GLOBAL WIND POWER – new markets await

Throughout Western Europe and the U.S., wind power has become firmly established, and is already an essential contributor to the energy mix of the future.. Wind energy is also making giant leaps forwards in China, India and Brazil. In each of these markets, growth is so strong that plant manufacturers are now barely able to meet demand despite expanding their capacities dramatically. As a result, there are delays in connecting many wind parks to the grid.
Countries where wind power is in its very infancy pose enormous challenges. Take Vietnam, for example, which has been calling attention to itself in the past several years due to rather breathtaking growth and a keen desire to invest in renewable energies. Working in cooperation with the Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG, German investment and development association), Bremen-based wpd think energy GmbH Co. & KG is to establish wpd vietenergy at the beginning of 2009 in order to gain a foothold in this new and extremely promising market as soon as possible. “We are active along the southern Vietnamese coastline, where wind conditions range from good to very good,” reveals Christian Schnibbe. “In the mid term, we are expecting to achieve 200 to 300 megawatts,” he adds on behalf of his company, which develops, markets and operates renewable energy power plants in 20 countries.
Fuhrländer, a wind power turbine manufacturer based in the Westerwald region of Germany, is already a step ahead of its Bremen competitor. The first five turbines from its 1.5 MW series were shipped to Vietnam in October, with more to follow. Despite many naysayers, company head Joachim Fuhrländer set his sights on this south-east Asian tiger long ago. Fuhrländer AG, which was awarded the Eurosolar prize in 2008 for its exemplary training work, is already renowned for its exploration of niche markets. These include South Africa, where Fuhrländer turbines have been generating green energy in a wind park at the Cape of Good Hope since 2008.
“There is enormous potential just waiting to be unlocked on emerging markets,” comments Dr. Rolf Posorski of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ, German association for technical cooperation). He is the head of the GTZ wind energy program TERNA that, over the past two decades, has laid important technical, political and administrative foundations for wind power in a total of 13 countries.
With oil at above 70 dollars per barrel, in many southern regions generating power by means of diesel plants is already more expensive than with wind power. Wind power is also in particular demand in emerging countries whose economies are growing faster than their ability to generate energy. This is true of countries such as South Africa, China and also Vietnam. “These structural bottlenecks can be resolved faster using wind energy rather than conventional power plants, as the latter generally require much more intensive planning,” explains Posorski.
Both Fuhrländer AG and wpd will have a strong presence at the flagship WIND fair at HANNOVER MESSE in April 2009 and will be on hand to answer questions from an audience coming from five continents. “We believe wind power is assuming an increasingly important role at the world’s largest industrial trade fair and we value our customer-oriented cooperation with the organizers of HANNOVER MESSE; that’s why we are so pleased to be part of it,” emphasizes Christian Schnippe of wpd in Bremen.

CLEAN MOVE – giving a boost to electromobility

It’s a fascinating idea. A means of getting around that doesn’t create fine dust, emissions that damage the climate – or a guilty conscience. What’s more, it’s almost silent. This idea is set to be made reality with the electric car, powered by electricity generated by wind, water and the sun. A few years ago, the major automotive companies were still consigning such designs to the waste pile – but today, they are more cutting edge and important than ever. Suddenly, all the car manufacturers are conjuring up a constant flurry of new concepts and models. While brands like Smera, smart ed, UP and Tesla are now turning heads as far as drivers are concerned, the renewable energies industry views involvement in the series production of electric cars as a major opportunity. Little wonder then that the fourth CLEAN MOVES, with its conference and exhibition forum for sustainable and efficient mobility, will be exploring every aspect of this topic at HANNOVER MESSE 2009 and sending out a strong message to the rest of the world.

“Electromobility must play a part in shaping the transport systems of the future,” stressed Matthias Willenbacher, Member of the Board of Management of the juwi group, at the delivery of the first electric Tesla roadster in Berlin at the end of November. “However, it only makes sense to pursue that path if the electricity is sourced from renewable energies,” added Willenbacher, head of one of the largest German project developers of wind, solar and bioenergy systems. With that in mind, Willenbacher is keen to replace the entire transport fleet of the Wörrstadt-based juwi group with electric vehicles of various makes as soon as possible. In addition, juwi is planning to develop a new company department focused on solar mobility. “We are exploring all the options offered by the pending restructuring of the automotive market,” explains Dr. Josef Pesch, assistant to the Board of Management.
The concept is receiving support from Berlin and Brussels. Initiated by four Ministries of the German Federal Government, a national strategy conference on electromobility took place at the end of November and saw the automotive industry, energy producers and suppliers, scientists and politicians come together to discuss the prospects for electromobility. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel gave an outline of a power grid of the future in which fluctuating power feeds from wind and solar energy plants could be stored in car batteries.
Dietmar Schütz expects to see similar developments. “Renewable energies and electromobility form a perfect partnership,” explains the President of the German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE), commenting on the market launch of electric cars. Meanwhile, the European Union is continuing to put pressure on the automotive industry. At the beginning of December, the Commission, Presidency and representatives of the European Parliament agreed to set an emissions value of 120 grams/CO2 per kilometer as the binding upper limit for all new cars in four steps from 2012 to 2015. If they do not comply with this, carmakers will face significant fines.
Even although the BEE predicts that around a million cars in Germany will be refueling via a plug by the year 2020, the Federation’s CEO Björn Klusmann is in no doubt that, to begin with, renewable mobility will not be a viable option without the use of biofuel. “Until that time, we will need biofuels just as much as electromobility and the upcoming fuel cells,” says Klusmann.

GIVE IT SOME GAS – supply of biomethane opens up new horizons

Ever since gas from the bioreactor has been being refined and fed into the natural gas grid, the biogas industry has been delighted by the prospect of harnessing the new opportunities opening up. Up till now, biogas usage has been limited to the place where it is actually generated. However, homes can now use biogas for cooking and heating. As with eco-friendly electricity, biogas is fed into the grid “virtually”. The gas used by the consumer will not necessarily be biogas, but the supplier is obliged to feed the volume of biogas sold into the grid. Before doing so, the biogas must be treated to ensure it matches the quality of natural gas. This is done primarily by removing sulfur and separating off the carbon dioxide.
The treated biogas can be burned elsewhere to produce electricity and heat – this is carried out in block-type thermal power stations such as the seven combined heat and power plants of Stadtwerke Aachen. In addition, energy suppliers – such as the Hamburg-based eco-power supplier Lichtblick and Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) – have recently begun to offer treated biogas to end customers. According to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), half of all existing buildings are heated by natural gas. When it comes to the construction of new residential buildings, two-thirds of property developers opt for gas heating. Natural gas is the most climate and environmentally friendly of the fossil fuels. Nevertheless, a natural gas condensing boiler still produces over 250 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour of heat. According to a study carried out by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, biogas in a condensing boiler can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by almost half compared to natural gas. “Treated biogas offers customers an easy way to increase the proportion of renewable energies in their supply,” says Jan Ulland from the BDEW. That’s why the industry aims to supply one hundred billion kilowatt hours per year as of 2030, which would be equivalent to ten percent of the natural gas used in Germany.

One other potential area of application for treated biogas is filling stations. For economic and environmental reasons, more and more drivers are switching to gas to power their vehicles.
As a result, there is enormous potential in this area and numerous companies are therefore announcing the commissioning or construction of treatment plants. Many of them will be represented at the ENERGY fair at HANNOVER MESSE 2009. “The treatment and supply of biogas creates many projects for us,” says Katrin Selzer from EnviTec Biogas AG. The company has a workforce of 250 and is currently constructing a 22 megawatt plant to produce biogas of natural gas quality in Güstrow. What is currently the world’s largest treatment plant is due to be connected to the network in 2009 and supply 46 million cubic meters of biogas annually to the public grid as of 2010. That would be enough to meet the requirements of a small town with 50,000 inhabitants. “In addition, we are focusing our growth increasingly on international markets,” adds Ms. Selzer. EnviTec Biogas is active in Europe, China and India. “By taking part at the fair in Hannover last year, we established a great many contacts abroad,” she continues, emphasizing the reason why the company has again decided to have a stand at the world’s most important industry event in 2009.
Biogas Weser-Ems GmbH & Co. KG is also looking forward to meeting visitors from across the globe at HANNOVER MESSE. The company has been constructing biogas plants for eight years and has so far erected around 150. Biogas Weser-Ems was represented in the RENEWABLES park of HANNOVER MESSE last year. Export plays an equally crucial role for the company and it has a number of affiliated firms abroad. There is also expected to be significant growth in the supply of biogas. And Biogas Weser-Ems can be sure it will find the right partners at HANNOVER MESSE 2009.


Deutsche Messe AG
HANNOVER MESSE
Energy / Wind / Power Plant Technology
Messegelände
30521 Hannover
GERMANY
Phone +49 511 89-31309
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