The snow has covered Finland again and there is very little daylight… Regardless, The Switchians are staying busy. Development projects are bustling – and deliveries are being shipped out. At the same time, our Key Account Managers are still bringing orders in… Just as Santa gets ready to do his rounds, our year-end commitments are keeping us focused on the work at hand.
Last month’s HUSUM WindEnergy exhibition gave us firm proof that the wind power business is moving ahead again. We’re seeing movement from all different directions and positive signs that the worst may now be over. Bigger and better turbines are currently being developed to respond to future market requirements.
The wind power business has experienced difficulties over the years in different continents. In 2009, the financial crisis squeezed money from the European market. In 2010, the US market slowed down. And most recently, China cooled in 2011.
We have been able to navigate in this turbulent environment, even though The Switch, too, has experienced challenges. Many potential projects have not turned into the planned volume production. Many of our customers have experienced challenges to enter the market, changed ownership or have given up on the wind turbine business.
We have analyzed our success factors – and come to the conclusion that we embrace certain rights, giving The Switch the freedom and ability to excel even during hard times.
All over the world, politicians see the opportunity for job growth in the renewable energy business. For example here in the US, the economy and job creation is one of the key themes in the ongoing primaries and the upcoming presidential election.
The wind and solar power industries offer opportunities to create more good-paying jobs for the local manufacturing industry, particularly as in the past these type of jobs have largely moved to low-cost countries with inexpensive labor, such as China, India, Vietnam and others. In many cases, the job creation opportunity is of higher political interest than concerns about global warming or even the western world’s heavy dependence on imported oil.
What counts is the total cost, not purchase cost. This was one of the main themes that was identified at the international IQPC Wind Turbine Supply Chain management conference in August in Germany. Speaking about The Switch agility to meet market demand fluctuations at the conference, Simon Hewitt, Global Sourcing Manager at The Switch, discussed demands for greater manufacturing flexibility, an effective risk management strategy and ways to adapt the wind turbine supply chain to demand fluctuations.
The growing global demand of rare earth metals combined with China’s ever-tightening grip on the material keep pushing up the magnet prices. While we at The Switch don’t think that the price trend can last for too long, we understand that the matter is of great concern for the wind power industry. To tackle with this alarming situation and to meet future needs, the industry needs to change its perspective to open up to new opportunities.
The Switch has done intense research and development to reduce the amount of magnets needed for the production of permanent magnet generators. Based on the successful testing of 20 different machine types, we are in a unique position to make third generation permanent magnet machines. By combining our extensive field experience with our state-of-the-art design methods, not only do we have the skills to produce classical machines but we can also bring new innovation to the permanent magnet generators field.
So Germany decided to ditch nuclear power by 2022 and largely replace the lost nuclear energy with renewables, such as wind and solar. Hurrah! We at The Switch think it is a great decision for Germany as well as for the whole wind power industry.
To shut down all of Germany’s nuclear reactors and to launch an “energy revolution” (as chancellor Merkel appropriately calls it) is a bold move. And we hope Germany will manage to set an example so that other countries will embark on this sustainable path, too.
Attention: Chinese wind power manufacturers! We know that you are eyeing the West. Speaking last week to a house full of Chinese business and trade journalists at The Switch media business luncheon in Beijing, Celia Sun from MAKE consulting company listed a few approaches and risks you may want to consider when entering new markets.
According to MAKE’s Chief Representative in China, regulatory and technical barriers in mature markets may become a hindrance to the overseas business development plans of Chinese companies. To a large extent, this is true. However, as we at The Switch know very well, some of the Chinese wind turbines are already ‘powered by’ Western technologies, such as The Switch’s permanent-magnet generators and full-power converters.
“Industry observers predict China will be a net importer of rare earth materials by the year 2015. These observers believe China will not be able to supply even their own rare earth requirements for Clean Energy. Non-Chinese participants need to realize that all the stakeholders outside of China need to cooperate with one another to create those supply chains that can be globally competitive and diverse”, said Keith Delaney, Executive Director of REITA, Rare Earth Industry and Technology Association.
For the third time, The Switch took part in the EWEA wind power exhibition which brought over 8000 professionals last week to Brussels, Belgium. True to The Switch permanent magnet generator technology solutions, we discussed our offering with many of our booth visitors, and, once again, it became obvious that permanent magnet generator technology has really become the preferred choice for the wind power industry.
And if EWEA 2011 was the global water cooler of our industry, our revolutionary power train solution, FusionDrive™, successfully launched last September at the Husum Wind Energy 2010 with Moventas, seems to have become a top trending topic.
Competition in the global wind market has never been greater. Therefore, the Danish wind industry is aware that new technology development is more important than ever. Also at the governmental level, there is a common interest to secure Danish workplaces and Danish exports.
After last year’s shocking staff reductions at Vestas, the Danish government presented a proposal for a future New Energy policy that represents a long trail towards 2050 and comes with a number of concrete initiatives for 2020. The proposals have been received with praise in the wind industry.
This week, The Switch participated in the 2011 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. A number of leading minds gathered here this week, including heads of state, economists, CEOs and other private sector representatives, to discuss sustainable development and economy from local perspective.
The notion of a Green Economy has gained momentum in recent years due to increased understanding of the links between the environment and the economy, and the emergence of climate change as a major global priority. If our future is to be in any way assured, our economies need to achieve human well-being without destroying the environment on which that well-being depends.
