Programme

Opening session: What is at stake?
Volumes, market potential and possible strategies

10:00 – 10:45

The average operational lifetime of a wind farm is estimated to be of 20-25 years. In many European countries, a growing share of wind farms are over 10 years old – a proportion that can reach 60% in first-mover markets like Denmark and Germany. As wind assets come closer to the end of their operational lifetime, operators are confronted with a set of options: extend the operational life of the assets, re-power the site or decommission. Every site has its own characteristics, and will require a specific business case.
This introductory session will give an overview of the market potential in Europe, volumes expected to be decommissioned, lifetime-extended or re-powered, regulatory and technical challenges and potential business opportunities for the wind industry.

Speakers

• Giles Dickson, CEO, WindEurope
• Antonio López-Nicolas, Deputy Head of Unit Renewables and CCS Policy, European Commission
• Robin Goodmann, Head of Services – Onshore Wind, GE Renewable Energy
• Jan Nikolaisen , Co-Founder & Chief Business Strategist, ROMO Wind

SESSION 1: Lifetime extension in wind

10:45 – 12:15

Session description:

The decision to lifetime-extend relies on a set of legal, technical, and economic factors.
This session will feature a series of presentations, followed by a panel discussion, and look at the different factors that drive such decisions. On the regulatory side, the session will provide delegates with a pan-European legislation overview, comparing the situation in different countries.
On the technical side, the session will address how to assess the reliability of critical turbine components.
On the economic side, the session will look at some indicators of the market price in relation to operations.
The panel discussion at the end will explore how these different drivers combine to affect the business case for lifetime extension.

Session chairs

• Ulrich Südhoff, Director of Business Development, GE Renewable Energy
• Anand Natarajan, Senior Scientist, DTU and Chair of IEA WIND Task on Lifetime Extension

Presentations

• Control strategies: technical upgrades and performance optimisation
  John Paul Larrañeta Nido, Service CEO South Europe & Africa, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy
• Risk-informed reliability requirements for LTE
  Jannie S. Nielsen,  Associate Professor, Aalborg University
• Critical component reliability: ongoing development of the IEC TS 61400-28, through life management and lifetime extension of wind farms
  Mark Spring, Principal Engineer – Renewables O&M, Lloyd’s Register
• Independent LTE valuation and impact on operational costs
  Joseba Ripa, Business Development Director, UL
• Achieving stable revenues: PPA and market prices
  Heike Santen, Director Forecasting and Optimisation, Vattenfall

Followed by panel discussion with all presenters.

SESSION 2: Repowering – a necessary step in achieving RES targets

13:15 – 14:45

Session description:

This session will give insights on the current status of, and potential for, repowering in Europe. Like lifetime extension decisions, repowering decisions depend on economic, technical and legal factors. Even more than for lifetime extension decisions, key considerations for repowering are site-specific, and include spatial planning, community engagement to gain local acceptance, and technological developments, as new turbines may not be suited for older sites. This session will present some concrete examples and real-world case studies.

Session chairs

• Pedro Amaral Jorge, President, Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN)
• Luca Bragoli, Head of International and Institutional Affairs, ERG

Presentations

• The regulatory overview for repowering in Europe
  Viktoriya Kerelska, Head of Advocacy, WindEurope
• Involvement of local communities, social acceptance
  Jakob Henrik Juul, Head of Unit, Danish Energy Agency
• Repowering in Italy: challenges and opportunities
  Alessio Cipullo, European Affairs and Studies, Elettricità Futura
• Drivers of the decision between LTE & repowering: pro & cons
  Peter Spengemann, Director of Repowering, WPD
• Regulatory environment in Germany
  Christopher Frey, International Energy Policy Advisor, Enercon

SESSION 3: Decommissioning and sustainability strategies(Part 1)

15:15 – 16:15

Decommissioning, a key step to further LCOE reductions

Session description:

Sites where lifetime extension or repowering is not possible or economically unviable will have to be decommissioned. But even sites that are to be extended or re-powered will also go through some (partial) decommissioning of older parts or assets. This session will share practical know-how and lessons on decommissioning and explain how second-hand markets work. It will also feature a presentation of the regulatory situation across Europe with regards to decommissioning.

Session chair

• Claudia Grotz, Chair of the WindEurope Working Group on Sustainability

Presentation

• Regulatory framework overview across Europe
  Claudia Grotz, Chair of the WindEurope Working Group on Sustainability

Panellists

• Scott Gilbert, Global Head of Engineering & Construction, Falck Renewables
• Matthias Brandt, Director, Deutsche Windtechnik AG
• Dr. Markus Binding, Director, Veolia Umweltservice West GmbH
• Patricia Vela, Marketing manager, Surus Inversa

SESSION 3: Decommissioning and sustainability strategies (Part 2)

16:15 – 17:15

Sustainability, Achieving the full circularity of the wind sector through recycling key components of the turbine

Session description:

Achieving the carbon neutrality of the wind sector is a priority for wind industry stakeholders to comply with the Paris agreement.
This session will discuss growing cooperation with key industry sectors:  cement, chemicals and composites. Delegates will also learn about the latest innovative recycling technologies to accelerate wind turbine circularity.

Session chair

Kristen Skelton, EHS and Sustainability Analyst, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy

Panellists

• John Korsgaard, Engineering Excellence Director, LM Wind Power
• Gaurav Sharma, Director – Circular Business Models, Schneider Electric
• Eric Waeyenbergh, chair of CEMBUREAU’s Task Force Waste / Advocacy Manager and Health, Geocycle Europe
• Thomas Wegman, Marketing Manager, representative from EuCia