Closing Report
Premiere of WindEnergy Hamburg exceeds expectations
Good attendance by international visitors, high level of exhibitor satisfaction
WindEnergy Hamburg – The global on- & offshore expo
at the Hamburg Fair site until 26 September
Hamburg, 26 September 2014 / WEHH-15
It was an ideal start for the new event, WindEnergy Hamburg, which came to a close on Friday
after four exhibition days at the Hamburg Fair site. “It was simply fantastic,” says Bernd
Aufderheide, President and CEO Hamburg Messe und Congress. “The industry accepted its new
leading global expo right away. We have received congratulations from many exhibitors on this
highly successful premiere. A great success for us,” he said in summary. “The companies clearly
met the right customers and did good business. And the visitors were very satisfied.”
The new leading fair clearly demonstrated its international character – more than 33,000 trade
visitors from all parts of the world were there, getting information on the latest products and
services from 1,250 exhibitors from 33 nations. A third of visitors were from outside of Germany,
including 24 delegations from 22 countries. “It was evident that Hamburg has gained the
recognition of the companies and the trade visitors as the ideal location for the leading wind
industry fair,” added Bernd Aufderheide.
The importance of the fair location was emphasised by Olaf Scholz, Mayor of Hamburg, who noted
that “the Metropolitan Region of Hamburg is not only home to the top manufacturers of wind
turbines and wind farms. A great many small and medium-sized companies also have their
headquarters here and their resources for project development, installation and maintenance.
There is no question about it – Hamburg is the capital of the wind industry. And that is underscored
by the success of WindEnergy Hamburg. It is a good thing that this expo is being held with us here
in the North.”
The major points which visitors liked about the event included the good opportunities to make
international contacts here, the comprehensive presentation of innovations, and the attractions of
Hamburg as the venue. There was a great deal of interest in energy storage technology, which
was additionally presented at H2Expo industry fair, held in parallel to WindEnergy Hamburg. The
expert presentations were also very well attended. As Bernd Aufderheide said, “the results showed
that the focus on Energy Storage was exactly right here.”
A representative visitor survey conducted by an independent market research agency showed that
half the visitors were from the decision-making level of their companies. The visitors at
WindEnergy Hamburg showed equal interest in onshore and offshore. The main focus of interest
was on wind turbine manufacturers, followed by research and development. The high level of
expertise on the part of visitors was emphasised as very positive by a large number of exhibitors
(see Exhibitor Opinions in the attachment/link).
The success of this first WindEnergy Hamburg was confirmed by German and international
associations of the industry. Gerd Krieger, Deputy Managing Director of VDMA Power Systems,
said “it was undoubtedly the right decision to hold an international wind industry fair in Hamburg.
Our members are more than satisfied with WindEnergy Hamburg 2014. It far exceeded our
expectations throughout the event. It produced high-quality discussions with national and above all
international customers. WindEnergy Hamburg 2014 has established itself as the platform for the
international wind industry.”
Hermann Albers, President of the German Wind Association BWE, said “The industry presented
the whole of its value chain at WindEnergy Hamburg. This is an industry with strong growth rates
and ever increasing importance for the German economy and the German labour market. We are
pleased with the great interest shown in the supporting events, run by organisations such as BWE,
and with the good visitor figures, underscoring the importance of this exhibition in Hamburg, the
Gateway to the World.”
Steve Sawyer, General Secretary Global Wind Energy Council – GWEC: “I think it has been a
great show. It’s packed, and all the members I have talked to at their stands are happy they came
here. Everybody seems to be happy with the exhibition. Hamburg is a nice city, I’ve enjoyed being
here. It’s all easy to navigate. We have Indian governmental official delegations here, colleagues
from Brazil, from South Africa, from Turkey, and of course the majority is the industry based here in
Europe. So there is quite a good smattering of international participants.”
And Peter Becker, Managing Director Messe Husum & Congress, was pleased with the success of
the premiere of WindEnergy Hamburg – “This high-quality international wind industry fair has been
successfully established in Hamburg. At the same time, the team from Messe Husum has met with
a very good response for HUSUM Wind 2015 – we are organising this industry fair with a focus on
the German-language market in cooperation with Hamburg Messe und Congress. On 14 October
we are also inviting wind pioneers and trailblazers, wind researchers and technology experts to the
25th Anniversary of HUSUM Wind.”
WindEnergy Hamburg will be held again in 2016 at the Hamburg Fair site, from 27 to
30 September.
Exhibitor Opinions at WindEnergy Hamburg 2014
Asociación Argentina de Energia Eólica, Dr. Carlos Badano, Senior Project Developer:
“It is excellent. This is the most important exhibition worldwide for the wind industry. It is highly
international, and presents a tremendous bandwidth of technologies. So it is the best platform to
meet people from a wide range of different areas in wind energy. We are mainly looking for
investors, because we have huge wind resources in Argentina.”
Danish Wind Export Association and Danish Wind Industry Association, Rikke Berg, General
Manager: “We really are positively surprised both at the performance of the exhibition area and at
the attendance of highly qualified visitors. For the Danish Pavilion it has certainly been a success
so far. We have a lot of satisfied exhibitors this year. There is no doubt that the international aim
set up prior to the exhibition seems to be fulfilled.”
Enercon, Hans-Dieter Kettwig, Managing Director: “We are highly satisfied with Hamburg. The
infrastructure is good and the international public accepts this venue very well because access is
easy. We can only congratulate Hamburg on this exhibition performance.”
Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Dr. Christoph Vogel, President Vestas Central Europe: “We rate
WindEnergy Hamburg as a complete success. Our customers greeted the idea of holding the expo
in Hamburg with great enthusiasm. This location is ideal for an international company like Vestas,
not least because we have our Head Office for Central Europe here.”
Siemens, Thomas Richterich, CEO Onshore Wind Energy of the Wind Power Division of Siemens
Energy: “We regard this expo as outstanding. WindEnergy is one of the best wind industry fairs
I have attended. And that is all the more astonishing as WindEnergy Hamburg achieved this
straight off, practically as a start-up.”
Senvion SE, Lars Rytter, Member of the Management Board, COO: “We at Senvion are very
satisfied with WindEnergy Hamburg. We had a lot to do at the fair. We met both national
customers and international customers from Europe and Asia. Our expectations for WindEnergy
were more than fulfilled.”
Nordex SE, Dr. Jürgen Zeschky, CEO: “WindEnergy Hamburg is a mirror of the global industry.
Major international representatives and customers of great importance to us are here. We have
also received positive responses from our customers. All in all, WindEnergy Hamburg has
exceeded our expectations. We are particularly pleased at the support from governmental
organisations for the fair, and at the opportunities we had to welcome international delegations at
our stand from Turkey, Pakistan and Uruguay.”
Alstom, Markus Rieck, Managing Director Germany: “For us, the decision to locate WindEnergy
here in Hamburg was absolutely right. We can see that from the quality and depth of our
discussions, and the fact that we were able to hold really specific talks with potential customers. At
other events the discussions are often with equipment suppliers and consultants, but here we
noticed quite specifically the interest of the industry – they really are potential customers for us. We
feel that demonstrates that it was right to hold WindEnergy in Hamburg – it was right for the
German wind industry, and it was right for the international scene.
NGC Gears, Zhaohui Liu, Marketing Manager Wind Energy: “This fair is on a higher level than fairs
we know from the United States and China. The infrastructure here in Hamburg is very good.”
Winergy, Siemens AG, Felix Henseler, Head of Strategy and Marketing: “We are very pleased
with WindEnergy Hamburg. It has lived up to our expectations. We have met all our target groups
here. And I would also like to emphasis the high standard of expertise of visitors. Our customers
were also here, represented by top management, so we were able to hold very good high-level
discussions.”
Wind Energy Cluster Wind for Future (FRA), Emmanuel Schuddinck, Cluster Director:
“Hamburg is a new dimension. It was fantastic for the number and quality of international contacts.
And the contacts made here really bring in business. You can see that there are many decision
makers here from a whole range of different countries.”
Dutch Pavilion, Marion Mooy, Organiser of the Dutch National Pavilion: “It all went very well for
the exhibitors at our pavilion, especially due to the outstanding quality of visitors. Many of our
exhibitors received inquiries and requests for proposals, and some of them have progressed a long
way in their negotiations on orders. We occupy about 220 square metres with 22 companies; we
will definitely come again, and will then have at least 300 or 400 square metres.”
UK Trade & Invest, Kerstin Rath, Senior Trade Advisor: “I feel the logistics here and the
accessibility of Hamburg are very positive. Our event was also very well attended. The position
allocated to our stand is simply excellent – I was really delighted with it.”
Turkish Wind Energy Association, Mustafa Serdar Ataseven, President: “Our Turkish delegation
had very good meetings at WindEnergy Hamburg. We were able to give the industry a good
impression of the wind power potential of Turkey, and provide information on investment
opportunities. The fair also gave us the chance to find out about new technologies.”
ZF Friedrichshafen, Wilhelm Rehm, Member of Management Board (Industrial Engineering
Division): “ZF sees WindEnergy Hamburg as the leading international fair for the wind industry.
This is not only where the leading manufacturers in the onshore and offshore sectors showcase
their latest innovations, but is also the discussion forum for the latest mega-trends in the industry”.
Windcomm Schleswig-Holstein e.V., Martin Knop, Managing Director: “WindEnergy Hamburg is
a professional platform for international contacts and international networking.”
Note for the media: Press photos of WindEnergy Hamburg are available at the website
http://windenergyhamburg.com/en/press-service/media-center/
Press contact: Gudrun Blickle, Tel: +49 (0)40-3569-2442, gudrun.blickle@hamburg-messe.de