News

DEWEK Press Release (17.11.2010)

10th German Wind Energy Conference DEWEK 2010
Congress Centrum Bremen, 17 and 18 November 2010

More and more multi-national companies have discovered wind energy as a growth market and are getting involved in the production of wind turbines as well as the development and operation of on- and offshore wind farms. By the end of 2010, wind farms all over the world with a total installed power of 200,000 MW will generate electricity in an environmentally friendly manner. The predicted further annual growth of 20 % shows that wind energy has already become an indispensable energy source for humankind.

In Germany, after many years of intensive technical and political preparatory work, the construction of deepwater offshore wind farms has started - a much higher technical challenge than the nearshore wind farms erected in northern Europe so far. The offshore test site „alpha ventus“ 45 km off the coast of Lower Saxony is the pioneer of these deepwater wind farms, and the experience gained there, along with the German research projects focussing on offshore applications, will be an important contribution towards improving the reliability of this technology. Large German and European utilities are investing in these North Sea offshore wind farms which one day will be able to supply electricity for more than 14,000,000 households.

Until then, many questions are still awaiting an answer and practical experience must be gathered. What can be done for example to reduce the weather-related problems of offshore logistics, what methods can be implemented to automate the rotor blade production and how can the foundation structures subject to extreme dynamical load be designed for 20 years of safe operation? What are the options for grid connection and what is the best way to distribute the energy flows in a North Sea grid and to bring them ashore?

These and many other subjects together with the latest findings of research and development will be presented on 17/18 November at the 10th German Wind Energy Conference (DEWEK 2010) in Bremen. 105 papers and over 80 posters will be presented to the 600 participants. During session breaks the delegates can visit the exhibition to get more information about wind energy technology and to network with colleagues and exhibitors. On the day after the conference, a one-day excursion is offered with visits to the production plant of a 5 MW offshore wind turbine, another 5 MW wind turbine in operation in Bremerhaven and to two manufacturing plants for offshore foundations in Cuxhaven.  

This German Wind Energy Conference attended by scientists and engineers from 30 countries is organised by DEWI GmbH- German Wind Energy Institute from Wilhelmshaven. With seven subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and North- and South America, DEWI is supporting wind turbine manufacturers, wind farm developers and operators in meanwhile 47 countries in developing the environmentally friendly power generation from wind energy. The DEWEK 2010 therefore is also a meeting place for the many engineers and scientists having business relations with DEWI. During breaks or at the dinner the conference offers the much appreciated opportunity to talk shop with colleagues not seen for a long time, and the conference dinner in the cellar vaults of the historical town hall of Bremen, quite apart from the dinner itself, will be a special experience and offers the chance to see more of the beautiful Hanseatic city of Bremen.