Industry insiders know that the market for service – and specifically the need for high-quality, flexible services – has been growing continuously for years. Even if European countries have jointly defined their climate policies and goals, the expansion of wind energy is something that individual countries have to take care of themselves. For this reason, it is directly determined by national economic and political interests and framework conditions, which is also reflected in different country-specific service cultures. In some markets, turbine service is still firmly in the hands of system manufacturers. In others, freely selectable service by independent providers has been a fixture in the market for a long time. Deutsche Windtechnik is very much involved in this development: With the expansion of its subsidiaries in Europe, the UK, the United States and Taiwan, it was able to make a significant contribution to breaking up the monopoly of manufacturers in some of the service markets. Many of its clients are expanding along with the booming markets and are relying on Deutsche Windtechnik as a stable and yet highly flexible service partner for their growth. This is both the motivation and the driving force behind the company's business activities.
Competition strengthens the entire wind industry
The UK is a good example: The country is planning major long-term investments in the further expansion of offshore wind energy. To match pace with these stated goals, Deutsche Windtechnik set up a new unit to provide maintenance for offshore wind farms in addition to its onshore unit in the UK last year. Deutsche Windtechnik's entry into the offshore market as a high-performance full-service provider with many years of offshore experience increases the competition in the British service sector, and this will have a positive effect on British offshore wind energy as a whole.
Multi-brand – focusing on more than just one type of system
The range of system technologies for which service is required is also changing. For example, wind turbine manufacturers are now increasingly engaging in multi-brand competition themselves. At the same time, some operators are positioning themselves as 'self-performers' by managing the service of their wind portfolio themselves or by acquiring corresponding companies. The few real ISPs, among which Deutsche Windtechnik is the provider with the largest multi-brand portfolio, are also growing due to strong demand.
Developing specific competencies further
In order to further expand its multi-brand expertise, Deutsche Windtechnik focuses its technological know-how at turbine-specific competence centres. These then provide knowledge and experience to other markets. For example, the competence centre for Gamesa technology is located in Spain. Building upon its many years of experience in providing maintenance for Gamesa turbines from type G42 to G97, the Spanish unit was able to take over maintenance for Gamesa G114 turbines for the first time in 2021/22. At the same time, over the last two years, Spain has begun to provide other locations of Deutsche Windtechnik with maintenance know-how for Gamesa turbines, including France, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In the medium term, maintenance will also be provided for Gamesa turbines in North America.
Making wind energy strong together
Other country units of Deutsche Windtechnik are also working on integrating new technologies into their service portfolios. This is often done together with clients who are active at an international level. Existing contracts are being rolled out to new markets and expanded to include new technologies. For example, since the end of 2019, ENGIE and Deutsche Windtechnik have signed several service contracts in various countries, thereby gradually expanding their Europe-wide cooperation for the maintenance of wind turbines. Most recently, a wind farm in Poland was added to the wind farms in France, Benelux and Germany. The wind turbines operated by ENGIE include various technologies from well-known manufacturers – and maintenance is provided by a single service company.
