Suzlon China appoints new CEO

Suzlon Energy appointed He Yaozu as CEO and Country Manager of its China operations, Suzlon Energy Tianjin Limited. He Yaozu assumes his new role from 1st December 2010 and will report directly to Group Chairman Tulsi Tanti.

“Suzlon has been fully operational in China now for five years. As a Group, we have a 3.4 per cent market share and have been executing contracts of up to 1 GW. We now want to take our business to the next level,” said Tulsi Tanti, the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Suzlon Group. “Yaozu’s extensive experience in both China and the wider region makes him an excellent fit for us at Suzlon. China is now the largest market for wind in the world and we wanted someone of Yaozu’s stature to be our Suzlon China CEO. We are confident that, with Yaozu at the helm, and the encouraging public policy regime, our business can now really take off.”

Yaozu’s appointment comes at a time when Suzlon is giving a strong push to expand its China operations through initiatives including establishing an R&D centre in Tianjin, co-investing in wind farm projects, and increasing its manufacturing investment. In addition, with the appointment of Yaozu, Suzlon will be the first major international wind turbine manufacturer in China with a Chinese CEO.

Yaozu has been a senior adviser to China Machinery New Energy Co, and serves as a non-executive director of China Green Power Limited. He also served on the board of Hoi Sing Industrial Holding Company. He was previously managing director of Global Infrastructure Company (Asia) Limited and, prior to that, managing director of Ogden Energy in China. He is a senior fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.

He Yaozu said: “I have watched Suzlon’s entry into the China market with interest. Their strategy has been very different from other entrants and they are now competitive with the domestic sector. This is an exciting time to be joining what is the world’s third largest wind turbine manufacturing group, and I am confident we will be announcing significant orders and increasing our market share shortly.”