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1 Dec 2017
12 Basque companies and entities have taken part in the joint "Wind Energy Basque Country" stand at the WindEurope Conference & Exhibition 2017 in Amsterdam, where they have shown their technological capacities and first line auxiliary services. The Minister Arantxa Tapia informed that the next edition of the WindEurope event will take place in the Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC) in 2019, and it is expected to bring together more than 8,000 professionals and 500 companies from all over the world.
A wide range of Basque entities were present at this year’s edition of the most important wind energy fair in Europe, a sign of the Basque country’s capacity and potential in the sector. The Basque industry was represented by a total of 17 technology corporations and companies, project developers, auxiliary services developers and research entities. They presented their differential offer and capacities across the entire wind value chain, from technology provision to manufacturing of all the sections of a wind turbine, as well as operation and maintenance for both on-shore and off-shore wind farms.
The Basque Energy Cluster has managed the participation of 12 Basque companies and entities that have shared the joint 255 m2 stand under the brand “Wind Energy Basque Country”, promoted by the Basque Government through the EVE. The exhibiting companies on the stand were Kimua Group, Regenblade, Supra, Erreka Fastening Solutions, Laulagun Bearings, Ormazabal, Haizea Wind Group, Maxwind Technology, Saitec Offshore Technologies, Nautilus Floating Solutions, and the research centres WindBox and BiMEP. The other Basque companies that also took part in the event with their own stands were Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Nem Solutions, Hine, Ingeteam and Global Energy Services (GES). This presence has put a value on the capacities of Basque companies as well as the technological and testing infrastructures available in the Basque Country. In his speech on the 29th, Giles Bickson, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association, thanked the Basque Country for its involvement in developing the sector with important perspectives for the future. Arantxa Tapia, the Minister for Economic Development and Infrastructures also took part in the Wind Europe event and was able to find out about the technological solutions offered by the Basque companies exhibiting at the joint stand; the companies associated with the Energy Cluster have showcased their own technological developments as well as the capacities of an entire network of auxiliary service companies for on-shore and off-shore wind farm operation, management and maintenance. The Minister thanked the Basque companies for their presence in Amsterdam and emphasised the high level that the Basque wind power industry has achieved from an industrial and a technological point of view. There are currently 105 companies in the Basque Country working in the wind energy sector, employing 15,000 people, around 1,000 of which are focussed on research and development. It is a sector that has a turnover of 7,322 million euros. The Minister highlighted the importance and the strength of the Basque wind industry value chain. The Basque Government's energy strategy sets ambitious objectives in terms of developing renewable energy sources by 2030. It aims to triple its usage so that 21% of the final energy consumption in the Basque Country comes from renewable sources. Currently 7% of Basque energy needs are supplied by renewable energy, so this objective means increasing this rate by 126%. Iñigo Ansola, Managing Director of EVE, pointed out that the Basque energy policy is fully aligned with the background that makes trade fairs such as the one in Amsterdam or the future event at the BEC possible because “developing renewable energy is a priority on our daily work, especially taking into account the strength of the Basque industrial fabric that has positioned itself as a leader in terms of delivering technological and competitive solutions for this sector”. The Basque Country stand also became one of the main meeting points for the sector, as many B2B meetings also took place over the course of the 3-day conference.
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