Former Belgian Energy Minister Takes Helm at WindEurope

WindEurope has appointed Tinne Van der Straeten, Belgium’s former Minister of Energy, as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Van der Straeten will take over from the organisation’s current CEO, Giles Dickson, who has served in the position for ten years, on 2 February 2026.

“The WindEurope Board thanks former CEO Giles Dickson for his 10 years of leadership and contribution to Europe’s wind industry. The development of WindEurope would not have been possible without his dedication”, WindEurope stated in a press release on 12 January.

Tinne Van der Straten, who served as Belgium’s Energy Minister from 2020 to 2025, oversaw the country’s wind energy expansion, including a broad consensus on Belgium’s response to the energy crisis in 2022, the European wind energy organisation pointed out.

Van der Straten has led European energy cooperation, chairing the North Sea Energy Cooperation in 2020 and at the start of 2025, the European Energy Council in 2024 and vice-chairing the IEA Ministerial meeting in 2022. Most recently, Van der Straeten served as a Member of the Belgian Parliament.

As CEO of WindEurope, Tinne Van der Straeten will focus on ensuring Europe gets the most from wind to deliver affordability, industrial competitiveness and energy security, WindEurope says.

“Faced with mounting geopolitical challenges, Europe must shake its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Wind is uniquely placed to deliver that. A renewables-based energy system, with wind at its core, will save Europe up to €1.6tn, even when counting the grid and backup costs”, the organisation states. “To reap these benefits Europe must deliver on the Clean Industrial Deal, accelerate the buildout of home-grown and competitive renewables and ramp up the electrification of its economy.”

According to WindEurope, wind energy currently generates 20 per cent of all electricity consumed in Europe, and with the right policies, this will rise to 34 per cent by 2030 and more than 50 per cent by 2050.

However, the continent is not building enough new wind energy, the organisation says, as the EU installed 13 GW of new capacity in 2025, less than half of what Europe needs to deliver its 2030 energy security and climate targets.

“The wind sector is at a turning point. The industry is ready to accelerate and to provide more than 600,000 jobs by 2030. But it is held back by permitting issues and infrastructure delays. I look forward to working with all stakeholders to help unlock the full potential of wind energy for Europe”, said Tinne Van der Straeten.

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