Aerial View
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The Renewable Energy Trade Mission to
Europe
Patrick Graham, PE |
Patrick Graham joined Maine Governor John Baldacci and other
Maine organizations on a renewable energy trade mission to Spain
and Germany. A daily log follows:
Sunday, September 20
We arrived in Madrid, Spain, and traveled by van to the Intercontinental
Hotel in downtown Madrid. We arrived midday and had a little time
Sunday afternoon to wander the streets of Madrid before gathering
as a delegation for dinner and a briefing by the local staff of
the US Commercial Service and the US Embassy. The Commercial Service
staff prepared us well with a good description of the Spanish wind
energy market, which is the third largest in the world and includes
the fourth largest energy company in the world, Iberdrola. Iberdrola’s
Renewables Division is the world’s largest wind power company by
installed generation capacity.
Monday, September 21
Our Monday was filled with meetings with five different Spanish
companies and organizations ranging from project developers and
energy companies to the Spanish renewable energy association APPA.
Our team, led by Reed & Reed and including Sargent Corporation,
Sprague Energy, Maine Port Authority and Sewall, had very productive
meetings with Iberdrola Renovables, Gamesa and Acciona, which all
have developed projects in the the US and are interested in pursuing
additional development opportunities. Our contacts in Spain have
already started establishing contacts for our team with their US
divisions to discuss future development opportunities in the Northeast.
Monday night included the State of Maine briefing by Governor Baldacci
and PUC Commissioner Cashman, which was followed by a reception
sponsored by Reed & Reed. The briefing and reception included
over 90 attendees and was a good source of more international contacts.
Tuesday, September 22
On Tuesday we traveled by high speed train (speeds upwards of 300
km/hr – approximately 180 mph) to Zaragoza for the International
Wind Power Expo, an annual conference and exhibition of companies
active in the European wind energy sector. We were informed by the
expo organizers that the Maine delegation was the first group from
the US to attend their conference. The Reed & Reed team met
with several exhibiting companies to discuss their interest in the
US market, including Ynfiniti Engineering Services and a second
meeting with Acciona. While touring the exhibit floor, I met with
the Technical Director of Normawind, a company that specializes
in wind resource assessment, turbine layout validation and third-party
project management. Normawind is working across Europe and South
America, and has interest in expanding into US market.
Wednesday, September 23
Wednesday was a travel day taking us from Madrid through Paris to
Bremen, Germany. The climate and landscape is very different between
the two cities, with Bremen being much more similar to Maine. We
travelled by bus from the airport to our hotel, the Park Hotel located
on Der Bürgerpark (the peoples' park) in Bremen. We gathered as
a delegation that evening for dinner with staff from the US Commercial
Service in Bremen and prepared for our meetings of the next two
days.
Thursday, September 24
Early Thursday morning we loaded the bus and traveled to Bremerhaven,
which is a port city located on the North Sea approximately 65 km
north of Bremen. We were given a tour of the Luneort area of Bremerhaven,
which has been developed as a wind technology park containing a
concentration of various companies involved in different aspects
of onshore and offshore wind development. Our tour included the
REpower Systems manufacturing facility in Luneort, where REpower
assembles the nacelles for their 5MW wind turbine. These nacelles
are enormous, being the size of small house and weighing over 142
tons. The Reed & Reed team had several interesting and productive
meetings during the day with German companies interested in the
US market, including WeserWind (fabricator and installer of offshore
foundation structures), HOCHTIEF Construction (civil engineering
and marine construction firm) and PowerWind (manufacturer of 0.9MW
and 2.5MW wind turbines). On Thursday night there was another State
of Maine briefing by Governor Baldacci and Commissioner Cashman
that was followed by a well-attended reception at the Park Hotel
and further discussion with our contacts.
Friday, September 25
Friday was a less hectic day and a nice winddown to the end of the
Trade Mission. Our team met in the morning with wpd Offshore Service
GmbH. This is the offshore division of wpd, a German renewable energy
project developer, owner and operator. wpd has installed over 2,000
MW of onshore wind turbines and is now focusing on offshore wind
project development. To date, they have developed five offshore
projects, including three in the Baltic Sea and two in the North
Sea, and are looking to the US market for future opportunities.
Reflecting over the past week, there is no question in my mind that
this has been a valuable trip, with solid contacts made for future
opportunities and collaboration.
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