Review of the WindEnergy Hamburg 2020
The largest industry event WindEnergy Hamburg is held every two years in Hamburg. And for the first time since 2002, it took place in digital format due to the restrictions related with COVID-19.
But despite the difficulties that arose with holding the event and moving it from September to December, the organizers managed to gather more than 1,400 visitors from 40 leading countries. During the event, participants and visitors were invited to watch documentaries, interviews, news, briefings and online conversations of experts aimed at solving pressing problems and the current role of wind energy in Europe and the world.
Speakers included EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol, EU energy ministers, leaders of financial organizations and heads of large industries such as TenneT, RWE Renewables, MHI Vestas, Vattenfall and many others.
The first day of the event was dedicated to the problems that arose in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, falling energy consumption, problems of delivery and production. But despite the problems this year, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol is convinced of the growth of RES. According to him, with the support of national governments, renewable energy sources will be able to meet 80% of energy needs in 10 years.
EU energy ministers also discussed the role of offshore wind farms and their integration into a North Sea grid system. Another major topic discussed during all days of the event was hydrogen. Polish Minister of Energy Michał Kurtyka, presented his country’s plans for the production and transportation of “hydrogen electricity”. The topic of hydrogen was also during the speech of the Minister of Energy of Germany Peter Altmaier, who acquainted the participants with the international project of hydrogen production in Chile. Simens Gamesa has announced the launch of its production with the extraction of green hydrogen.
The second day of the exhibition was dedicated to digital technologies that will help improve the production and availability of green energy. One of the speakers on this topic was Ruslana, the winner of Eurovision, who supported the Digital Wind project.
Another important topic of discussion was the involvement of the public to accelerate project acceptance, expand innovation and systemic integration of the energy sector.
The main topic of the third day was offshore wind energy in the Baltics, the deployment of large offshore works, the development of the offshore wind energy in Asia.
Kadri Simson, EU Commissioner for Energy, expressed her support for the development of onshore and offshore wind energy and promised to take appropriate measures to ensure 750 GW of onshore and 300 GW of offshore wind capacity in Europe by 2050.
The fourth day of the event was dedicated to the production part of the wind energy industry. GE Renewable Energy has introduced a new wind turbine with a capacity of 6 MW, with a modular blade consisting of two parts. Production of this turbine is scheduled to begin in 2022, which will increase electricity production by 11%. Nordex has announced the receipt of the IEC certificate for the new ground-based wind turbine N149.5.X with a capacity of 5 MW, which will allow it to be sold on the international market.
Records programs of all four days can be found on the official site.