Aarhus – Capital of Wind Energy - Aarhus.dk

“Being the leading global region is anattraction in itself. A broad range ofqualified companies and employeesgives Aarhus a really strong businessenvironment.”Stephan Mey, European CEO, Suzlonto Aarhus in 2011, its researchers will have the additionalcompany of around 250 highly skilled colleagues.The industry giant Siemens has placed its global headquartersand research centre for wind energy in Brande, just70 kilometres from the centre of Aarhus. Meanwhile, theSpanish wind turbine giant Gamesa and the Chinese EnvisionEnergy both have their research centres in Silkeborg,less than 50 kilometres from Aarhus.Noticeably, the aggressively expanding Indian wind turbinemanufacturer, Suzlon, has recently chosen to locate itsEuropean headquarters in Aarhus. Suzlon has bought theGerman wind turbine manufacture, REpower, making itthe world’s third largest wind turbine manufacturer. Theintegration between the two companies will be monitoredfor some time from the Aarhus base where the GermanStephan Mey, whose background is in the German industrialgiant MAN Diesel, has been announced as the newinternational CEO just prior to the summer holiday, 2010.“Aarhus is the place for the wind industry,” says StephanMey. “The region has major companies and a whole bedrockof suppliers. At the same time, it’s just the right size: Itis not so big that you drown, but big enough to have the resources,manpower and partners necessary for a companylike Suzlon.” See text box.The Engine of the Wind IndustryAarhus’ status as the centre of the Danish wind industrybecomes evident, when the expanding circle of companieswhich supply components, services, and advice to thewind industry is taken into account.This important part of the industry does not show inthe official industry statistics, and its size is unaccountedfor. But a conservative estimate can be derived from theDanish Wind Industry Association’s list of members. Theorganisation has 240 members, of which 78 – arounda third – are based in Central Denmark, with by far thegreatest concentration of companies in the Greater Aarhusarea and surrounding municipalities.The wind cluster in Greater Aarhus has established itselfas an engine for the Danish wind energy industry. Notjust the manufacturers, but also notable suppliers like Skykon,provider of wind turbine tower solutions, and AVNEnergy, supplier of components, have since become globalplayers themselves. And this has played a part in bringingrevenue and jobs to the Aarhus cluster which is today,clearly, the Danish economic centre for the export of windenergy technology.A dataset from Statistics Denmark, retrieved and analysedby business statistics experts eStatistik, shows thatcompanies located in the Greater Aarhus area and thesurrounding area account for 87 percent of Denmark’scombined turnover and export of wind energy. And, accordingto the Danish Wind Industry Association, over14,000 of Denmark’s 25,000 wind turbine jobs are todayfound in the Central Denmark region. This is three timesas many jobs as the second largest wind energy region inDenmark. 11,000 employees work within one hour’s drivefrom Aarhus.Most are employed by the major manufacturers, butmany jobs are found in other parts of the supply chain.According to the latest calculations from the Danish WindIndustry Association, around half are employed in productionjobs, while 20 percent of jobs are within research,testing and development or process and quality control.Suzlon CEO: Aarhus Is the Place to Be“Aarhus is the place for the wind industry.” Stephan Mey,newly appointed CEO of Suzlon Europe, has no doubt,that Suzlon, the world´s third largest wind turbine manufacturer,has chosen the right spot for its European headquarters.What are the crucial criteria for Suzlon’s location of itsactivities?“On the political level, there is a strong focus on strengtheningand developing the wind energy cluster. It is a clearlydefined goal as part of the tour activities and strengthensour business opportunities.”What should Aarhus do to remain an attractive epicentrefor wind energy?“Being the leading global region is an attraction itself. Abroad range of qualified companies and employees givesAarhus a really strong business environment. The regionshould very much try to maintain it. The current visionto be the world’s wind capital is absolutely the logicalnext step. Initiatives like Navitas Park could strengthenAarhus’ position further.”How does the Danish wind energy cluster stand in termsof the international competition?“It is not the largest in terms of volume, but it’s still thestrongest. It is the only region with companies, educationalinstitutions and politicians dedicated to wind energy.Aarhus is ahead of all its competitors in that area.”Which value do the many sub-contractors in the CentralDenmark have for Suzlon?“They have specific knowledge, knowhow and routineswhich we can learn from. Furthermore, the short geographicaldistance between them and us makes communicationand dialogue far easier.”Research in Wind Energy at Aalborg UniversityWind power is a central area of research and education at Aalborg University (AAU). Research in this area is coordinatedand carried out by research groups organised under the virtual centre for Wind Energy Structures andTechnologies at AAU (WEST). Much research is done in collaboration with international companies and researchinstitutions. Will you join us?Energy PlanningResearch within this area centres around the technical, economicand institutional possibilities and bar-riers for advancing sustainabledevelopment of energy systems. The focal points areintegration of the fluctuating power generation into the energysystem as well as the economic and institutional conditions thatsecure a good integration.Power Electronics & Power SystemsA number of different research activities in wind turbine systemsare on-going, e.g. a simulation platform where models of generators,power converters and control system are tested with differentsimulations. Other activities focus on power system stabilityat distribution and transmission level, energy storage and on-lineperformance optimisation of wind turbines.Automation & ControlModelling, control and supervision are of increasing importancein the effort to develop competitive technologies. Automation &Control work on the foundations for advanced control of futurewind energy installations. The work addresses performance, stabilityand fault tolerance by applying new results from a range ofcontrol technologies.Analysis & design of composite structuresResearch activities primarily concern analysis and design of lightweightcomposite and sandwich struc-tures. Based on solid mechanicsand finite element methods, projects focus on the mechanicalbehaviour of composite structures, adhesive bondedjoints, micro mechanics, structural design, modelling and simulationof the moulding process for wind turbine blades.Structural DynamicsThe group carries out research within global dynamics and mechanicsof wind turbines, including the interaction betweenrotor, transmission system, tower and foundation. Special interestareas are control of blade vibrations, tower and rotor shaftthrough individual pitch regulation, generator moment controlor other strategies for vibration control.Foundation Engineering & GeotechnicsThe research group works with development and verification ofcomputational models for the load bearing capacity of differenttypes of foundations, e.g. bucket, gravity and pile foundations.Especially experimental verification of constitutive models forsoil exposed to dynamic loads is an important area.Loads and SafetyResearch activities are related to stochastic modelling of environmentalparameters, material parame-ters in blades, tower andfoundation and load bearing capacities. This includes modellingof physical, statistical and model uncertainties. Reliability, riskanalysis and life cycle-based optimal planning of op-eration andmaintenance are also key areas.If your company wishes to explore the possibilities of researchcollaboration with Aalborg University, please contactAAU Matchmaking on tel. +45 9940 7376 or mail: match@aau.dkHub North business networkHub North is a Northern Denmark business networkfor the wind energy industry. The aim of Hub North isto promote, unite, develop and strengthen the region’swind turbine industry. Industry participants in the networkare manufacturers and subcontractors within thewind turbine industry. AAU plays an important role inHub North in relation to knowledge sharing, innovationand research collaboration. Find out more about HubNorth or join the network at www.hubnorth.dk20 Mondaymorning A a l b o r g U n i v e r s i t y F r e d r i k B a j e r s Ve j 5 P. O. b o x 1 5 9 9 1 0 0 A a l b o r g P h o n e : Aarhus ( + 4 5 –) Capital 9 9 4 0 of 9 Wind 9 4 0 Energy m a t c h 21@ a a u . d k