Medium Wind - UK Potential

Session B7 | Day 2, Wed 26 Oct, 14.30-15.45 | Charter 1, Ground Floor

In the 18 months since the introduction of the Feed-in tariff in April 2010, many things have changed and many lessons have been learned. We will hear from those active in the sector, their experiences and market expectations for the year ahead.

• Chair: Julian Martin, ICE Renewables Ltd
• Mike Blanch, BVG Associates
• Andy Strowbridge, Windflow Technology Ltd
• Rachel Solomon Williams, Department for Energy and Climate Change
• Frank Hoogers, Wind Energy Solutions

Chair:
Julian Martin, CEO, ICE Renewables Ltd and Chair of the RenewableUK Medium Wind Sub Group

Julian is the Co founder, Chairman and CEO for ICE Renewables Ltd. He is the inaugural Chairman of the RenewableUK Medium Wind Group, which is tasked with developing the first UK turbine design and installation Standard for the rapidly growing UK medium wind market. Julian is also a Government advisor on the Feed-in Tariffs, representing meduim wind, with regular meetings with the Department of Energy and Climate Change. He is a Supply Chain & Change Management expert and has a lifelong passion for the environment and a determination to minimize the effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaker:
Mike Blanch, Associate Director, BVG Associates

Growing Medium Wind in the UK
At the 2010 conference I discussed how to make the most of medium wind turbine technology. I look back over the year as to what has happened in medium wind as such turbines are being installed in small but increasing numbers. I will highlight the changes seen and the technologies currently available on the market, and the types of medium wind turbines now installed in the UK. I will look at the features of the emerging market, the arising supply chain opportunities, identify UK strengths, and how UK companies can increase their share of the action. I will also discuss the development approaches taken to determining suitable sites and some pitfalls to avoid.

Mike Blanch is a Chartered Engineer with 20 years experience in wind energy. He leads BVG Associates’ offering in the medium wind space including site assessment and development, and turbine technical innovation and supply chain development. His broad expertise includes site selection, feasibility, development, wind resource assessment, energy yield calculation, technology reviews, due diligence contract review, independent audit, construction monitoring, valuation, financing and policy reports, market analysis, supply chain development, and testing management. Mike was a founding member of Westmill Wind Farm Coop that built the 100% community owned 6.5 MW Westmill Wind Farm which came online in February 2008.

Speaker:
Andy Strowbridge, UK Sales Manager, Windflow Technology Ltd

Medium Wind - Voice of the Customer And Implications For Industry
Is there a real market for medium-sized wind turbines? Why have the major manufacturers not paid it much attention? If there is a market, then who are the customers? What is it that they want from the turbines and service providers across the various phases of the project?
As so few medium-sized projects have been built in the UK the answers are not available from traditional data sources, such as RenewableUK’s UK Wind Energy Database. To gain insight into customer requirements a survey has been conducted of existing and potential customers of medium-sized turbines, addressing requirements across the full project lifecycle. Survey findings, “the voice of the customer”, are summarised and presented. Conclusions are drawn as to those issues which can be addressed by turbine manufacturers, those which can be addressed by service providers such as resellers and O&M providers, and those which are best addressed by the industry coming together to agree common ways of working appropriate for medium-wind.

Andy joined Windflow as UK Sales Manager earlier this year where his role is to develop successful business with Developers, Lenders and Investors across the UK. He is based in London and frequently travels frequently on business to Scotland. He is an experienced engineer, project manager and business consultant and has a Masters degree in Engineering and post-graduate Certificate in Design, Manufacture and Management from Cambridge University. In the early '90s he worked for Wind Energy Group Ltd for four years where he looked after manufacturing and built some of the first UK windfarms. Since then he has worked as a business consultant for Coopers & Lybrand, PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting and most recently as a senior manager with IBM Global Business Services, where he focused on performance improvement for firms with complex technical products.

Speaker:
Rachel Solomon Williams, Head, Feed-in Tariff Review, Office for Renewable Energy Deployment, Department for Energy and Climate Change

Update on the Comprehensive Review of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme
Rachel will provide an update on the comprehensive review of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme.

Rachel leads work on Feed-in Tariffs policy within the Office for Renewable Deployment (ORED) in DECC. ORED has the job within Government of ensuring that it meets challenging targets for renewable energy, and staff work closely with delivery partners and stakeholders to help accelerate deployment. Rachel’s career before joining ORED has encompassed a variety of energy and environment roles within DECC and Defra, including taking the Climate Change Bill through Parliament, and has also spent a year on secondment to Tesco.

Speaker:
Frank Hoogers, Managing Director, Wind Energy Solutions

Mid Wind Installations: The Practice

With a new market for the mid wind turbines in the UK many stakeholders face their challenges. From the wind turbine manufacturer expecting higher volumes, the developer facing lack of know- how, the planning officer dealing with issues he never dealt with, the DNO where requests for grid connections are floating in, the customer trying to understand this new technology he is investing in, up to the bank looking for security and a DECC preparing a FIT review. As a relative outsider from The Netherlands, WES Managing Director Frank Hoogers oversees in his presentation the above challenges and their effect on several wind turbine installations.

Frank Hoogers is Managing Director of Wind Energy Solutions in The Netherlands, has been active in the wind industry since 2002. After obtaining his master degree in Business Administration he further developed his skills in the international steel industry. He left this business in 2002 picking up the challenge of renewable energy. Hoogers started WES and the manufacturing of 80 and 250kWatt turbines in 2003. Where the wind industry was focusing on multi-megawatt, Hoogers developed a patented wind-diesel hybrid system beating the high cost of diesel generated electricity at small remote islands. WES is member of Renewable UK and Hoogers is active in the Mid Wind Strategy Group.