Germany’s PNE Appoints Interim CEO Following Lesser’s Exit

• PNE has announced Board Chairman and former company CEO Per Hornung Pedersen as the new interim CEO  

• He will replace Markus Lesser, who is leaving the group ahead of his contract set to expire in 2027  

• The management has also elevated Roland Stanze to the COO position from August 2024   

German renewable energy projects developer PNE AG has announced changes to its senior leadership with its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Markus Lesser announcing his departure and the board announcing Per Hornung Pedersen as the interim CEO.  

Lesser was supposed to serve as the CEO of PNE till December 31, 2027, as announced in August 2023. Back then, the board had increased his tenure, which was due to expire on March 31, 2024, for 4 years.  

Expansion of the term was based on the planned deadline for implementing the Scale up 2.0, which is the company’s corporate strategy for growth. Under this, it targets to invest over €1.6 billion to achieve a generation portfolio of 1.5 GW of onshore wind and solar PV capacity in operation and under construction in Germany, France, Poland, Italy and Spain. According to its website, its operational capacity is 376.13 MW.   

Nevertheless, in March 2024, Lesser informed the board of his decision to resign from his position as member and chairman of the board of management by July 2024-end citing personal reasons.   

PNE’s former CEO Pedersen will assume his responsibilities as the group’s interim CEO from August 1, 2024, initially until March 31, 2025. He will resign from his position as the chairman of the Supervisory Board the same day, to be replaced by Marc van’t Noordende till a replacement is found.  

PNE board has also announced the current Division Head/Executive Vice President, Roland Stanze, as the group chief operating officer (COO) from August 2024.