Interview with Joerg Gmeinbauer, Bureau Veritas

Can you tell our readers a little about your organisation? (general history in Europe, countries in which you are active, specific projects you are involved in, industry players you have worked with, etc.)

Bureau Veritas is a 95k+ people-strong subject matter expert organisation, headquartered in Paris and with operations in 140 countries all around the world. We have worked for almost a century in the energy sector and 30+ years in renewables – and we’re a leader in technical advisory, owner’s engineering, as well as testing, inspection & certification. We have a footprint across all European countries, with a long history supporting the wind industry in countries like the UK, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain and many others, both offshore and onshore. Our clients include the major developers and owner-operators as well as OEMs and their supply chains. In total we have been involved with more than 2,600 wind projects corresponding to 230+ GW of installed capacity.

What are the most exciting developments you have seen in the wind industry?

We have seen the wind industry go from its very early days through a massive industrialisation process that has few precedents in other industries. The scale-up of turbine models has been breath-taking, and digitalisation and tech-augmentation of services across the wind industry have taken place far more rapidly than in many other industries. This hasn’t come without technical challenges and BV is proud to have worked side by side with the industry to drive innovation, standardise norms and regulations, reduce supply chain risks and to have been an important voice for the industry in tackling common problems.

What changes would you like to see in the wind industry?

To accelerate the energy transition, we need global scale-up. Investment in clean energy is still concentrated in wealthy countries, with much of the rest of the world left behind. Redressing the balance by unlocking the deployment of renewables in the Global South is essential if we are to decarbonise the world’s energy systems and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The Global South, home to two-thirds of the world’s population, is still dramatically underserved, receiving just 15% of all clean energy investment today. The 2025 edition of our inhouse “BV Energy Transition Report” analyses this disparity and sets out solutions to address this specific challenge. I invite everyone interested to download a free copy at the following link.

Going forward, what role do you see your organisation playing in the future development of wind energy?

Three areas to mention:

1. The coming years will still see substantial innovation across the industry – ever larger turbine platforms, floating technologies but also associated areas such as battery energy storage systems or electrolysers for the generation of renewable hydrogen. Our ambition is to help our partners de-risk their innovations by assessing and approving prototypes, type & project certification – both onshore and offshore, as well as building and managing the supply chains to deploy globally at scale.
2. We also strongly believe in the role the European wind industry needs to play in scaling up wind power in the Global South, with technology transfer and European investment proving ever more challenging because of their immaturity in deploying wind power at scale. Our technical advisory and owner’s engineering business with a strong local footprint in many of these countries will enable investment acceleration and improve bankability in many places.
3. Tech-Augmentation & Digital Solutions will need to play a major role in driving O&M to an optimum both in terms of cost and productivity in the coming years. Scaling up autonomous inspection of wind turbine blades far beyond the initial stages that we are seeing right now, for example, will be a place where you will see BV taking a major role.

How has WindEurope membership benefited your organisation?

The European wind industry has been a trailblazer for the wind industry around the world. And WindEurope has been at the forefront of it. As an independent subject matter expert organisation our aim is to build trust between all industry stakeholders – WindEurope has been and will continue to be a great vehicle for us to do so.

If we look ten years ahead, what do you hope to have achieved?

That’s an easy answer: having played a significant role (both individually and as an organisation) to help the world achieve the COP28 triple-up commitment and being firmly on track to meet the Paris goals!

Find out more about Bureau Veritas