Germany: WindEnergy Hamburg to be held in parallel to WindEurope Conference

Wind energy is increasingly becoming the driving force of the global energy transition. The main challenge now is to reduce the production cost of wind power. The industry is taking up this challenge, as one of the most innovative industries in the world. Its new products, applications and efficiency strategies add up to continuous progress. It is less than four months until the start of WindEnergy Hamburg, the world’s leading expo for wind energy. From 27 to 30 September, more than 1,200 exhibitors from over 30 countries will present their innovations for use of wind energy onshore and offshore at the Hamburg Fair site. The nine exhibition halls are almost fully booked. This year for the first time, the WindEurope Conference will be held in parallel. “The world’s leading wind industry expo is teaming up with the WindEurope Conference to give the industry the most important international meeting point for know-how transfer, which is so important for taking up the global challenges and cutting carbon emissions,” said Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH, at today’s advance press conference in Hamburg.

“These two top-level events at one location generate optimal synergies for all trade visitors,” said Aufderheide. “Once again that makes Hamburg the place where the wind industry gets vital insights.” Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, said: “The WindEurope Summit will address the opportunities and challenges in the development of the European wind markets. New topics such as storage and electrification will be reflected in the programme.” WindEurope is the European wind energy association, pursuing the economic policy goals of the industry.

It was clear at the press conference where the wind industry currently stands in the reduction of power generating costs. Dr. Markus Tacke, CEO of Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division, said: “Remote diagnostics and data analyses now enable higher yields and targeted, hence more cost-effective deployment of maintenance engineers. Digitisation is already helping us to develop technologies that will enable us to match wind energy production better to grid demand.”

Nils de Baar, President of Vestas Business Unit Central Europe, was also present at the advance press conference for WindEnergy Hamburg, and underlined the successful efforts undertaken to reduce the cost of energy by technical innovations and developments: “This goal drives our technological progress and is being reflected by a significant fall of energy costs: We have seen the cost of energy drop by 15 percent in the last five years and 80 percent in the last 20 years.”

Alongside Siemens Wind Power and Vestas, all the other international key players will also be presenting their latest products and services at WindEnergy in September, for example Enercon, Envision, Gamesa, GE, Nordex and Senvion. A total of 17 manufacturers of large wind turbines will be present. In addition, there will be suppliers of all components of the whole of the value chain of the onshore and offshore sector. “Offshore exhibitors will probably make up about 35%,” said Bernd Aufderheide. “A notable feature is the tremendous bandwidth covered, from installation vessels to foundations, and marine cables to diving services.” In addition, the wind industries of various countries are making presentations with their own national pavilions. They include Denmark, Turkey, China, Argentina, the USA and Canada.

The experts at today’s press conference mentioned as worthwhile emerging markets the USA for offshore wind power and many of the countries of Asia and Africa. “All of them will benefit from the ongoing developments which are driving our industry and helping to cut costs”, said Dr. Tacke.

Giles Dickson referred to the growing importance of wind energy, which provides more than 250,000 jobs in Europe alone and has already increased its share in the continent’s power supply to 11,5%. He described Hamburg as a “hub for the wind industry”, adding that “Europe has set the target of increasing the share of renewables in power consumption from 29% today to 50% in 2030. It is imperative that a strong wind industry is supported by robust markets with clear volumes. Stable and long-term regulatory frameworks at EU and national level are also essential. The WindEurope Summit 2016 and WindEnergy Hamburg, which is being held in parallel, are great opportunities to show what the industry can do, and the important role that wind can play in Europe’s energy mix.”

Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, is the patron of WindEnergy Hamburg, and will open the expo on 27 September. The joint opening ceremony of WindEnergy and the WindEurope Conference is also expected to feature more leading international speakers. For more information on the programme of WindEurope at CCH – Congress Center Hamburg, please visit www.windeurope.org