At WindEnergy Hamburg 2022, we will promote our offering across the entire value chain, including our leading turbine technology the V172-7.2MW onshore and the V236-15MW offshore flagships, market-leading multibrand service offerings, and expanding efforts within hybrid power plant solutions. Our objective at the trade fair is to reinforce our conviction as the best partner to provide sustainable energy solutions to customers and business partners.
Nils de Baar, President of Vestas Northern & Central Europe
After the WindEnergy 2020 online conference due to the corona crisis, the industry is physically meeting in Hamburg again from 27th-30th September in a severe energy price, security and climate crisis. More than 1,250 companies from 40 countries across the onshore and offshore wind energy value chain will present their innovations and solutions. As global leader in sustainable energy solutions, what are Vestas’ expectations for the trade fair?
Everybody knows that wind reduces cost of power, increases security of energy supply and supports climate protection. Targets for the scale-up of wind power are most ambitious. Auction volumes have been increased in Germany, Europe and globally. What we expect from the largest wind industry fair in the world is a clear message, that targets translate to project pipeline and realization. We can only scale-up our production to reach the targets with concrete orders.
What will you showcase at this year’s exhibition at your booth?
At WindEnergy Hamburg 2022, we will promote our offering across the entire value chain, including our leading turbine technology the V172-7.2MW onshore and the V236-15MW offshore flagships, market-leading multibrand service offerings, and expanding efforts within hybrid power plant solutions. Our objective at the trade fair is to reinforce our conviction as the best partner to provide sustainable energy solutions to customers and business partners.
One of Vestas’ key messages at WindEnergy Hamburg is “You order. We deliver. Today and even more so tomorrow.” What’s behind this message?
Vestas is a strong partner with a robust supply chain and the capacity to react quickly. We champion business and supply chain continuity in a rapidly changing world. Our global manufacturing footprint ensures the capacities you need for a massive growth of installations in Germany, Europe and globally. Despite global challenges, we have the capacity to turn projects into reality in very short time. With scale and skills, we can reach ambitious targets.
Today, Vestas services more than 137 GW of wind turbines, including more than 9,5 GW non-Vestas turbines, across the largest wind turbine brands. What’s the key to this success?
For our customers, trusting Vestas means reaping the benefits of our superior experience, in-depth knowledge and technical innovation, regardless of turbine make and mark. Having Vestas as one single service provider give the customer the opportunity to reduce operational complexity and achieve consistent quality, across the entire fleet. With a portfolio of more than 9.5 GW of non-Vestas turbines under service, Vestas is the wind industry’s largest multibrand service provider with offerings across maintenance, fleet optimisation and parts & repair. Vestas services the seven largest brands of turbines, more than 30 non-Vestas turbine models, and adds new brands to the list as we develop knowledge and capacity to service these brands in-house in accordance with our quality standards and safety requirements.
Vestas strategically focuses on modularisation as a vital tool to scale-up production and strengthen quality at the same time. Which role plays the V172-7.2 MW, introduced by Vestas this year, in the journey of modular product development?
The V172-7.2 MW is our latest step along this journey and pave the way for wind energy to build scale by introducing more ease and efficiency into how we design and produce high-quality sustainable energy solutions. The V172-7.2 MW delivers a 12 percent increase in annual energy production (AEP) compared to the V162-6.2 MW variant in low wind conditions. The new variant delivers flexible power ratings of 7.2 MW, 6.8 MW and 6.5 MW and can be adapted to run in cold or hot climates. The V172-7.2 MW will be based on Vestas’ new nacelle architecture, where the nacelle structure is divided into compartments designed to industry standards for road, rail and ocean transport. This improves logistics and provides flexibility over the turbine’s operational lifetime.
Vestas wants to lead a sustainable offshore wind industry and take responsibility for enabling the gigantic build out required to realise the energy transition in time. How does Vestas want to achieve that?
Our offshore V236-15.0 MW turbine establishes a strong foundation for Vestas’ offshore leadership journey by elevating the industry benchmark for performance and increased cost efficiency in offshore technology, making Vestas highly competitive in offshore tenders. The V236-15.0 MW was the first ever 15 MW turbine to be introduced to the market in February 2021. With the world’s largest swept area exceeding 43,000 m2, the V236-15.0 MW delivers industry-leading performance and moves the boundaries of wind energy production to around 80 GWh/year, enough to power around 20,000 European households and save up to 38,000 tonnes of CO2, which is the equivalent to removing 25,000 passenger cars from the road every year. The installation of the prototype turbine, that left the production hall just weeks ago will begin in fourth quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, at Vestas’ Lindø factory we will start preparing to initiate the V236-15.0 MW serial production by 2024.
Vestas is not introducing new products at WindEnergy Hamburg. Why is that, and are you concerned about becoming uncompetitive?
Vestas’ best-in-class financial performance allows us to invest more than anyone in R&D, and we continue to develop the technology, organisation and solutions to meet customer needs, and sustain our competitive edge. The conference landscape doesn’t always reflect our development cycle. We can only scale-up production in a sustainable manner jointly with our suppliers and partners, if infrastructure, logistics and the full supply chain competitively grows with the turbines.
The wind industry is facing big challenges to meet political expectations. What’s Vestas proposal to successfully overcome them?
With the largest R&D investments in the industry, Vestas continuously develops technology that drives the energy transition forward and creates value for our customers and shareholders. However, the industry must mature and ensure it is sustainable in the long-term. In order to achieve this goal, we insist on putting value over volume. We need to slow down the trend of rapid product introductions that challenge the ability to scale efficiently and limit the possibility of establishing efficient supply chains. The supply chain cannot constantly invest in new technology that will take years to design, develop, test and deploy. This is to achieve shorter execution time of projects, utilization of existing vessels and more secure business cases for our customers.
Furthermore, to ensure that globally set targets for wind energy can be met, our industry needs to recruit more people. We need more talents, especially service technicians. At the WindEnergy Hamburg, our colleagues from the Vestas People&Culture team will be present at stand RD29 in the Recruiting Area in hall B5 on Recruiting Day (30th September 2022) and they look forward to talking to many potential future Vestas’ employees.
