“According to our latest forecast, the international wind markets grew by 40.5% in 2005, generating some €12 billion worth of new generating equipment. In 2005 alone, 11.5 GW were installed worldwide, bringing the total up to 59.1 GW with 40.5 in Europe. This represents a growth of 24% in total installed wind capacity” said Arthouros Zervos, President of EWEA, at the opening ceremony in Hamburg on 16 May.

Wind is indeed the world’s fastest growing energy source. In ten years time, the sector has moved from a practically ignored industry to a major player in the current energy mix. Wind currently meets the electricity needs of more than 100 million people and has surpassed nuclear in terms of new installations since 1999.

The opening session of this third WindEnergy fair trade was also the opportunity for the President of EWEA to express his vision for the future of the entire wind sector: “Industry scenario projections show that wind power can reach 300 GW in Europe by 2030. With clear European targets and clear choices for an energy which is clean, free, indigenous and inexhaustible, wind can meet 23% of European power demand in 25 years time.”

Arthouros Zervos ended his speech reminding EWEA’s call for mandatory targets to be adopted for 2020. “Targets for renewables should be ambitious and in line with the recommendation of the European Parliament”, added Mr Zervos.

During four days, the New Hamburg Fair, was the ideal forum for turbine manufacturers and component suppliers, planners, finance institutes, measurement and certification agencies and experts from research and development.

A particular focus on the second day of the event was on the offshore market, with presentations from a number of offshore turbine manufacturers, including Nordex, Siemens, GE and REpower. Among those organisations promoting their contribution to the coming offshore boom were the Offshore Energies Competence Network Rostock, providing information on developments off the coast of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, the Warnemünde Shipping Institute, which is preparing for installation of the Fino II research platform in the Baltic Sea, and the Windenergie-Agentur Bremerhaven/Bremen, whose twelve member companies highlighted progress in the North Sea. Construction and logistics companies were also represented.

The exhibition was supported by a busy conference programme under the banner of dialog@WindEnergy, with three distinct forums. The Topics Forum covered issues such as exports, servicing and grid expansion, with panel discussions on the offshore market and finance and insurance. Both CEOs and technical directors from a number of leading manufacturing and development companies took part in separate roundtable Presentations were given in a finance and insurance session by the Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank and Marsh AG. Other financing and insurance companies represented at the event included the KfW Bank Group, WPD, Voltwerk, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Commerzbank.

The National Forum included presentations on the legal, political and commercial conditions in 25 key international markets. The Exhibitor Forum enabled manufacturers, equipment suppliers and project developers to present their product innovations and services.

A special seminar on the potential for wind energy in Asia was organised by the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) together with the German Energy Agency (DENA), the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) and the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). Company representatives and industry experts provided information on market opportunities and risks in Japan, South Korea, India and China.