Dr. Ulrike Baumgartner-Gabitzer Appointed to Managing Board
Austrian Power Grid AG:
Dr. Ulrike Baumgartner-Gabitzer Appointed to Managing Board
Vienna, 28february 2013: The Supervisory Board today appointed Dr. Ulrike Baumgartner-Gabitzer as Member of the Managing Board. She will take up her new position as Chairperson of the Managing Board with effect from the beginning of 2014.
The renewed appointment of a third member of the Managing Board is a forward-looking decision of the Supervisory Board which underlines the increased significance of Austrian Power Grid AG (APG) and the forthcoming entrepreneurial challenges the company will face. The appointment was made in accordance with the call for applications, which was supervised by Egon Zehnder International. Dr. Baumgartner-Gabitzer was clearly the best qualified among the national and non-national candidates. The decisions of the Nomination Committee and the Supervisory Board were unanimous.
Baumgartner-Gabitzer is a recognised expert in the electricity sector. She has been involved in the electricity industry for over 26 years and has held executive positions in this sector for almost 20 years. She has been a Member of the VERBUND Managing Board since 2007, with responsibility, inter alia, for hydropower and transmission.
Organisation of Managing Board reflects the increased significance of APG
The expansion of the Managing Board, which, apart from Dr. Ulrike Baumgartner-Gabitzer, is made up of Mag. Thomas Karall and DI Mag. (FH) Gerhard Christiner, takes account of the increased volume of business activities and the growing complexity of the core business. In the coming years, Austrian Power Grid AG will embark on a multi-billion-euro investment program to facilitate the integration of renewable energies and, hence, the success of the energy turnaround while at the same time maintaining the existing high level of security of supply.
Furthermore, the radical restructuring and Europeanisation of the energy system has fundamentally changed the significance of the transmission system operators in the last years. In addition to being the backbone of electricity supply, they can now be found at the centre of the energy turnaround where they are also responsible for the structuring of the European energy supply system.
Personal details:
Dr. Ulrike Baumgartner-Gabitzer studied law and has worked in the Austrian electricity sector for over 26 years. She has held executive positions in Austrian electricity companies for almost 20 years. After a 12-year term as General Secretary of the Association of Austrian Electricity Companies, Oesterreichs Energie, she was appointed to the VERBUND Managing Board in 2007. In this position, she was responsible , inter alia, for the transmission and hydropower areas for over six years.
In the transmission area, she was responsible for the expansion of the APG control area to comprise the whole of Austria, the implementation of unbundling as well as important milestones in the 380-kV transmission line projects (Styria and Salzburg lines). Measures initiated under her leadership in the hydropower area include the successful completion of the pumped storage power plant Limberg II and the commencement of construction for Reißeck II. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of Eurelectric since 2008 and is therefore Austria's highest representative in the European association of electricity companies.
For further information:
Fritz Wöber
Communication
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