Solar Exec To Succeed Eurogas' Raabe

Europe's wholesale gas industry trade body Eurogas has named James Watson as its new secretary general with effect from January 2019.

Watson (pictured below), a Briton, has been CEO of SolarPower Europe since 2014, a similar member-led association like Eurogas. He previously worked in Brussels for seven years for public relations consultancy Weber Shandwick as a specialist in energy and trade policy, and prior to that was posted in Africa as an expert for the European Commission and Commonwealth Secretariat. The announcement by Eurogas was made on September 27.

He will succeed Beate Raabe, from Austria, who retires after more than seven years of service at the helm of Eurogas at the end of 2018. She was previously director of EU affairs at upstream association, the International Association of Oil & Gas; she will maintain some professional activity from 2019 in Brussels as a management coach.

Eurogas represents 44 companies and associations engaged in the wholesale, retail and distribution of gas in Europe. Several of its members have long called on policymakers to recognise gas as the partner of renewable energies, by introducing higher carbon charges that will displace coal from power generation - especially in Germany and eastern Europe which remain heavily reliant on coal to produce electricity. Some members though, such as Germany's RWE and Uniper, continue to extensive coal-fired assets - with RWE in particular continuing to expand its lignite (brown coal) mining.

James Watson (Photo credit: SolarPower Europe)