New COO and CTO for Stedin Group announced: Aline Arends (COO) and Timo Idema (CTO)

Rotterdam, 16 April 2025 – The Supervisory Board of Stedin Group has announced the appointment of Aline Arends as the group’s new COO and Timo Idema as its new CTO. Aline Arends (52) will succeed Trudy Onland, who was appointed CEO of Stedin Group earlier this year. Timo Idema (42) will succeed David Peters, who will be leaving Stedin Group on 1 May. Both will join the Board of Management on 1 May 2025, when Trudy Onland – who already serves on the board – will start in her role as CEO.

Until recently, Aline Arends worked as Director of Business Projects at Stedin. Before her employment with Stedin, she worked at Rijkswaterstaat (the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management) and the former Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. She held various positions, in which she acted as a consultant for political and administrative decision-making and was responsible for overseeing extensive projects and working with contractors. Timo Idema joined Stedin Group as Director of Strategy & Regulation in 2024. Previously, he worked at ProRail as Director of Strategy and (acting) Director of Asset Management, and at the Boston Consulting Group as a consultant.

Doede Vierstra: ‘I am delighted that we have found two excellent internal candidates for these Board of Management roles. Aline has extensive experience in the public sector and is familiar with the administrative playing field of national politics. As Director of Business Projects at Stedin Group since 2022, she was responsible for expanding the energy grid and connecting customers. Over the years, she has set up an organisation capable of achieving the scale-up required for energy grid expansion. She also oversaw a reduction of lead times in preparation and implementation. Timo has contributed to strategic decision-making within Stedin and the industry over the past year as Director of Strategy & Regulation. His strong analytical skills and talent for making connections make him ideally suited to Stedin’s complex task. Moreover, Timo possesses extensive knowledge and experience of the public and private sectors, regulation and major infrastructure challenges.’

Aline Arends: ‘I look forward to taking up the position of COO at Stedin and making a greater contribution to the energy transition in this role. Our work is of vital importance to society. I know Stedin to be an organisation with highly passionate, creative and committed employees. These characteristics are essential for expanding our energy grid, connecting customers and businesses as quickly as possible and ensuring that the reliability of our grid remains high.’

Timo Idema: ‘The challenges of the energy transition in the Netherlands are significant. Our customers depend on our services. At the same time, they are able to contribute to the changes a future-proof energy system needs. These changes involve major challenges and interesting questions. I am greatly looking forward to working with my colleagues and our stakeholders to tackle this social task in the coming years.’

The search to fill the CFO role is ongoing. Meanwhile, the position will be held by Steven Suiker, Director of Corporate Control at Stedin Group.