From offshore pioneer to multidiscipline consultant

/ When offshore wind development in Germany picked up in 2010 with the commissioning of alpha ventus, experienced experts and pioneers in the industry were few and far between. Sensing the need to expand its expertise into this new market, leading international consultant Deutsche WindGuard set out to change the game. /

When the political winds in Germany began to change at the turn of the millennium and the energy revolution became an acceptable part of the agenda of governments, it soon became apparent, that wind had to be harvested not only on land but also on the sea if climate targets where ever to be realistic. Offshore wind in Germany was politically pushed with the development of offshore test field alpha ventus, Germany’s first offshore wind farm. Alpha ventus was built in 2009 and went into operation in 2010 and with it came the offshore wind revolution. Involved from the very beginning was leading international consulting company Deutsche WindGuard.

/ It will push forward the organic integration of the offshore oil industry and the nuclear power industry /

True to its motto of providing investors and developers, manufacturers, decision makers in governments and businesses worldwide, with extensive and independent expertise on all facets of wind energy, WindGuard founder Knud Rehfeldt knew, that he had to act and fast. “The key to WindGuard’s success has always been to use the extraordinary synergistic effects between departments combined with our worldwide playing field. Both factors provide WindGuard with a unique market sense”, explains Knud Rehfeldt. “We developed our comprehensive network of services corresponding to the growing industry. When offshore wind really set off in Germany, we knew we had to react to the market demands and extend our services.”

Having played an integral part in the realization of alpha ventus by providing the HSE concept and being part of the technical management of the wind farm from the very first day of operation, Knud Rehfeldt and his colleagues knew what to expect and where they could add to the already existing know-how in the company. In 2010, the year of alpha ventus’ commissioning, offshore wind pioneer Niels Erdmann, joined Deutsche WindGuard as the CEO of the groups newly founded distinctive offshore division, thus putting the “offshore” in the company’s motto “Onshore. Offshore. Worldwide.”

Erdmann had been responsible in the early 2000^thfor the project development of the first offshore projects reaching permit in Germany and Managing Director of Multibrid (now part of Siemens Gamesa) and played an integral part in the design and development of the M5000 turbine, which was among the first installed in Germany as part of alpha ventus. He brought the valuable engineering experience of a turbine manufacturer and project developer to the table.

/ It will push forward the organic integration of the offshore oil industry and the nuclear power industry /

“With my background in engineering and project development and the comprehensive WindGuard Universe of services in our back, we played right into the market needs at the time. Investors were in a gold rush and impartial expertise was hard to come by. Providing Technical Due Diligence and on-team project support for offshore wind was the natural way to go”, Niels Erdmann remembers.

About two years later, the management of Deutsche WindGuard Offshore was complemented by Sven Bicker, who had formerly worked for foundation structure designer OWT. “Interface Management is particularly important in offshore wind”, explains Niels Erdmann, “With Sven’s experience in foundation design and thus the interaction between foundation and turbine operation, he established this new service segment at WindGuard. Since then we have been providing interface management, integral load assessments and design consulting in this area.“

/ It will push forward the organic integration of the offshore oil industry and the nuclear power industry /

With WindGuard’s existing experience and industry-standing in onshore wind, there was also always an array of services which were offered onshore as well as offshore from the very beginning, as for example turbine inspections or wind measurement and yield assessment. With offshore wind becoming a pillar of energy supply in Germany, market demands have changed drastically since 2010.

“The combination of our experience from 3000 inspections on 70 different turbine types, energy yield assessments for 15 600 MW capacity of offshore wind, together with our load assessment expertise is one strong example, in which we help our customers significantly improve the wind farm layout for their specific site conditions” Sven Bicker explains. “We support our clients in pre assessment during tender process, for project planning and realization phase of offshore projects all around the world, until life time extension assessment for wind park portfolios.”

Today, WindGuard is involved in 75% of German offshore wind farms in operation and under construction and is supporting offshore wind development in China and Taiwan. As the offshore wind industry continues to grow worldwide, reaching now markets such as Australia and Brazil, Deutsche WindGuard will continue to offer independent consultancy and expert engineering services supporting offshore projects around the globe.