NGlobal Magazin 01-2010

Niedersachsen Global www.nglobal.de 28 Energy by Inka Ziegenhagen They symbolize the trend towards alternative energies and it is difficult to picture Niedersachsen without them: over 5,268 wind turbines are located between the Harz mountains and the North Sea. With an installed capacity of 6,400 megawatt they feed almost one quarter of Germany’s wind energy into the grid—more cli- mate friendly energy than any other region in the federal republic contributes. And this is not just thanks to Niedersachsen’s breezy geophysics, wind technology in the federal state is going strong, too. The “East Frisian Bill Gates” Aloys Wobben from Aurich has had a say in this from the very beginning. Today, “Mr. Wind”, as he is called, is a household name in Niedersachsen. Over 25 years ago, when he started to look into the wind power business and founded the com- pany Enercon, the sector was still in its infancy. Among the components used not a single one was fully developed in terms of technology. The main problem though was the grid. Then wind parks were connected directly to the grid and the turbines moved at a set speed. Given that the grid functions at a monotonous 50 hertz, the wind turbines were hardly running with maximum efficiency. Wobben, of course, found this to be a highly unsatisfactory situation, even more so since he was then already keenly aware of the wind’s immense potential. His aim was to uncouple the turbines from the grid. In 1984 Wobben and his small team hired a hall where they devised a frequency converter. When the manufac- turers he cooperated with did not go along with his idea, Wobben decided to build the complete plants himself. Enercon’s first commercially used turbine was erected in 1986 on the site of a furniture company. The turbine is still in use. Ste- fan Behrends, the company’s first apprentice, remembers, “At the time we were a dozen employees. Our ‘production site’ was a work- shop which was just about big enough for two cars. The warehouse had enough space for two E-16. Once we had finished two of them, we had to put them up to have space to produce more.” When he explained who he was working for, people used to smile at him. Then the company moved to their own premises in 1991 and started series production, and it dawned on some that this might turn into a big thing. It did. Changing Gears—to Gearless In the early 90s Aloys Wobben took a decision which was to become the cornerstone of the company’s glo- bal reputation. After many years of dedicated research and development, he introduced his masterpiece to the market: the first series-produced gearless direct drive turbine. This was a ground-breaking develop- ment, equivalent to a revolution on the wind energy market. Up until then half of all turbine breakdowns were due to gearbox problems. “We were market leaders for the E-32 then,” remem- bers Wobben, “and we stopped production of the E-32 although it was selling well.” Today the gearless drive is the trademark of the Aurich-made turbines. Since the number of rotating components is small, friction is kept to a minimum. Mechanical strain, op- erating and maintenance costs were reduced, the tur- bines’ working life was extended. Wobben was also looking for ways to reduce the charge on the rotor (i.e. the drum). The result of his efforts were adjust- able rotor blades which are able to turn around their own axis moving out of the wind if need be. From 55 to 7,500 Kilowatt Today’s high tech installations have little in common with the first turbine models. Whereas the early E-15 turbine, in small series, had a rated power of 55 kilo- watt, today’s turbines can reach a maximum capacity of 7,500 kilowatt with a hub height of 135 metres. Along with the size of the turbines’ towers and their capacity, turnover at Enercon moved up, too. Just from 1995 to 2006, the company’s turnover increased more than fivefold to 1.8 billion euros. In 2008, the figure rose to 2.8 billion euros. Research & Development Over the last few decades Niedersachsen has realized considerable achieve- ments in the power supply through wind energy. Much of this is owed to the research and development conducted in the federal state—such as ForWind. The joint centre for wind energy research of the universities of Oldenburg, Han- nover and Bremen is the largest national association of its kind. The centre was founded in 2003 with the support of the federal state of Niedersachsen and carries out fundamental research in areas such as offshore meteorology, wind power forecasting, grid connections as well as in the assessment of installa- tions’ working life. ForWind also organizes further education and training for professionals in the wind industry. The joint centre has a strategic partnership with DEWI, the German Wind Energy Institute in Wilhelmshaven. As one of the leading international consultants in the field of wind energy, DEWI offers a wide range of wind energy related measurement services, energy analysis and stud- ies as well as technological, economical and political consultancy.