Current Position:  Vice President, Head of Research & Development, RWE Power AG

Mr. Bechthold holds degrees in Process Engineering from RWTH Aachen and Business Administration from TU Munich and has been working in the energy industry in Germany, Portugal and South Africa for more than 30 years. 

He started his professional career as junior engineer at RWE in Essen in 1992, followed by various operational and management positions in the field of power generation based on gas and coal. His positions comprise e.g. Managing Director of Turbogás S.A, an Independent Power Producer in Portugal led by RWE, Head of the internal Technical Services Unit of RWE Power, Power Station Manager of Niederaußem Lignite Power Plant and Power Station Manager of Neurath and Frimmersdorf Lignite Power Plants. Since October 2020 he is responsible for the Research & Development activities of RWE Power AG.

Mr. Bechthold is member of the Executive Committee of IEA GHG (Technical Programme Greenhouse Gases of the International Energy Agency), member of the Coal Advisory Group of the European Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS), member of the Board and chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of vgbe (International association for generation and storage of electricity and heat) and member of the Board of DGMK (German scientific association for sustainable energy carriers, mobility and carbon cycles).