Sales and staff up for juwi in 2007, the “year of the climate”, while 2008 promises many new highlights.

Mainz/Bolanden, Germany. January 18th, 2008. The juwi group, a globally active company devoted to renewable energy technologies, once again finished the year with record-high sales and number of employees. According to initial estimates, annual sales in its three divisions – wind, solar and bioenergy – amounted to some EUR 200 million in 2007, nearly twice as much as the previous year. The number of employees grew by more than 65% from 150 to 250. The positive business development can be chalked up to increasing worldwide interest in products and services linked to an environmentally sound energy supply and the juwi group’s excellent positioning in the segments of wind, solar and bioenergy.

“We anticipate continued solid and rapid growth over the next several years as well,” say juwi co-CEOs Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher. By the end of this year annual turnover looks set to approximately double and the number of juwi employees around the world will likely increase to about 400. “In the first two quarters of 2008 we’re looking for around 100 new employees at our various locations,” says company co-founder Willenbacher, underscoring the positive impact of renewable energy development on the job market. The company’s speedy growth also led to the decision to relocate the head office to Wörrstadt in the Alzey-Worms district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. In summer 2008 the juwi group will be moving into a specially designed, innovative energy-plus timber building there.

Solar energy

For the first time in the company’s 11-year history, solar energy became the juwi group’s highest ranking sales segment. In the photovoltaic division the company expanded significantly last year, installing approximately 45 megawatts (MW) of turnkey technology. So by the end of 2007, the total photovoltaic capacity implemented by juwi solar GmbH now amounts to nearly 100 MW. Some of last year’s showcase projects include several rooftop megawatt installations and in South Tyrol one of the most powerful PV installations in Italy. In Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, juwi was commissioned by Stadtwerke Mainz AG (city of Mainz public utility company) to build a 250-kW plant, the largest PV installation in Africa. At the end of April construction work began on the world’s largest PV installation in the Waldpolenz energy park. Located in Brandis, east of Leipzig, this 40-MW solar park is being built at a former military airbase. It is due for completion by the end of 2009. At the end of 2007 more than 13 MW were already in place.

Wind energy

The juwi group’s second pillar of strength is wind energy. In this business sector juwi installed several projects totaling approximately 40 MW in Germany and France in 2007. By the end of 2007, wind turbines installed by the juwi group numbered approx. 250 around the world; their total capacity amounting to some 400 megawatts. In addition, a supply contract for more than 50 MW of wind power capacity for a project in Costa Rica was signed in July 2007. Construction work is to begin this January and commissioning of the wind farm’s first segment is scheduled for autumn 2008. A deal to build the world’s highest wind energy plant was also sealed in 2007. This year juwi will be collaborating with the Fuhrländer company, based in the Westerwald region of Germany, to install a 210 m tall FL2500 wind turbine at the Morbach Energy Landscape. This year juwi will also begin producing its own hybrid towers for wind turbines in cooperation with the Advanced Tower Systems engineering company (ATS) based in Enschede, Netherlands. The hybrid design enables high hub heights at low cost, which in turn means even more efficient wind turbine operation at inland sites. The actual machines including the rotors will be delivered by brand name makers. For example the prototype will be equipped with a 2.3-MW SWT2.3-93 machine made by Siemens Wind Power. The hybrid tower and turbine are scheduled to be built at the WINDTEST Grevenbroich testing field in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in September 2008.

Bioenergy

Juwi’s portfolio is rounded off with its bioenergy division. In 2007 the juwi group launched wood pellet production at the Morbach Energy Landscape in the Hunsrueck mountains, where the waste heat of a biogas installation is used for process heat. The environment secretary of Rhineland-Palatinate state, Margit Conrad, conducted the official inauguration in October 2007. The juwi group and municipality of Morbach received the 2007 German Solar Award for the Morbach Energy Landscape project. This year juwi will install another biogas installation nearby. It will run in part on waste products from the food industry. Just like the Waldpolenz Solar Park, Morbach is among the selected sites in Germany’s “Land of Ideas” image campaign. “Germany – Land of Ideas” is an initiative co-sponsored by the German government and commerce and industry. German President Horst Köhler is the patron of the initiative. Its mission is to convey positive arguments associated with Germany both at home and abroad and also to highlight the country’s strengths as a business location. The core message of all the campaign’s activities emphasizes “Germany’s leadership through inventiveness”.

International markets

Besides continuing development of renewable energy in Germany, juwi also focuses on global wind power activities in countries such as France, the United States, Costa Rica, Argentina and the Czech Republic. Following the founding of branch offices in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, and Bolzano, northern Italy, juwi solar GmbH is now starting to develop other foreign markets, such as Spain, Greece, the United States and South Korea.

“Breaking Barriers” campaign

All its projects – past, present and future – are stepping stones towards juwi’s vision of a sustainable global energy supply. In September 2007 juwi presented a study for Rhineland-Palatinate state demonstrating a purely regenerative power supply by 2030. More and more people are joining the German “Breaking Barriers” (www.grenzen-durchbrechen.de) to promote speedy development of renewable energy around the world.
The districts of Alzey and Donnersbergkreis aim to meet their entire power demand from green sources by 2020. The model region encompassing the Wörrstadt association of communities will be completely self-sustained within just a few years. “The juwi group will contribute to that with several reference projects right nearby its future headquarters,” say juwi co-founders Fred Jung and Matthias Willenbacher. “We are extremely pleased that the clean, decentralized energy production in the projects we have developed contribute to global climate protection, job creation and regional value.”