By Ron Bousso
LONDON (Reuters) - The head of BP's wind energy business Laura Folse will retire at the end of month, three years after taking the role, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.
Folse, who joined BP in 1982, will be replaced by Al Vickers, currently head of technical operations across BP's oil and gas, or upstream, business, the memo said. He will be Houston based.
BP's wind division includes 11 onshore wind farms in the United States and is one the biggest renewable energy businesses among the world's top oil and gas producers. It has a generating capacity of approximately 1,800 megawatts.
"Laura has been instrumental in significantly increasing the performance of the business, driving a culture of safety and compliance, and leading the industry in operational and industrial metrics," Dev Sanyal, BP's head of alternative energy, said in the email, provided by a company spokesman.
London-based BP, and its European peers including Royal Dutch Shell and Total, are trying to rapidly grow their renewable operations as economies seek to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by David Evans)
