An early bird committed to technology progress

Erik Rongved has long experience of delivering development services and products to the subsea industry worldwide. He is now responsible for the technical content of Inseaenergy’s future solutions

Why did you want the job of chief technical officer (CTO) at Inseanergy?
This presented an unusual opportunity, which matched perfectly with my own future ambitions. Technology and sustainability are important elements here, combined with the company’s relatively recent creation.

That offers many highly interesting and varied assignments with regard not only to product and system progress for sustainable solutions, but also to company and organisational development.

What are you excited about getting to grips with in this job?
I’m looking forward to helping create tomorrow’s sustainable energy systems for the aquaculture industry. At the same time, we’re going to build an enticing workplace and attract people who’re keen to join our journey.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I fall into the “early bird” category, which means I’m usually up before 06.00. It’s important for me to get a good start to the day, whether it’s a brief exercise session, breakfast with the children or simply not being stressed on my way out of the door. I think starting the day positively means the rest of it goes well.

What do you think are your best traits?
I’m purposeful and decisive. At the same time, I get a lot of pleasure from contributing to the success of the people around me.

What are you looking forward to most over the coming year?
There’ll be many interesting and hectic activities related to the commercialisation of our Sub Solar floating solar power plant. This will be an important milestone for us, and I’m really looking forward to passing it together with able colleagues and partners.

What do you do when you’re not at work?
I give priority in my free time to the family. We’re very keen on travelling, so we’re looking forward to being able to take long trips again.

In 2020, I also ended 15 years as a “retired” musician by making a comeback in a rock band we started in our youth. That’s a fine way of cultivating friendship. And let me make it quite clear – our level of ambition is no longer a world tour.

Have you taken any steps at home which could help to alleviate the climate crisis?
I swapped both cars last year for fully electric models, and have never looked back. It’s inspiring to see the attention being devoted by car manufacturers to going electric, and how that accelerates both technology development and choice.

We’ve also converted to Tibber, which gives us better control over our electricity consumption. I hope this can contribute to reducing the overall amount of power we use at home.

What do you think will be important in creating a positive future?
I believe the UN’s sustainable development goals provide a good definition of how we can create a positive future for present and future generations. For me, these 17 SDGs represent major challenges facing the world.

The transformation will call for collaboration between different players, great capacity to act, and government success in finding good instruments for encouraging sustainable innovation and technology development.

We have strong technology capabilities in Norway, and can take a central place in the green transition by putting our heads together.