Principle Power reinforces its Executive Leadership Team with the appointment of Aaron Smith as Chief Commercial Officer

Emeryville, CA; Aix-en-Provence, France; Lisbon, Portugal, July 10, 2020 – As Principle Power continues to scale up its organization to address global market opportunities in floating offshore wind, the company today announced the appointment of Aaron Smith as Chief Commercial Officer in charge of Business Development, Strategy, Commercial and Public Affairs.

Aaron Smith joined Principle Power in 2016 and was promoted to Vice President, Strategy & Commercial in 2018, with responsibility for guiding the company's strategic direction, driving economic competitiveness, and securing commercial value. Previously, Aaron was an Economist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he directed a portfolio of work designed to identify high-value R&D opportunities for land-based and offshore wind technologies, providing the U.S. Department of Energy with strategic decision support. 

Through his strategic, analytical work and pro-active stakeholder engagement, Aaron played an instrumental role in demonstrating the potential and maturity of floating wind (and Principle Power’s WindFloat® technology, in particular) to reach the level of competitiveness that could be comparable to other energy sources. Aaron has successfully established himself as a reference figure in the industry across the globe and has made a significant contribution towards solidifying Principle Power’s leading position in the market and taking the industry to a much higher level of maturity within a very short period of time.

“We are very excited that Aaron has accepted this challenge of helping us to build a fully commercial company, as we ramp up to serve the global market. Aaron has demonstrated on numerous occasions his dedication to the success of Principle Power, his leadership and management skills in building a strong strategy and commercial area, and above all a relentless commitment to making us better every step of the way – we count on him to continue this pursuit,” said Principle Power CEO João Metelo.