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People

Rainer Höfling.

Borealis has announced the appointment of Rainer Höfling as CEO of its International Fertilizer & Melamine business, as of 1st October 2018. This business unit comprises approximately 2,000 employees. The dedicated management team under the lead of Rainer Höfling will provide higher agility and increased customer focus for the business. Borealis runs fertilizer production sites in Austria, France, the Netherlands and Belgium and melamine production in Austria and Germany.

“Rainer Höfling is a dynamic, highly experienced and skilled leader and we are happy he will head our Fertilizer & Melamine business”, says Alfred Stern, Borealis Chief Executive.

“I am excited to take up this challenge aimed at unleashing further opportunities in the fertilizer and melamine business,” declared Rainer Höfling, CEO of the new Fertilizer & Melamine business. “I especially look forward to continue to create value for our customers and further increase their experience with us.”

Rainer Höfling first joined Borealis in 2007 as director of its Business Unit Melamine. Since then, he has held the positions of vice president Polyolefins (PO) Moulding, vice president PO Advanced Packaging and Fibres and, most recently, senior vice president PO Sales. Before joining Borealis, Rainer Höfling held a number of senior management positions at Teufelberger GmbH, PCD Polymere and Neste Chemicals Germany. He was appointed as interim executive vice president Polyolefins and Innovation & Technology in April 2018.

Ignacio Galán, CEO of Iberdrola, a Spanish offshore wind company, has been chosen chairman of the Renewable Hydrogen Coalition, which supports renewable hydrogen as a means of meeting the EU’s long-term decarbonisation targets. Nils Aldag, the creator and CEO of Sunfire, has been named vice-chairman for the next 18 months. The duo will contribute to the development of the EU’s regulatory framework. Galán and Aldag will combine their knowledge in renewables and electrolysers to manage the coalition’s efforts to guarantee that, with the appropriate regulations, renewable hydrogen becomes a competitive alternative to conventional hydrogen this decade.

“The Renewable Hydrogen Coalition has a significant role ahead of it as Europe sets its policies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Iberdrola CEO Galán. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to ensure that Europe leads the world in renewable hydrogen technology research and manufacturing,” he added. “The Fit for 55 package’s goals for the use of renewable hydrogen in priority industries are highly beneficial in terms of increasing demand. These lofty goals must be matched by equally lofty implementation mechanisms, including financial assistance instruments to reduce the cost gap with fossil-fuel alternatives and give European buyers the confidence to convert to renewable hydrogen.”

The European Commission’s Fit for 55 package, which was unveiled in July, established explicit objectives for the fast and large-scale deployment of renewable hydrogen in difficult-to-electrify sectors. “This plan will enable these industries to achieve considerable carbon reductions while also boosting innovation, job creation, and industrial growth in Europe, solidifying the post-COVID-19 green rebound,” according to Iberdrola.

Dr. Siba Prasad Mohanty, chairman and managing director of HIL (India) Ltd has been recommended by India’s Public Enterprise Selection Board to become chairman and managing director of the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (BVFCL). Mohanty will also continue to head HIL (India) Ltd until a replacement is appointed. He has previously served as Director (Marketing) for HIL, and holds a masters in Business Management from Berhampur University, Odisha. He has more than 26 years of diverse experience primarily in fertilizer marketing. He has also worked at Rashtriya Chemical & Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), Mumbai, in different capacities from 1989 to 2015.