European Power List 2022: Aaron Smith ranked 56th most influential person

Aaron Smith, Principle Power’s Chief Commercial Officer, has been named as one of the most influential people in the European wind sector. The A Word About Wind-published European Power List highlights individuals that have been playing a key role in making sure that the industry emerges stronger from its current challenges, working towards the ambitious European energy transition and net-zero goals.

Aaron receives this nomination in recognition of his work leading the global expansion of California-headquartered floating specialist Principle Power and championing the development of floating wind in Europe. 

“I’m honored to be featured in the 2022 European Power List together with so many other innovators and industry leaders. I share this distinction with the entire Principle Power team who worked hard to deliver projects such as the Kincardine wind farm through a pandemic and related hardships”, Aaron said. "Since Principle Power was founded in 2007, we have proven the effectiveness of our WindFloat® technology in several pre-commercial projects in Europe, making it the floating foundation of choice for developers around the world. As the pressure mounts in Europe – and worldwide, for that matter – to achieve the Paris Agreements’ clean energy goals, and as recent events have highlighted the importance of energy independence, I’m excited to take our technology to next level and into utility-scale projects in Europe.”

Principle Power has been at the forefront of floating offshore wind development worldwide, and in particular in Europe: the company has deployed its WindFloat® floating platform in Portugal, on the 25 MW WindFloat Atlantic project, and in Scotland, on the 50 MW Kincardine wind farm. Construction on the 30 MW EFGL project in France is due to start soon. With a multi-GW commercial pipeline globally, Principle Power is the market leader in floating offshore wind technology.

Richard Heap, Editor-In-Chief, A Word About Wind, said: “There can be no doubt that the European wind industry faces some major challenges. However, the world still needs to make a transition toward renewable energy sources. That will need a rethink by countries across Europe about how they can support developments such as wind farms, solar farms, and storage – and, more than that, it will require strong leadership from those who can take advantage of the available opportunities. These are the leaders we celebrate in the European Power List report – both our top 100 list of influential people in wind and our top 30 list of stars in wind-and-storage.”

To download a copy of the report please visit A Word About Wind's website.