A relevant and unexpected change was announced yesterday in the Colbún board. The electric company linked to the Matte family accepted the resignation presented by the company’s general manager, Thomas Keller, after eight years in office. The instance agreed to designate José Ignacio Escobar as his replacement, who will assume his functions as of May 16.
As explained by the company, the executive’s resignation is part of a process agreed with the board, which contemplates that he continue to be linked to Colbún as director of the Peruvian subsidiary Fenix and the related company Electrogas. In addition, Keller will remain as advisor to the new general manager on matters associated with the execution of the company’s main investment projects, which total more than 3,000 MW in different phases of development.
“During these eight years Colbún consolidated a robust and consistent operational performance,” said the company’s president, Hernán Rodríguez.
Colbún’s board of directors thanked Keller for his commitment and management at the head of the company’s administration. The president of the firm, Hernán Rodríguez, stated in the letter that “during these eight years Colbún consolidated a robust and consistent operational performance, while leading, under the guidelines of the board of directors, a path of transformation in the company in line with the challenges of the energy transition.
The manager recalled that, in terms of energy generation projects, Colbún is in the final phase of commissioning two solar parks for 239 MW and has begun work on Horizonte (778 MW), the largest wind farm under construction in America Latin. Added to this are 1,280 MW in environmentally approved photovoltaic projects and 870 MW in initiatives in earlier stages of development.
On the commercial front, under the administration of the former CEO of Codelco, Colbún focused its growth on the free customer segment, totaling more than 300 to date and expanding its value proposition to energy solutions through the purchase of the company Efizity energy services.
The successor
Escobar is an industrial civil engineer from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and has a Master’s degree in Economic Regulation from the Adolfo Ibáñez University. In the last eight years he worked at Acciona Energía where in December 2014 he became general manager for Chile and then, as of 2018, as general manager for South America with responsibilities for Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Likewise, since 2017 he has been president of the Association of Renewable Energies and Storage (Acera), a union of which Colbún is a member.
Escobar stated: “I appreciate the confidence of the Colbún board of directors to continue and accelerate the growth and development plan of the company, joining this great team with the enthusiasm and conviction that we can continue to play a leading role in the energy transition that our country is experiencing. country and region.