Wind energy Market leader Vestas maintains an in-house rotor blade production in Lem, Denmark. Photo: Vestas German Bard Engineering GmbH started its rotor blade production in Emden last year. Photo: Bard Turbine manufacturers: production for a globalised market Wind energy is undergoing a boom not restricted to Germany and Europe. With energy demands in Asia getting stronger and energy subsidies getting better in the United States, the market has been developing on a real global scale. Manufacturers of wind energy plants are expanding their production on the international stage. Wishing to offer cost-efficient wind energy plants worldwide and, at the same time, meet local content requirements for the regional production, manufacturers are establishing production facilities inside the individual countries. Change is advancing rapidly. A few years ago, the vast majority of the industry s production was still located in Germany, Spain and Denmark. But in the past years, an increasing number of factories have emerged in China and the United States. In India this development has been slower. Indian market leader Suzlon is still the only manufacturer with more than one production facility inside the country. Others, such as Enercon and Vestas, have so far contented themselves in India with a single production site. In order to find out in which countries industry members are positioning their production, Sun & Wind Energy surveyed 23 wind turbine manufacturers on the location of their production sites and facilities. Information on the location of their production could be retrieved for most participants (see world map, page 188/189). Not included are the numerous suppliers. In a general perspective, the survey revealed a tendency for manufacturers with high market shares, such as Vestas and Gamesa, to rely mostly on in-house production for their component parts. In contrast, smaller companies tend to contract with external suppliers. Especially the production of gearboxes and generators is often commissioned into the hands of subcontractors. Increasingly, the production of rotor blades is taken over by the turbine manufacturers directly. Some of the best examples here are Vestas, Enercon, Gamesa, Siemens, Suzlon, Nordex and Mitsubishi. Another example is the German Bard 186 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2008
Germany World Leader in Renewables 23rd EU PVSEC in Valencia Hall 2, Booth A6 SEPTEMBER 1-4, 2008 Germany, as world leader in Renewable Energies, is home to some of the largest international markets for Solar-, Wind-, Biobased-, and Geothermal-Energy. Invest in Germany is the inward investment promotion agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. We assist and advise potential investors interested in Germany. We offer free of charge: - Site selection services for manufacturing projects - Assistance in establishing European headquarters - Access to equipment vendors, R&D institutes, engineering companies, and financing institutions - In-depth expertise in the German Renewables landscape - Advice on available incentive programs - Overall project management support If you would like to obtain further information on the vast investment opportunities Germany offers in the renewable energy sector, please contact us, or meet us in person at: - 23rd EU PVSEC in Valencia, 1-4 September, 2008 Headquarters Invest in Germany GmbH Friedrichstraße 60 10117 Berlin Germany T. +49 30 200 099-0 renewables@invest-in-germany.com www.invest-in-germany.com Sun & Wind Energy 4/2008 187
Wind energy 188 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2008
wind energy Sun & Wind Energy 4/2008 189
Wind energy Indian market leader Suzlon is still the only manufacturer with more than one production site in India. Photo: Suzlon In Rostock the German manufacturer Nordex maintains a rotor blade production and nacelle assembly facility. Photo: Nordex Engineering GmbH where rotor blade production for the 5 MW turbine was incorporated as recently as last year in Emden (Germany). Repower will shortly follow: A new facility for rotor blade production in Bremerhaven (Germany) is currently under construction. Turbine manufacturer Fuhrländer from Germany focuses on nacelle assembly, but will soon add more production outside of Germany. Before the end of the year, the construction of a new manufacturing site in Montana (United States) will be started. Going from there, the company aims at selling wind energy plants for the whole of North America. Market leaders looking for best vertical integration Today, higher degrees of vertical integration are even achieved by companies that have grown with wind energy and keep an almost exclusive focus on this sector. Leading examples are Vestas, Gamesa and Enercon. Vestas and Gamesa each maintain about 30 production sites across the globe, providing the biggest portion of components for their products themselves. With the worldwide rising demands for wind turbines, the companies were able to expand their number of production sites bit by bit. Market leader Vestas has a foothold in seven European countries and in addition owns a nacelle assembly facility in China, a rotor blade production in Australia as well as a production facility in India. Gamesa, in contrast, bundles all of its European production inside Spain. Outside its home country, the company owns facilities in Pennsylvania (United States) and the province Tianjin in China. But this region is also home to other of the sector s companies. For example, Indian manufacturer Suzlon has launched a generator production in Tianjin. Besides a gearbox factory in Belgium and a rotor blade production in the United States, the Indian market leader currently has all of its production located in India. In order to get a foothold in Europe, Suzlon last year acquired shares of the German manufacturer Repower Systems AG. Nordex maintains a rotor blade production as well as a nacelle assembly facility in Rostock (Germany). In China, the company has long been an active market participant. Since 2006 nacelles have been assembled here for the S70 and S77 series. For this particular turbine type, the company last year started a rotor blade production, which is also located in the People s Republic. Nordex plans to further expand the capacities: Our turbine assembly and rotor blade production in China presently reaches an annual output of about 200 MW. Until 2011, we want to reach 600 MW for each segment, Felix Losada, the company s spokesperson, says. Nordex also has big plans for the German market: Our turbine assembly in Rostock will be expanded from 800 MW to a capacity of 2500 MW until 2011 and rotor blade production will go up from 300 MW to hit the 1.300 MW mark, Losada explains. Nordex continues to buy generators and gearboxes from external suppliers, such as the German Siemens subsidiary Winergy that already started production sites in India, China and the United States. Multinational groups use existing infrastructures In contrast to Nordex, Suzlon, Gamesa and Vestas, companies that maintain an almost exclusive focus on wind energy, the wind energy division at Siemens turns into a different direction and benefits from the existing infrastructures available to a multinational group. Country and market knowledge combined with a body of personnel already trained by its corporation can be a valuable asset when founding new production sites. Siemens owns production facilities for rotor blades in the United States and in Denmark. The company also started an inhouse nacelle assembly in Denmark that will be followed by a second facility before the end of the year. Similarly, manufacturers GE Energy and Mitsubishi Power Systems, the only key wind turbine producer 190 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2008
wind energy with Japanese parent company, both belong to multinational groups. Mitsubishi subsidiaries have settled their rotor blade production and nacelle assembly facilities inside their home country and in Mexico. Gearboxes are supplied by an external manufacturer from Japan. GE Energy similarly likes to keep its production in close neighbourhood to its parent company inside the United States but also maintains facilities for nacelle assembly in Germany and in Spain. Additionally, a production site for wind plants of the 1.5 MW class was started in 2006 in Shenyang (China). The fact that multinational groups often already have production sites readily available on the international stage is an advantage that becomes easily apparent. GE Energy s production facility in Shenyang, for example, is now a direct neighbour of a number of other GE joint ventures. Acciona Windpower from Spain, also belonging to a multinational group, does not maintain an in-house production for component parts. Its market shares, however, lead the company up to position seven among the world s largest wind energy producers. Acciona currently operates four assembly facilities in Spain, China and the United States. According to company information, the first rotor blade production will start this year in Navarre (Spain). A sector in movement Per Krogsgaard, head of the Danish BTM Consult, expects the degree of vertical integration to increase in the future, especially among the leading wind energy producers. We have for several years been observing a tendency of leading companies to incorporate the component segment into their production. This trend is going to continue and even increase in the next few years. Particularly, aspects of quality assurance play a role in this development, Krogsgaard says. The majority of manufacturers surveyed by Sun & Wind Energy maintain at least one production site or have at least one contracted supplier outside their home country to get a better and therefore more costefficient access to the booming markets of the wind energy sector. Many are planning further expansions. Practically all manufacturers would like to be present in as many countries as possible to get the most out of the worldwide growth of wind energy. Verena Vorwerk Verena Vorwerk works as a journalist with the German media service provider Europressedienst, which specialises in renewable energies. Further information: www.acciona-energia.es www.enercon.de www.fuhrlaender.de www.gamesacorp.com www.ge.com www.lmglasfiber.com www.mpshq.com www.multibrid.com www.nordex-online.com www.repower.de www.siemens.com www.suzlon.com www.vensys.de www.vestas.com In the Chinese city of Yinchuan, manufacturer Nordex from Germany has been assembling nacelles for S70 and S77 plants since 2006. Photo: Nordex SIAG Schaaf Industrie AG EXPERIENCE IN STEEL Visit us at Hall 3, Stand C08 Sun & Wind Energy 4/2008 191