wind oil e gas

8/2/2019 wind oil e gas

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There IS light ahead of us though some places look much brighter than others

Vestas is a global company. Everyone follow-ing us knows that. That our strategy rests onthree legs North America, Asia-Pacic andEurope well, that isnt news either. And ofcourse we organise and run our company inaccordance with local developments in eachmarket.

Quite new, however, is the developmentthat is currently taking place in each of thethree legs. Our growth scenario is intact,although not with the same strength in allmarkets.

Such a situation can of course not bedisregarded in the way we run the company.A number of people have said that we shouldhave adjusted and trimmed the companyalready in the fall of 2008 when we publish-ed our expectations for the year to come.I disagree to that.

In no way did we conceal that 2009 was

going to be a challenging year for Vestas. Atthe same time we pointed out that for us,layoffs are the absolutely last way out.

This is still how it is. However, as wenow realise that there is not an adequateconvergence between the countries in whichwe have plants and the markets that areexpected to purchase our products well,that leaves us with no other choice than toadjust the company to match the conditionsthat are actually being offered us by these

markets.The demand in Northern Europe is not

big enough for us to maintain our current ca-pacity in these markets. The lack of demandis caused both by the credit crunch and alsoa problematic exchange rate developmentfor the British Pound, the Swedish Kroner andthe Polish Zloty. To this comes also lack of will

and desire to put up wind turbines in some ofthe North European markets.

All in all elements that have hit the de-mand in the North European countries harderthan expected leading to an unavoidablenegative impact on our production businessunits especially in Denmark, just as theblades plant on Isle of Wight, UK is affectedin high scale.

This means that we now start consul-tations and negotiations with labour unionsrepresenting the affected employees inDenmark and UK. The aim is to reduce thenumber of employees in Denmark and the UKby approximately 1,900.

No one should doubt that I am reallysorry that we have to take such drastic stepsas to negotiations with the aim of laying offcolleagues and in such big numbers. I knowthat everyone really have worked very hard

and made great efforts. A fact that naturallymakes layoffs seem unbearable and incom-prehensible. I am the rst one to acknowled-ge this.

It hurts, but we must always do what isbest for Vestas and no matter where we are inVestas, we always need to relate to this in anobjective way.

Fortunately, there is light ahead of us.Less than one week ago the British govern-ment stated, with the Minister for Energy and

Environment Ed Miliband in front, that theenvironment challenges now will be givengreater priority to a level never seen beforeand I have to my great satisfaction noted thatespecially the modern energy is placed veryrst on the list of the Brits.I nd every reason to value this fact.

The initiative promises well and there-

fore I sincerely hope that the Brits budgetleads to specic orders in the months tocome.

As we in the past have played mostmatches on foreign soil away games, ifyou will (whereas virtually all competitorshave been blessed with the advantage ofplaying home games only), the challenge ware facing is to convert as many away gamas we possibly can into future home gamefor Vestas. Because we ARE present in fulscale as far as sales, production, service anso on is concerned on the principal marketwhich we therefore to a larger extent mayregard as our home turf the worlds as was our largest markets, the US and China, showing strong growth prospects which iswhy our huge investments in these countricontinue steadily.

Vestas have previously been under pre

sure in more markets, just as we previouslhave demonstrated the power to come bac The Vestas Willpower. Personally, I havedoubts that this will happen this time, too.

Our growth scenario is intact and we still striving for 20 per cent growth in 2009and we are to deliver earnings of 11-13 pecent of the turnover.

This is why I ask for your continued sport to reach the goals we have set up andnot least your backing to secure that Vesta

will in fact win a lot of the matches we havright in front of us of which the bigger pis going to be the home games of tomorro

Thanks.Best regaDitlev E

President and C

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Content

4 Wind-friendly bankers ride out global credit crisis Global bankers spirits are ying a bit higherthese days with a U.S. economic stimulus billthat includes provisions to get commercial lend-ing back on track for wind ventures. Meanwhile,European and Asian ofcials maintain regulatoryand legislative tools to keep projects economi-cally viable and their bankers content.

8 Hoarding energyElectricity storage is a hot topic at the moment and perhaps surprisingly, it can benet windpower over a wide range of timescales. We lookat the technology and the opportunities.

14 Crisis res up under consolidation The strong grip of the global economic recession

has accelerated the trend towards consolida-tion in the wind industry. Particularly large utilitycompanies are coming to the fore, where they,today, place ever rmer demands on wind turbine

suppliers.

18 Revving up the electric car Wind power will play a key role in theworlds future

electric car infrastructure, charging the cars atnight with clean, green energy.

22 Paying for pollution The threat of global warming has triggered trading

of emission rights. Carbon markets are large,growing at times controversial, and they will

inuence future investments in wind power.

28 Dont build an ark, yetNew research ndings reinforced that sea levelrise from three separate sources is another unfor-tunate and potentially disastrous consequence ofthe burning of fossil fuels.

32 Bounty crop of green policy changes Both the E.U. and the U.S. have taken major stoward revamping the renewables environmenIn Europe, it was the 20-20-20 Plan. In Amerit was a new President pushing for clean energMajor players in these markets give their assesments of the policy shifts.

36 Teaching renewablesColleges and universities around the globe areramping up programs to train the people who propel the future green energy economy.

40 Win-win collaborations R&D partnerships prove that two heads are be

than one.

44 Innovation in Vestas Latest technological advances in Vestas: nd o

how we increase turbine availability with a mcrane, how we save costs by minimizing the nber of gearboxes and how we decrease cost ofenergy with the design of a new turbine.

48 Wind will never stop In 2008, wind power experienced a record yea

installed MW and the industry expects a 15.7 cent p.a. growth for the following four years.

Note from the editor

Dear reader,With the desire of providing you the most up to

date information while reducing the environ-mental impact of the magazine, Wind will only bepublished in an online format starting with thenext issue. Please visit the media section at ourcorporate web site (www.vestas.com/media) toread the exciting digital version of the magazine live on the 18th of August.

Peter Wenzel KruseSenior Vice President of Communications

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To counter this loss, the $787 billioneconomic stimulus bill approved by the U.S.Congress on 17 February included specicprovisions meant to revive a wind sector bat-tered by the global nancial crisis. Theseprovisions included more exible and long-term incentives to help wind developers maketheir projects economically viable and getcommercial lending back on track.

The use of the production tax credit, forexample, was extended until 2012, threeyears beyond its current expiration date ofDec. 31, 2009. This lets a wind farm develo-per tap into a tax credit of 2.1 cents for eachkW of electricity output during the rst tenyears of operations. The wind farm projectmust be placed into service, or generatingkWs, to qualify for the tax credit.

A proposal that would have let wind de-velopers or tax equity investors carry back the tax credits to offset tax that was paid aslong as ve years ago was dropped becauseinvestors said it wasnt meaningful. Theyneeded the carry back period to go back atleast ten years, says Keith Martin, a partner

in the Washington D.C. ofce of global lawrm Chadbourne & Parke.

Instead, as a way to encourage deve-lopment, the legislation allows developerswhom forego the production tax credits tobe eligible for a 30 per cent investment taxcredit or to skip tax credits altogether andreceive a check from the U.S. Departmentof Treasury for 30 per cent of the projectcost. The option to receive 30 per cent ofthe project cost in cash is only available forprojects put into service in 2009 and 2010,or wind projects for which construction startsin 2009 or 2010 and reach completion by2012.

And in another attempt to make thewind projects more economically viable, thestimulus bill authorized the U.S. Departmentof Energy to provide up to $80 to $110billion in loan guarantees for the developersof renewable energy projects, certain catego-ries of U.S. manufacturers that make somecomponents used in these projects; and the

construction of transmission lines. Thesetransmission lines are sometimes neededto transport the electricity from rural areasto urban areas where the electrical grids arelocated.

Martin says it is too early to tell exactlyhow the new legislative provisions will im-pact nancing and construction in the UnitedStates.

Everyone is guring out how to puttogether the pieces of the puzzle that have

been handed to them by the U.S. Congress.Its not clear yet how to t the pieces toge-ther. People are just coming out of their holesand nding out where they are, says Martin.

Adds William Young, a wind energyanalyst at London-based New Energy Fi-nance, Tax credits will help substantially, aswill the exibility and increasing number of

nancing options and sources of capital noavailable to developers.

The key question is how fast the syscan be mobilized to disburse capitalthis is primarily a government and humanresources question.

Europe condence in renewables

The Old Continent harbors the worlds se-cond and third-largest wind energy markeGermany and Spain respectively, and thecredit crunch has wielded less impact as thwind sector benets economically from a riety of government incentive mechanism

With feed-in or green tariffs governminsures a utility will pay a wind farm opera set price for their electricity, which can bmore expensive than electricity generated other sources.

Although the credit crunch hasimpacted the nancing of all projects andcapital investments, with lenders exercisinincreased selectivity in the transactions

they support, the renewable energy sector Europe has been less impacted, said DavCole, head of project nance for Europe,the Middle East and Africa at BNP Paribain Paris. There are a number of reasons fthis, rst is the high level of condence thlenders and investors have in the respectivregulatory and pricing regimes, secondly, suppliers have a proven construction andoperational track record and lastly, there iscomparatively modest investment required

as opposed to the fossil fuel generation. Adds Adam Umanoff, a partner in the

Los Angeles ofce of Chadbourne & ParkThese tariffs have been very successful idriving the market.

Besides an already robust incentiveframework around renewables, severaleconomist and academics across the con-

Keith Martin, Chadbourne & Parke.


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tinent urge governments to include greeninvestments in their stimulus packages. LordNicolas Stern, Former Chief Economist of theWorld Bank & Economics Expert of ClimateChange, remarks in a recent released study*:A green scal stimulus can provide aneffective boost to the economy, increasinglabour demand in a timely fashion, while atthe same time building the foundations forsound, sustainable and strong growth in thefuture.

Another factor beneting the viability ofwind ventures is their comparatively modestsize, compared with a fossil fuel-red plant.

These are not elephant projects that

require vast amounts of capital, says a ban-ker. Renewable nancing was a bit insulatedfrom the credit crisis. Banks had becomeincreasingly selective and that benetedsmall-scale projects.

Asian appetite for energy

Asia is the home of two of the worlds fastestgrowing markets: China and India. Windprojects throughout the region have typi-cally beneted from supportive regulatoryframeworks that require utilities to use somerenewable power for their energy needs aswell as some use of feed-in tariffs.

Renewable energy projects at-tracted nancing even as liquidity tightened.Financing remains accessible to those windprojects where experienced sponsors aredeveloping the projects with sound contract-ual structures, Symth of HSBC adds.

Chinas huge appetite for energy, alongwith government nancial backing andpower price subsidies, helped turn the giantAsian nation into the worlds fastest-growingwind market last year. Theres no capital con-straints, says Umanoff, adding that thereis very little private nancing in China. Lastyear, China doubled its installed capacityover 2007 and expects to double capacity

again this year. It holds the worlds fourth slotin wind generation.

India is the worlds fth-largest producerof wind energy and another growth market inAsia. While the country has no national feed-in tariff, regional feed-in tariffs in severalstates, including the southern state of TamilNadu, has helped keep lenders comfortable.

And there are many small developersof less than 50 megawatts. These smallerprojects are easier to nance, says Umanoff.

* An outline of the case for green stimulus, February 2009..

Energy bargain prices

Predicting future energy prices is a sin itself, full of unstable variables whchange by the minute. In November The International Energy Agency fo$100 per barrel over the period 20082015 and $120 by 2030. Right after prediction, the nancial crisis forcedway into the equation and energy priwent into freefall.

Oil price volatility made wind very ctitive during 2008 but oil prices as lo$48 per barrel are now bringing winknees. However, limited resources mthat oil prices will eventually rise as nancial crisis resolves.

Certainly the present level is not beto last according to the mainstream vand thus wind power will again be insingly competitive compared to othesil fuel power generation technologie

fact a very good way of hedging the price is possible with wind power bethe consumers and investors will knofuture electricity price throughout thturbines lifetime - i.e. the next 20 yeMore and more institutional investornational energy policy agencies recothis clear benet of wind power, coments Peter C. Brun, Senior Vice Prof Vestas Governmental Relations.

Lord Nicolas Stern, Former Chief Economist of the WorldBank & Economics Expert of Climate Change


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Figure 2). To reclaim the energy, thecompressed air drives turbines attachedto generators. Because compressioncreates heat that must be removed andthen replaced during the expansionphase, compressed air energy stor-age (CAES) typically has an efciencybelow 50 per cent, but the technologyis proven. There are two commercialCAES plants, in Germany (Huntorf) andMcIntosh (Alabama, U.S.). Companiessuch as Energy Storage and Power inthe U.S. plan to build new, more-efcientCAES plants.

R&D ideas in large-scale storageinclude underground pumped storagehydro based on mines and aquifers,huge plastic bags of compressedair tethered to the seabed, and heatstorage to make compressed-air systemsmore efcient. U.S. companies GeneralCompression and Mechanology are workingon compressors that t directly into wind

turbine nacelles.

Batteries nd the right chemistry

For shorter run times, batteries provide ex-ible electricity storage that does not rely ongeology. Starting from the traditional lead-acid rechargeable battery, this fast-movingresearch area now includes a dozen or morebattery types, including lithium ion, zinc-air,and sodium-sulfur.

Lead-acid batteries are competitive with

fancier types for now, but feature poor powerdensity and short working lives. Lithium ionbatteries offer a larger number of charge-discharge cycles and the highest energy den-sity of any commercially-available batterytype, according to Lars Barkler of Danishcompany Lithium Balance, which developselectronic management systems designed

to maximize battery performance.Not all lithium ion batteries are the

same. The commonest chemistry, as found inlaptops and mobile phones, is lithium cobaltoxide. A different type known as lithium ironmagnesium phosphate (LiFeMgPO4) has alower energy density but much longer life,especially in stationary applications, and isintrinsically safer, according to Colin Spence,who is responsible for stationary applica-tions at U.S. company Valence Technology.Valence has shipped more than 70 MWh oflithium ion battery capacity in commercial

applications, mainly for electric vehicles.For stationary applications Valence can

supply a range of modules housed in standardshipping containers. A 40-foot containercould provide a capacity of around 2 MWh,Spence says, and a maximum power output of4 MW. The target cost is $1.01.2 million perMW, of which two-thirds is for the batteries

and one-third for the associated electronics.James McDougall, CEO of rival batte

company ReVolt, says that compared tolithium ion, his rms zinc-air technology hmuch higher capacity, and is safer andcheaper. ReVolt, which has attractedinvestment from German renewable powercompany RWE Innogy, says it has solvedthe problems that have previously afictedrechargeable versions of ordinary zinc-airbatteries, which are widely used for hearinaids. In large-format systems, we expect thave pilot units running within three to ve

years, McDougall says.Sodium-sulfur (NaS) batteries opera-

ting at around 300C have three times theenergy density of lead-acid batteries anda predicted lifetime of 2,500 cycles, saysdeveloper NGK Insulators of Japan. The copany recently supplied a 1 MW NaS systemto a bus depot in New York, and has a 34

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Figure 2: Compressed air is a proven, if currently some-what inefcient, way to store energy on timescales of hours ordays (image: Ridge Energy Storage & Grid Services LP)


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MW demonstration plant running alongsidea wind farm in Japan (see Figure 2). A 1 MWNaS unit with a capacity of 7 MWh is as largeas three 20-ft shipping containers, says

Vestas Henrik Vikelgaard.

Expanding the battery vision

Conventional batteries, whatever theirchemistry, are self-contained units in whichpower is quite closely linked to capacity. Flowbatteries, also known as redox batteriesor reversible fuel cells, decouple power

from capacity, potentially making very highcapacities more affordable. They do this bystoring charge in a liquid electrolyte that canbe stored in large tanks and pumped through

the battery as needed.Flow battery manufacturers include ZBB

Energy Corporation in the U.S., VRB PowerSystems in Canada, Plurion in the UK, andCellstrom in Austria. VRB and Cellstrom usechemistry based on vanadium, ZBB useszinc-bromide, while Plurion relies on an or-ganic acid known as MSA in conjunction with

metals such as cerium, zinc, and titanium.At the moment, ow batteries are

comparatively low-powered and expensivsays Claus Nygaard Rasmussen. The case

VRB, a pioneer in ow batteries, shows hchallenging the new energy storage markecan be. Despite its strong position in Japanwhere several demonstration-scale owbatteries have been installed, the companylaid off most of its staff last year and was cently acquired by Prudent Energy of Beij

Other storage devices that look a little

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Figure 3: 34 MW NAS battery system for 51 MW Wind Farm in Rokkasho, Japan. Photo courtesy of NGK INSULATORS, LTD.


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It is not the strongestof the species

that survives, nor themost intelligent

that survives.

It is the one that isthe most adaptable

to change.

- Charles Darw

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Its happened before. In every boomingindustry where the growth possibilitiesare apparently endless and the playersnumerous, there comes a point where thecompetition for market dominance begins,and consolidation is inevitable.

That is where the wind energy genera-tion industry is right now.

Over the past two years, mergers andacquisitions have steadily increased. Now,in the face of the global nancial crisis, theyare speeding up. Particularly European utilitycompanies have been making an impact,with a series of buy-ups of smaller utilitiesand independent power producers on theinternational wind energy scene.

In January this year, German energycompany RWE announced the latest in aseries of acquisitions an agreement to

acquire the shares in Dutch Essent, thelargest producer of renewable energy fromwind and biomass in the Benelux countries.Essent, which has retained its independentidentity, gains access to improved nancingconditions through the deal. Swedens state-owned utility Vattenfall followed in Februarywith a bid for another Dutch utility company,

Nuon a transaction that brings a no. 1position in Europe for off-shore wind energyproduction.

Portuguese power provider EDP isanother example. The 2007 purchase of U.S.wind farm company Horizon Energy was animportant strategic move that will enableEDP to generate more than half of its electri-

city from renewable energy by 2010.Jonathan Barringer, Vestas Business

Consultant, who has been closely involvedin a project to map the wind market and re-dene customer needs, has observed manysimilar transactions.

There is a clear trend towards bigger,more sophisticated players who are presenton more than one market, and signs of utilitycompanies going into wind production, hesays.

Big investor interest

The European Wind Energy Association(EWEA) hails the growing investor interest inthe wind energy sector.

A growing number of power companieswith strong balance sheets are investing inwind energy and there is increasing interest

from institutional investors, despite the -nancial crisis, declares the EWEA in a repress release.

Since the crisis began, the credit freezby international banks and the falling priceof fossil fuels have become key factors in taccelerating consolidation trend.

Governments and the European

Investment Bank must urgently establishloan guarantees to ease the banking liquidisqueeze and accelerate economic recovery,the EWEA adds.

Stable nancial chioice

While many small players on the wind marnow struggle to meet tougher bank requirements, utility companies are more likely tohave access to capital. Their responsibilityto supply power to the people is typically

backed by a government mandate ma-king utilities a safer, more stable choice ofcreditor.

Christian Kjaer, EWEA Chief Executicomments that big utilities with large cashreserves could emerge from the crisis withmore projects.

We may see some of the smaller

Crisis res upunder consolidation

Financially stable utility companies place rm demands on wind turbine suppliers

as they take a leading role in the consolidation of the wind industryBy Cath Mersh

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Everyone thinks ofchanging the world,but no one thinks of

changing himself. - Leo Tolst

projects, which have turbine delivery con-tracts but are struck by the banking liquidityfreeze, being taken over by the larger powercompanies, he says.*

Three years ago a lot of small de-velopers were very active. But now size isimportant because the banks look at that.Thats a major shift, adds Vestas JonathanBarringer.

Weeding out

While consolidation of the wind industry isgenerally seen as a favourable development,Francesco Starace, Chief Executive Ofcerat Enel Green Power, is among those who

tuation has accentuated customer demandsToday Vestas is making efforts to work moclosely with banks to ensure customers gethe nancing they need. At the same time,Vestas is increasing its focus on project opmisation to improve the economic viabilit

As Chief Operating Ofcer for EuropEDP Renovveis, the worlds fourth largewind energy company and an active playethe consolidation movement, Joo Costeirsums up the demands from his companysperspective.

Clearly competitive pricing Im taof all-in prices - is paramount because othwise, no project gets built.

But, for a company such as EDP R,operating in three continents and eightcountries, exibility is also fundamental toallow us to make the most of our portfolioand adapt to the inevitable changes in themore than 50 projects we currently have aan advanced phase. This exibility shouldrange from geography of delivery to scope

welcome the nancial crisis as a furtheropportunity to weed out the weaker playersand make wayfor stronger companies with longer-termobjectives and a strong emphasis onefciency. He also hopes it will promote themove away from the renewable industrysdependence on government incentives andlegislation towards self-supporting viabilityon the energy market.

For the past ten years, all over theworld, we have seen this industry developlargely thanks to incentive packages andpreferential tariffs, he states. Now its timeto let the industry face its major challenge creating an efcient cost structure. This in-

dustry has to become cost-competi-tive vis--vis fossil fuels regardless

of incentive packages.

Bigger customer demands

For wind turbine supplierslike Vestas, the current si-

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supply, and from yearly quantities to sparepart availability.

A company such as Vestas, with itsworldwide footprint and manufacturing andlogistics capabilities should be, and alreadyis, rising to the challenge.

Italys largest utility, Enel , listed secondbiggest by installed capacity in Europe, hasrecently gathered its international renew-able energy activities in a new company, EnelGreen Power - from day one Europes biggestgenerator of renewable energy. When askedwhat his company requires of wind systemsuppliers in order to meet strategic goals,Francesco Starace, expresses two cleardemands more focus on raising efciency,making the supply chain less complex, andmore technological development.

In this term one of the interesting de-velopment that needs to be deeply analysedcould be the option to get rid of the gearsand go to direct-drive technology, whichcould be more efcient, less complicated and

less costly on the operations and mainte-nance side, he says.

Recovery plan

Until the time comes when the wind industryis self-supporting, the political goodwill thathas seen wind energy become a key part ofthe energy mix in countries round the globeis still an undeniable driving force that ishelping utilities position themselves on therenewable market. It is also helping to resistthe impact of cheaper fossil fuels on the windindustry.

Indeed, within the E.U., the EuropeanCommissions proposal to invest in offshorewind energy is part of the economicrecovery plan designed to stimu-late the economies of membercountries. Across the Atlantic,President Obamas economicstimulus package includesseveral provisions to speedup the development of wind

and other renewable energy industries.What it all means is that the consolida

tion of the wind industry and the nancialcrisis clearly have mutual benets. At the eof the day, the remaining players will emerfortied. Right now it is down to supplierslike Vestas to push ahead and help equiplarger sustainable energy providers with thefciency and competitiveness to hold theiown.

* International Herald Tribune, 4 February

To improveis to change,to be perfect

is to change often. - Winston Churchill

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Revving up theelectric car

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In three years, people all over Denmark will bedriving electric cars charged in part by windenergy. At home or work, theyll plug their carsin to smart recharging points that will switchon when the countrys wind generation is highbut power demand is low say, at night keeping a better overall balance on the grid.When driving longer distances, Danes will beable to pull in to battery exchange stations onall major Danish highways, where a mechani-cal device will swap the spent batteries with

fresh ones. It will not take any longer than thetime needed to pump a full tank of petrol fuel.

These Danes will likely also be happy,knowing they are some of the rst in theworld to test a new concept for sustainabletransportation saving the environment andmoney.

This is not just an idealistic plan. It ishappening and not just in Denmark butaround the world with hundreds of millionsof euro in private investment money behind it.

This is not just an idealistic plan.The leader is a global company called

Better Place, run by former software execu-tive Shai Agassi. His unique business planand idea of building networks of servicestations to recharge electric cars is suddenlygetting lots of attention from media, politi-cians and industry around the world.

According to Agassis plan, Wereengineering transportation as a sustainableservice. We solve for range and cost by imple-menting a swappable battery, and we createa zero emission solution by matching thesupply of renewable energy with the demandcreated by electric vehicles.

Better Place teamed up with Israel in2008 to test the idea of a countrywide net-work of car charging stations. As soon as thatproject got underway, more countries and

regions have signed on Denmark, Australia,Ontario, Hawaii and a nine-city alliance ofcommunities in the San Francisco Bay Area.The world is facing two big challenges: ourdependence on oil and CO2 emissions, saysJens Moberg, Chief Executive Ofcer of Bet-ter Place Denmark and Head of Better PlaceEurope, Middle East and Africa. We believethe time has come for the electrical car.

Battery power

Although the electric vehicle (EV) has beenaround for a century, expensive batteries,long charge-up times and short driving ran-ges have made it impractical.Recent technology breakthroughs aremaking EVs practical and affordable, how-ever. Improvements in lithium ion batterieshave increased their range while dropping

dramatically in price, according to a report AutoSpeed (issue 522, 17 March 2009), anindustry magazine of automotive technologand performance.Nearly every major automotive manufacturis now working on getting eets of EVs tomarket by 2011. Several other companiesand start-ups specialize only in EVs, fromTesla Motors in the U.S. to Venturi in FrancThink Global in Norway.

The automotive industry is driven by in

creasingly stringent government regulationon fossil fuel-powered vehicles, energy se-curity concerns and high oil prices, as well public approval of their brands, according treport by the Boston Consulting Group, (ThComeback of the Electric Car How Real,Soon and What Must Happen Next, January2009) , global management consulting rm

Like a cell phone companyBetter Place does not make cars. Instead,

it is building and operating the country orregion-wide systems that EV owners need tkeep their vehicles running. Were ena-bling car manufacturers to produce electricvehicles without needing to put up chargepoints or battery exchange stations, Mobesays. Thats been one of the limitations aaccess to power in a convenient way.

Wind will fuel your future wheels. Around the world, regions and countries

are laying the groundwork to support electric cars, and wind turbines will play

a key role - particularly at night, when theyll charge your car with clean and

competitively priced energy.

By Jack Jackson

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Better Place approaches the businesswith a model untraditional for transportation,but one that is now familiar in the commu-nication sector. The beauty is that welloperate like a cell phone company, Mobergexplains.

To understand the business model, thinkof how you use your cell phone. You pay yourmobile phone provider for minute-by-minuteaccess to the providers cell towers andnetwork. You probably paid very little for thephone itself, since the cellular access provi-der offered it cheaply as part of its accessplan. Now, replace the phone with an electriccar and then replace the cellular networkwith an electric recharging grid.

Youll buy a subscription with BetterPlace, says Moberg. Well provide the bat-tery and the electricity and service. You justpay a monthly fee, depending on your needsor the miles you drive.

Drivers will be able to plug in to chargepoints anywhere, anytime as part of theirplan. And if they are on the go and dont have

time to charge, they change their battery atan exchange station. No extra charge.

We will start putting up charge pointsat ofce locations and at private homes thisyear in Denmark, Moberg says. This willaccelerate over the next two years, alongwith building battery exchange stations. Ourcommitment is that in 2011, we will ensurethat people can drive from anywhere toanywhere within Danish borders. They willhave com-plete mobility.

Utility nds match for windIn Denmark a consortium of investors hasmade a crucial 103 million investmentto help build the EV charging network. In acountry known for its progressive innovationwith green technologies, the timing could nothave been better.

With the U.N. Summit on ClimateChange around the corner, Denmark has theopportunity to demonstrate to the worldwhat the future of transportation will look

like, says Agassi, referring to the COP15meeting in Copenhagen this December.

Danish utility DONG Energy will matchevery kilowatt-hour of power Better Placesnetwork uses with a kWh of clean, renewableenergy generation.

In Denmark we have more wind than wehave sunshine, says Moberg. Its the bestpossible source of power for electric carshere. Part of our mission is to buy only greenenergy for our subscribers.

Wind turbines already generate nearly20 per cent of the power on DONGs network

the largest share on any system in theworld. Matching that up with a eet of electriccars seems a perfect idea.

Its a technical challenge to control thebalance in our system, says DONGs TorbenV. Holm, who adds that the relative contribu-tion of wind power to the system is typicallyhighest during off-peak hours at night.

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Instead of exporting surplus wind power neighbouring countries often at very lowprices we could instead collect it and stoit in peoples car batteries. That would be a

better use of a valuable commodity. Better Places charging units will use

a smart grid technology to charge vehicleswhen overall grid loads fall a way to helpkeep balance on the system at all times.

The quiet carsBetter Place has also found a partner with Renault-Nissan Alliance, which plans to hits rst model of electric car ready for globconsumers by 2011, the Renault Kangoo ZTwo more models will follow in 2012.

We expect to sell 20,000 to 50,000

cars globally the rst year, says SrenHyltoft of Renault Denmark. All models whave the same specications as normal carmeaning they can drive 140 kmh or faster,says. Their distance range on a single battecharge goes up to 180 km.

Jens Moberg says, I think people inDenmark like those in many other count

The charging spots of the Better Place mobile operator network will be the regular point of interface between adrivers car and the electric power grid.


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are concerned about the environment. ButI expect that what will really fascinate themwith these electric vehicles is the drivingexperience.

Before I rst drove an electric car, Ithought, Alright, this is not going to be asgood as driving a gasoline or diesel car, butgood enough,,, Moberg explains. But then Idrove one and found out it was better.

EVs have two big differences from reg-ular cars. One difference is the noise. Thesecars are just quiet theres hardly any enginenoise.

The other is that a driver needs to useonly one pedal most of the time. You onlyneed an accelerator. As soon as you ease thepressure, the motor starts to brake. In normaltrafc in the city you dont need the brake atall.

Need economies of scaleBetter Place faces a challenge in communi-cating to people that todays electric cars arenot the small, limiting vehicles of the past.We need to get people to see that theseoffer more than the diesel or gas car thatpeople are not giving up safety andcomfort, Moberg says.

Several countries and cities offer EVincentives, which will help get the switchto electric cars moving. Israelis and Danesavoid paying registration tax on new EVs inDenmark that means a savings of 180 percent. Other countries like France offer a cashbonus. Some cities like London allow EV dri-vers to avoid paying road taxes and parkingfees, Moberg says.

EVs will be more expensive to produceinitially, but in the long term, they will be

cheaper to own.Ten years from now it will be cheape

to drive an electric car, even if there are thesame taxes as those on other vehicles, Moberg says. An EV is just a simpler devto manufacture. There are less movingparts in the engine. Right now they are moexpensive to make because theyre new. Camanufacturers have been producing gas andiesel vehicles for years. Their productionlines are optimized for that kind of vehicleelectric vehicles take over into mass prodution, theyll be less costly to produce. Whethe demand is there, the supply will come.

This is changing peoples behaviour. a new way to look at transportation its acultural change.

21

Electric Vehicle: Characteristic Components

1

1

2

2

4

4

3

3

5

6

Lithium-ion Battery

Power Inverter and Transformer

5

6

Slow/Quick Battery Charge Socket

Dashboard Display

Components of the Renault Kangoo Z.E.

Junction Box and Battery Charger

Electric Engine and Reducer


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25

Table 1: Wind-power capacity being nanced by CDM credits

Country Projects MW Total 2012 CER'

China 271 13,784 144,924

India 240 4,474 48,406

Mexico 11 1,222 10,439

Brazil 11 687 2,833

South Korea 10 314 2,681

Domican Republic 3 173 1,706

Cyprus 3 188 1,058

Egypt 2 200 2,106

Morocco 2 70 1,144

Philippines 2 73 829

Nicaragua 2 60 727

Costa Rica 2 69 490

Others 9 244 2,956

Total 568 21,558 220,299

Source: UNEP-RISOE Databas

Fanning off excess carbon

Clean Development Mechanisms create permits in the developing world that can be bought in the developed world, by governments,companies and even individual people. CDM credits have greatly boosted wind power in the developing world. Nearly 22,000 MW ofelectric capacity has been funded by sales of around 220 thousand tonnes/year of offsets ( see Table 1 ). This amounts to of 14 per centof all CDM offsets, just behind biomasss 15 per cent and hydros 27 per cent of the total.

Vestas has been in the thick of it. Our CDM Desk in Chennai is in the process of gaining credits for 115 MW of wind capacity in India this spread over six individual generators commissioned from 2003-05. Validation of the carbon savings is a lengthy process, and CDMauthorities are very picky, says Vestas Senior CDM Engineer Rampradap Balasubramanian. Nonetheless, Vestas hopes to be awardedcredits for the six projects sometime in mid 2009.


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carbon reductions (such as investments inenergy efciency) actually save money, evenbefore permit sales are counted.

Offsetting continues to be controversial.Opponents charge that offsets are a shellgame, a fraud, where sellers claim reductionsthat at worst are bogus or at best would havehappened anyway. Offsets arent helping theenvironment, argues environmental punditKeith Johnson, If theyre merely providing ex-tra prot for cleanups already made. More-over, they contend that offsetting creates anout-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality in thedeveloped world, with buyers complacentlyacquiring credits just to nd an easy way outof avoiding their own emission reductions.

Both charges have been taken seriously.Proponents point out that CDM projects arenot only vetted rigorously, but also obliged toprove their so-called additionality (a techni-cal word meaning that they would not havehappened but for CDM credits). In Europe,CDM offsets may constitute only up to 50per cent of a companys or countrys annualcarbon reduction the rest must come fromat-home improvements.

After Kyoto

By contrast, up to 100 per cent of reductionscould be outsourced via CDM credits in thebudding carbon market proposed for the Uni-ted States. This stirs mixed feelings among

renewable energy supporters. On one handafter eight years of a Bush boycott, theywelcome the entrance of the earths largestper-capita polluter to the world of Kyoto cmitments. On the other, they hope for morerigour: less CDM outsourcing and stiffer rduction targets. While the E.U. is contempting a 20-30 per cent cut in carbon emissioby 2020 from the 1990 baseline, America toying with a pledge of only 0 per cent.

Renewables backers and environmentalists are calling for other changes in carbomarkets. One aim is a fairer shake from ETRather than the current grandfathering granting free-of-charge permits to existingpolluters ETSs permits should be auctioto the highest bidders. This creates a leveplaying eld for competing power technolgies, says EWEAs Gruet, Because it fothem all to internalise their costs of gener-ating CO2. While the proposed Americansystem will auction all permits, Europe ismore cautious. The E.U. says it will auctio

all permits by 2020, but only 5-10 per centare now put on the block, and some of themore vulnerable industries such as poweand chemicals are lobbying hard to halt tplanned expansion.

Renewables supporters are also urginthe E.U. to get serious about carbon caps.ETSs carbon prices suffered an embarrasscollapse in 2006 when governments issuedfar more permits than were needed. It de-stroys the purpose if a carbon market is no

kept tight, notes an analyst at SRI ConsultWithout that, there is no real incentive foremission reductions. Tighter markets, autioning and stiffer targets these will prodwind investment and emissions reductionsso wind proponents are pushing them withhigh hopes. Their argument is simple: thespolicy choices should be obvious.

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Scientists have traced the history of sealevel rise back to the start of the IndustrialRevolution. With the buildup of greenhousegases primarily from the burning of fossilfuels coal, oil, and gas the average oceanlevel has climbed twenty centimetre, or eightinches, in the last 120 years. As we continue

to spew out carbon dioxide and other gasesby the millions of tonnes, the prognosis is notpromising.

No, Noah, it is not time to run out tothe back yard and build an ark, yet. But it istime to radically reduce the sources of thesegases by continuing to pursue sustainablesources of energy.

According to oceanologists, the sea isnot only acidifying, but it is warming. Thereare three causes for the rise, all related to

warming. As water warms even slightly, itexpands. Thermal expansion, estimatesPhysicist Stefan Rahmstorf of GermanysPotsdam Instuitute for Climate ImpactResearch , now represents 20 per cent ofthat rise, down from 40 per cent in the lasthalf of the previous century.

The second is the gradual, and

occasionally dramatic, melting of theglaciers. Ice caps and glaciers exist on everycontinent except mainland Australia, onhigher elevations as widespread as theHimalayas, the Alps, Kilimanjaro, the Andes,and the Rocky Mountains. Generally, but withoccasional weather blips from year to year,

they are all retreating, contributing currently40 per cent to sea rise. Combined, theseglaciers represent less than one percent ofthe total year-round ice on the planet and donot pose a major threat of sea level rise inthe long term future.

The third is the mother of all glaciers:the ice sheets of Greenland and WesternAntarctica, which account for the remaining40 per cent to sea rise. Glaciologists areclosely monitoring the dynamics of melting

ice sheets in both regions. The sheer mass ofthis ice source is worrisome for the future.

A catastrophe in slow motion

According to the U.S. Geological Survey(USGS), our oceans are rising 3.3 millimetresper year slightly more than one tenth ofan inch. Not cause for great alarm. But

as the burning of fossil fuels continues toaccelerate, most climate specialists predictthe release of CO2 and other greenhousegases into the atmosphere will have acatastrophic impact on ocean levels. Forexample, since 1990, the year the KyotoProtocol adopted as its benchmark, CO2

emissions in the United Sates alone haverisen by over 20 per cent.

So what will be the effect on sea levelif all this ice melts as it is doing in theArctic Ocean and on inland mountains orbegin to slip into the sea as is occurring iGreenland and Western Antarctica? Whatwill be the effect on sea level?

Climatologists cant agree on thenumbers or the timeframes but they allagree it will mean a signicant rise in sea

level. The implications of such a scenariowould be disastrous for islands and atollsthat may submerge, most coastal areas ofthe planet where beaches may disappear,freshwater wetlands destroyed by salt wateand low-lying cities inundated. The impacton both developed and developing countriewould be devastating. One tenth of the

Dont Buildan Ark, YetBy Glen Blouin

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global population live at or near sea level.They also concur that the risk of storm

surges poses perhaps the most seriousproblem. Stefan Rahmstorf states that a1-metre rise in sea level will intensify this riskfrom one-in-a-hundred years to one-in-threeyears.

John Church, of the Centre for AustralianWeather and Climate Research warns,Unless we undertake urgent and signicantmitigation actions, the climate couldcross a threshold during the 21st centurycommitting the world to a sea level rise ofmetres.

Scientists predict darker future

At the recent International ScienticCongress on Climate Change in Copenhagen,2,000 scientists gathered to share theirresearch ndings. The session was a lead-upto a worldwide conference next December,also in Copenhagen, which will lay thegroundwork for Kyoto II in 2012.

The consensus among thoseclimatologists, particularly those studyingsea levels, was that previous forecasts by theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) in 2007 were too conservative. TheIPCC, based on data dating back to as earlyas 2002, estimated that sea levels willrise between 18 and 59 centimeters, or7 to 23 inches, by the end of the century.Their predictions however did not factor inthe potential of the melting ice sheets in

Greenland or the western Antarctic, two ofthe three major masses of ice on the planet.

Some activists, such as Manfred Treberof Germanwatch feel the IPCC used thelowest common denominator in arrivingat their conclusions. He attributes this topolitical negotiations among the scientistsin order to achieve the necessary consensus.

Treber states, This is one of IPCCs weakestpoints.

On the other hand, Bill Hare, also fromthe Potsdam Institute and an author of theIPCC report, states categorically, IPCC wasnot at all inuenced by governments. Hedoes however concur that the absence ofwestern Antarctica data at the time the IPCCreport was compiled overlooks the potentialof sea level rise from accelerating icestreams caused by ocean warming.

Rahmstorf, who says sea levels haverisen 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) since1880 calls the IPCC report sober andconservative. Like many others, however,he stresses the uncertainty of furtherprojections.

The numbers from the last IPCC are alower bound because it was recognized atthe time that there was a lot of uncertaintyabout ice sheets, explains Eric Rignotof the University of California (Irvine) andSenior Research Scientist at the NASA Jet

Propulsion Laboratory. The results gatheredin the last 2-3 years show that theseare fundamental aspects that cannot beoverlooked.

Virtually all climatology expertspredict the effect on sea level will be feltpredominantly in the Arctic and NorthAtlantic, with little or no rise in most of thfar southern hemisphere below Australia athe tips of Africa and South America, whefew people live.

Risingseaghters

Substitution of renewable energy sources,such as wind, solar, wave and tidal,hydroelectric, and geothermic would helpalleviate some of these effects, but scientisstress that much more needs to be doneimmediately. Some, like NASAs Jim Hansay we are approaching the tipping pointwhere it may be too late. Others are slightmore optimistic.

The science is complex, but theprinciple is simple: heat melts ice. And thnear-consensus of scientists worldwide isthat greenhouse gas emissions are warminthe planet.

One modern 3,0 MW wind turbine,over its 20-year life cycle, can displacethe equivalent of 220,000 tonnes of CO 2produced by a coal-red generating station

Western Antarctic

In the Western Antartic there are already signs of ice sheet erosion. Floating iceshelves that shelter the massive ice sheet are dissipating, allowing the mass of iceto contact the warming ocean and melt.

Fortunately, the Western Antarctic represents only about 15 per cent of thecontinent. According to 2006 NASA satellite data, the majority of the south polarice zone appears stable at the moment, and may indeed be growing. But if thecollapse of only the western Antarctic ice sheet should occur, the USGS estimatesan 8-metre (26 foot) rise in sea levels.

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when the fossil fuel price is high, and when itis low, nobody wants it. It doesnt make anysense from the policy point of view, and itdoes not optimize our ability to get the lowestaverage cost of energy.

Business Strategy

Despite the expected growth in wind markets,none of the companies contacted had mademajor alterations in their business plans. Mostechoed the sentiments of EDP Renovveis,which had built its business strategy on thebelief that the world is entering a trend underwhich renewable energy will have a growingimportance in meeting world energy needs.The European renewable framework conrmsthis trend.

What has been a factor in re-thinkingtheir business plans, however, is the currenteconomic crisis. Many respondents, likeenXcos Grimbert, expect a market downturnin the immediate future, followed by bettertimes.

I think that the market is going to dropin 09 compared to 08, says Grimbert. Thestimulus package is going to limit that dropand prepare for the recovery in 2010 and2011.

Despite the problems posed by theeconomic downturn, all of the companiessurveyed felt strongly that the current crisisshould not affect implementation of theenergy plans.

In moments of economical difculties,

governments may have the temptation to de-lay efforts, says EDP Renovveiss Costeira.It is important not to engage in this kind ofreasoning as it may impact a countrys situa-tion in the long term.

For his part, EWEAs Kjaer sees a lesson inthe nancial crisis that should favor renewa-bles. The nancial crisis started because

people invested in very high-risk investmentsthat collapsed. And thats more or less whatweve been doing in terms of our electricitysupply. We invested in gas and coal, but wehad no idea where the price of gas and coalwould be in the future. We increasingly under-stand that wind energy is a very strong hedgeagainst uncertain and most likely higher fuelprices in the future. And that is one of thestrongest arguments for investing in windenergy. We know exactly what it will cost from

the day we build the wind turbine to the day20 years later when we have to refurbish orupgrade it.

Public Acceptance

Ultimately, however, the general feelingamong respondents was that the fate of theE.U. and American plans would depend onpopular attitudes.

The main obstacle [to achieving the20-20-20 targets] is public acceptance of the

changing energy landscape, states NUONsdArnaud Gerkens. As long as there is a lack ofpublic acceptance, investments in technolo-gies such as onshore wind and carbon captureand storage will be slowed down. Such obstacles can be overcome if the government andenergy sector work together to improve publicacceptance.

Certainly, the plans represent a workingtogether by governments and the energysector. And without a doubt, they representa new phase among policy makers. But hasthere also been a corresponding shift amongenergy consumers that will provide criticalsupport for the plans?

I think the plan does reect a shiftin popular attitudes, says Enels Starace.Europeans have become more and moreaware that their energy supply is widelydependent on others. This is a recurring issuevery single year we have a gas crisis becauUkraine and Russia dont agree on prices. Otop of that, there is a growing environmentaconcern about global warming. So, these twpoints make it a very big issue to becomeindependent from fossil sources. And renewable energy becomes a very strong altern-ative.

AWEAs Bode believes that Americanshave experienced a similar transformation.I think the high prices that occurred with

crude oil got peoples attention. And so didthe hurricanes Rita and Katrina that causedsuch volatility in energy prices. Those aretimes that are teaching moments, and youcapture the attention of the public. Also, Ithink we have not gotten complacent yet likweve done every other time prices have goup and come back down. Its the greatest opportunity Ive seen in my lifetime to reach oto the American people, and for policymaketo act on it, to really move us fundamentally

a different direction. Taking a global view, EDPs Costeira

notes, if Europe and America unite on thissubject, I believe almost everyone will folloThis change will be decisive and is the bestnews we have had in recent times. And theworld needs good news.

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Christian Kjaer, Executive Director of the EWEA


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Around the World:

Training for the Generationof Green-Collar Workers

At rst, Elizabeth Kokos was looking for anew place to work. After working an ofce job in a high school in Oregon and raisingkids, she looked around her communityfor new opportunities. Basically my kidshad graduated high school, and I needed anew job, she says. I saw the wind energy

program, and I started trying to get my kidsinvolved. Though her son wasnt interestedin the program, Kokos herself signed up atColumbia Gorge Community College andher daughter also joined in.

Kokos experience isnt unique. TheAmerican Wind Energy Association workswith nearly a hundred community collegepartners who train students to work inall parts of the wind energy sector. Forengineers and technicians, training usually

comes from an intense one or two-yearprogram. Some new students like Kokos,nd the new tasks rough on the body. Wewere learning about the turbines, about howwed climb up 300 feet. That was prettyintimidating, says Kokos, 44. She was ableto land an internship at a wind farm whileshe completed her studies using what she

learned in class on the job, and vice versa.Its a good time to be in renewable energyeducation. Recently, a report from theindependent research group Clean Edgepredicts that the solar and wind powerindustries will create 2.65 million jobsworldwide over the next decade, up from

about 600,000 today. And the people llingthose jobs will need training from placeslike Columbia Gorge Community College,where Kokos got her certicate. The collegestarted working in wind energy education just two years ago.

I was driving along in spring andsaw turbine components being truckedeast, says Susan Wolff, the schools ChiefAcademic Ofcer. She adds that her desirein the program was to provide local people

with work, as well as to help the various windenergy companies working in the area. So far,the program has graduated several classesof students, with most going on to earn$46-$60,000 per year starting out.

Seminar for Safety

To the north, wind energy programs are also

spinning their turbines and gaining speed.In southern Alberta, Canada, LethbridgeCollege has a six-month wind energy traincourse that partners with the BZEE, theEuropean training standard. Lethbridgesprogram has been running for four years, aGreg Peterson, the program administrator,

has some ideas why there is no problem inlling student slots, even six months aheadof time: Were in a good wind location, anwe have a number of commercial wind farin the region.

Peterson says that safety is the rstlesson in training new students to maintainwind turbines. Fatalities, though rare, aregruesome: workers have been electrocutedground to a pulp by rotating machinery, orplunged to their deaths dozens of stories

down. Teaching students to respect thetechnology and the power is key, accordingPeterson. The students have to know whadangers are and how to deal with that, hesays. We have a training tower that studenget regular power climbs, so they can worksafely at heights. Working safely aroundelectricity is also a focus of the program.

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By Katharine Gammon


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power out to the people, local people neebe qualied and trained to take on renewaenergy technologies.

While the U.S. generally trains the negeneration of green jobs candidates insmall schools near wind farms, Europeantechnical schools are full of programs at tMasters level. At the Norwegian Universof Science and Technologys (NTNU) Cefor Renewable Energy in Trondheim, Norstudents from a wide variety of disciplinetake courses in wind energy technology.About two hundred students each yearspecialize in wind energy technology, sayGeir Moe, a professor in the program. Tworld is facing at least two crises: globalwarming and energy shortage, and Norwacan contribute toward getting energy from

Boosting Energy, Boosting Local Spirits

Susan Wolff agrees that safety is one of thebiggest parts of the training program, butthinks that the benets are greater than just jobs created or energy produced. For thecollege, educating students in wind energymeans the prosperity for the community,the local economy, and the workforce, shesays, adding that traditionally the areahas been hard-hit by downturns in thetimber and aluminum smelting industries,traditional employers. We dont have largemanufacturing here, so to bring sustainabledevelopment here is amazing. In the U.S.,wind farms tend to be located in blusteryrural spots with land to spare, so small localcommunity colleges are the best-equippedto train people for nearby jobs.

In Africa, renewable energy institutesare few and far between but the windis still blowing into turbines, and trainedtechnicians are needed. One of the groupstraining local people in renewable energytechnologies is the U.S. and German-ledInternational Energy Academy, located inNigeria. According to the schools director,Alex Olorunfemi, about 120 students havereceived certication in Renewable Energysince April 2008, and most of them go on tobe self-employed in the renewable energysector. The future is bright for wind energyand wind energy education in Africa, addsOlorunfemi. Africas policy makers haverealized that to solve Africas power crisis,wind power would have to be included inenergy portfolio. And in order to get wind

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Win-wincollaboratio40


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When Boeing built airplanes in the past, itneeded an enormous, heavy system of metalframes to accurately place the parts in theirexact locations. This was time-consuming,cumbersome and costly.

But then the global aerospace companydiscovered a technology that could make itsairplane assembly easier. This laser-guidan-ce technology has revolutionised Boeingsproduction process, thanks to a researchcollaboration with the construction industry.

Its always exciting to have companies

from such different industry sectors workingtogether, says Jan Nrlinge, President ofBoeing Northern Europe. In internationalcollaborations we are reaching out all overthe world and looking for partners that cansupport our core business while giving syner-gies to both parties.

Open innovation

Every industry does it - from aerospaceand automobiles to software, shipping

and logistics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,entertainment, and on and on. Theycooperate outside of their branch to discovernew and old technologies or processes thatwill benet each other for win-win situations.

Of course, its possible to get alongwithout collaboration, says Ian Chatting,Vice President, Aero-Mechanical Systems at

Vestas. But as your business grows and yomove into new areas, it becomes difcult thold all that specialist knowledge in-houseBy collaborating with partners, you getaccess to basic specialist knowledge, plusyou often nd situations where two or threheads are better than one alone.

Just look at Vestass history, he says.Some major electrical and mechanicalcomponents were developed almost entirelby our partners. Weve done a lot of work wmaterial suppliers, he says. The current

coating for our turbine blades was developspecially in a partnership with a supplier oanti-grafti paint.

Chattings department is spread outaround the world - Asia, Europe, North Amca - and works with what he calls a cultureopen innovation.

For every person in my department, whave three people externally - at universitieresearch institutions, government agenciesour suppliers. Theyre all working toward

making wind energy ever more affordable,says Chatting. Thats our long-term researmission.

Some projects are very specic, such monitoring the aerodynamic performanceof a new feature on a wind turbine blade.Others are much broader, basic longer-termresearch.

Whether it is with outside industries, universities

or research bodies, R&D collaboration proves that

two heads are better than one.

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By Jack Jackson


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You are sharing the results, so you haveto believe it will be benecial for you andyou will gain at least as much as you put inby being part of the collaboration, Chattingsays.

Exploring new avenues

In March Vestas announced its intentto engage in long-term technologydevelopment projects with Boeing.

There is a strong correlation betweennew technologies needed in the aerospaceindustry and the wind energy business,and by pooling our R&D efforts on specicprojects, both Boeing and Vestas will benet,as well as the environment that we livein, says Boeings Jan Nrlinge. Since we rstmet with Vestas there has been an inow of

ideas where we see potential cooperationwith each other. Recycling of composite ma-terials, for instance. Thats the type of areawhere well start working together to nd outhow to do this better and more efciently.

Other areas of research will include ae-rodynamics, materials science and structuralhealth monitoring.

Theres not an exact template in howto do this, Nrlinge adds. Thats where the

human being comes in. Youre talking witheach other, but also constantly teaching eachother how to do things better, comparingbest practices, benchmarking.

The academic connection

Industries and universities have longfound great benets of working together

on research. Companies gain benets ofcost-effective advances in technology - plpossible future talent - while the schoolsand students gain funding, educationalcredit and hands-on skills and experience.According to statistics from the U.S. NatioScience Foundation, more than 60 per cenof research activity at academic institutionin the U.S. is sponsored by industries.

As one example, the University of

Wisconsin-Madison has formed the Wiscosin Electric Machines and Power ElectronConsortium (WEMPEC) with more than 6companies. Weve had a reputation for myears of being one of the centres of excel-lence for electrical machines and power eltronics, says Dr. Thomas Jahns, WEMPECo-Director and Professor at UW-Madiso

42

Left: Jan Kristiansen, Senior Vice President, Global Research in Vestas. Right: J n Narlinge. President Boeing Northern Europe.


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Our members are manufacturers ofeverything ranging from aircraft engines towashing machines, he says. We work withthem on technology at the pre-competitivelevel that can be applied in a wide range ofpotential applications. Obviously, with 65companies, we cannot focus on proprietaryinformation.

Thomas Jahns says such collaborationsmight look at new types of unorthodoxmachine designs or materials or features -technology that is ve to ten or more yearsaway from commercial production. Some-times, individual WEMPEC members takeresults from a study start up a project withUW aimed at a more specic application ofthe technology.

We do not develop production protot-ypes at our university, stresses ThomasJahns. We develop the stage before that- concept demonstration - which might havea lot of the key characteristics of the nal ap-plication but not all the manufacturing tech-

nology to make it economical in production.Were a state institution and must draw theline where we would be in direct competitionwith the business community. But we want touse the opportunity to develop not only thetechnology but the next generation of scien-tists or engineers to work in these areas.

New Vestas department

Vestas is on the path to become one of thenewest members of WEMPEC. It will be one

of many satellite activities of the new Vestasresearch centre in Houston, Texas, set toopen later this year.

Vestas has a number of other strongresearch collaborations with universities.

Currently we are focused on composi-tes research with a top university in the U.K.and are nalising a long-term collaboration

plan, says Simon Stacey of Vestass newInnovation Network department.

We have also engaged in a number ofaero-mechanical projects at the universitiesin Europe, Asia and the United States - andin some cases we sponsor a signicant rese-arch programme, which can include a Vestasprofessorship and Vestas staff on site atthe university. China is of particular interestat the moment and we are ramping up R&Dactivities in a number of locations.

In January Vestas rolled out the Inno-vation Network to coordinate all of Vestasscollaborations. It will build up a central sourcefor the companys internal knowledge base,help R&D departments to search for strate-gic partners, and set joint research collabora-tions in motion.

Vestas currently collaborates with

the following univeristies and

institutions:

Technical University of DenmarkColorado Renewable EnergyCollaboratory (U.S.)Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity (Singapore)Riso National Laboratory(Denmark)National University of SingaporeTsinghua University (China)CRC-ASC (Australia)Texas A&M University (U.S.)University of Bristol (U.K.)IIT Chennai (India)University of Southampton (U.K.)University of Wisconsin (U.S.)

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Innovationin Vestas

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50

Wind installed Capacity 2006-2008Accu. MW2006 Accu. MW2007 Accu. MW200

Austria 966 983 997

Belgium 222 297 385

Bulgaria 0 18 6

Czech Rep. 0 114 13

Denmark 3,101 3,088 3,159

Estonia 0 55 6

Finland 89 113 11

France 1,585 2,471 3,671

Germany 20,652 22,277 23,933

Greece 862 987 1,102

Hungary 65 16

Ireland (Rep.) 748 807 1,01

Italy 2,118 2,721 3,731

Latvia 0 29 2

Lithuania 0 57 7

Luxembourg 12 12 2

Netherlands 1,557 1,745 2,222

Norway 328 355 385

Poland 170 313 472

Portugal 1,716 2,150 2,829

Rumania 0 15 7

Spain 11,614 14,714 16,453

Sweden 571 789 1,024

Switzerland 11 11 1

Turkey 76 225 51

UK 1,967 2,394 3,263

Rest of Europe: Other East European and Baltic countries. 36 54 6

Total Europe 48,627 56,824 65,971


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Accu. MW2006 Accu. MW2007 Accu. MW2008

Argentina 31 31 33

Brazil 231 392 687

Canada 1,459 1,845 2,371

Costa Rica 79 79 104

Mexico 86 86 332

USA 11,635 16,879 25,237

Other Americas 56 79 153

Total Americas 13,557 19,391 28,918

P.R. China 2,588 5,875 12,121

India 1,84 7,845 9,655

Taiwan 118 224 369

Rest of Asia: Indonesia, N. Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. 28 28

Total South & East Asia 8,963 13,973 22,174

Australia 796 972 1,58

Japan 1,457 1,681 2,033

New Zealand 170 321 325

Pacic Islands 11 11 1

South Korea 194 235 31

Total OECD-Pacic 2,628 3,220 4,272

Egypt 231 310 38

Morocco 122 124 206

Tunisia 28 28 62

Rest of Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Libya, South Africa, etc. 6 6 4

Total Africa 386 469 696

Middle East: Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, etc. (excl. Egypt) 101 101

Transition Economies: incl. Russia, White Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, etc. 23 26.7 2

Total other continents and areas: 124 127.4 127.4


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