to take over and implement the turnaround strategy developed under his predecessor.

Siemens Energy chairman Joe Kaeser today said Philip “has been tasked by the board to design and develop the ‘Next generation of Renewable Energy’ within Siemens Energy”.

Philip had previously achieved similar results when leading development of a new generation of gas turbines. “So, he knows how this works and how to build a strong team based on values and high-performance culture,” Kaeser wrote on LinkedIn.

The Siemens Energy chairman said Siemens Gamesa had faced “harsh headwinds. There have been multiple reasons for this – some of them also clearly home-made. The fix has been quite costly and there is no room for more errors.”

“In his capacity of Siemens Gamesa CEO, he has addressed and stabilised the processes and procedures and initiated long overdue changes. The actions in place are set to bring Siemens Gamesa back to black ink in 2026.”