Page 22 - Danish Offshore Industry 2019

By Lars Guldager Dyhr
BOUNDARIES

ARE PUSHED

Emerging markets are playing a bigger role for
MHI Vestas, but the Danish Market is still hugely

important for the company. So, to maintain the the

position as the Danish frontrunner even more focus
must be placed on wind projects

The market for wind power is running fast, and MHI been monitoring new markets such as Taiwan and the
Vestas is pleased to see their activities spreading out over US for quite some time, but 2018 saw us enter those mar-
ever more countries. That demands a lot of a company kets with a solid project pipeline as the industry begins
strongly rooted in Denmark, but CO-CEO Lars Bon- to take root. 2018 was the year that the industry finally
do-Krogsgaard expects the next couple of years to be went global, with MHI Vestas and other key offshore
decisive especially for the 9.5 MW turbine, which will be players taking big early strides in those markets. But we
the most powerful wind turbine in operation anywhere also saw the next wave of emerging markets start to
in the world. appear on the horizon – new markets that we are now
watching closely throughout Asia and even in Europe.
2018 PROVED TO BE AN INTERESTING YEAR FOR YOU – These governments are beginning to declare their ambi-
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE PAST YEAR? tion for offshore wind and are setting clear targets out
In many ways, 2018 for MHI Vestas was the fruition of to 2030, so the next year or two will see one or more
a lot of hard work over the past several years. We have of these new markets emerge as the next frontier for
offshore wind.

2018 was also a pivotal year for our technology and
innovation story. MHI Vestas has had the most powerful
wind turbine in the market for the last several years and
2018 saw us gain valuable experience in installing these
record-breaking turbines. Our flagship V164 platform is
now approaching 200 commercial wind turbines success-
fully installed across the North Sea, ranging from 8 MW
to 8.8 MW. And 2019 promises to be another important
year for us in construction as we will install the 9.5 MW
variant in Belgium later this year.

WHAT ARE THE EXPECTATIONS FOR BOTH 2019 AND THE
FOLLOWING YEARS?
We expect 2019 to be a continuation of pushing the
boundaries, both geographically and in technology.
We will look to solidify our position in Taiwan and the
US while exploring commercial opportunities in the
next wave of emerging markets. We are also very much
looking forward to building on our track record of V164
platform construction as we complete the installation of
Horns Rev 3 off the west coast of Jutland here in Den-
mark. Another important milestone for us in 2019 is the
installation of the 9.5 MW for the first time in Belgium
later this year at the Northwester 2. The experience we
Lars Bondo-Krogsgaard
gain in this project will be a key driver for our success in
Photo: MHI Vestas
the next several years as we have a lot of projects in the

20 / BOUNDARIES ARE PUSHED