We just have to ride the wave with our partners through market cycles and challenges in developing cutting-edge drive solutions.
This fall has been very busy finalizing new developments and bringing new products to the market. As the general market growth is slowing down and some markets are clearly contracting, we have been grateful that our business has continued to proceed quite well.
Cyclicality is typical in our selected business areas, and we must just manage these fluctuations. Therefore, we are starting to review ongoing projects with our customers and look for business opportunities for new growth together. No one company can do this alone; it requires the entire supply chain to tackle slowdown situations together.
As a company, we’ve always worked closely with our partners. Much of our success has been derived from this collaboration. We have learned the importance of being flexible in our response – not only when the market is growing, but also when there are project-based delays or changes in demand. At the same time, we are looking for ways to optimize our own processes and lower the costs of our products.
We have selected markets that clearly support global megatrends. Offshore wind power, for instance, will be a real factor in the energy transition to renewable energy sources. Just in September, for a selected six offshore wind projects with a total capacity of nearly 5,500 MW, the UK saw a strike price, a guaranteed price paid to electricity wholesale generators, as low as GBP 36.65/MWh, representing a decrease of 30% over the strike price in 2017.
Today, offshore wind is as competitive as any new electricity production, especially now that many countries have decided to close nuclear power plants – or even some approved nuclear projects have been stalled indefinitely. This makes sense, as the UK Hinkley Point nuclear power plant project, for example, requires guaranteed energy prices of more than double that of wind power.
On the marine side, tightening IMO regulations are strongly dictating the designs of new vessels. Old ships are being quickly retrofitted with scrubbers and hybrid solutions to meet the upcoming 2020 requirements. There also seems to be high demand for new shuttle tankers. They have the latest drive technologies designed in from the start and proving the relevance of our offering.
With our high-speed motors, we can see a strong trend in numerous industries toward optimizing processes. The main drivers for this are energy savings and compliance with emission regulations.
We are happy to be in specific markets that are enjoying a positive outlook. Still, all our business areas need the very best efforts from our entire organization to complete developments on time and produce products that meet our customers’ needs.
The use of renewable and energy-efficient power has become a global standard of cleaner living for all of us. And we’re proud and passionate to be part of making our world a bit brighter.
Thanks for working closely with us toward this goal!
J-P