ENERGIE-ALLEE, Issue June 2015

Energie-Allee
The magazine of the juwi group JUNE 2015
Solar future
Solar energy has great prospects
worldwide. It also no longer has to shy
away from profitability comparisons.
WALKING THE TALK
The home for
little researchers
While the employees at juwi are planning wind parks and solar plants,
their children are experimenting with the elements of nature next door
in the company day care center “juwelchen”.
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
T
he salt trickles slowly into the water
glass. Raja and Rio take another pinch.
And then another. The two look closely at
what happens with the sun flower oil which floats in
a finger-thick golden-yellow layer on top of the water.
“It’s making little bubbles,” Raja notes. And indeed:
the oil which bonds to the salt sinks in small droplets
to the bottom of the glass. It looks like magic, but it’s
a result of physics: oil is lighter than water, but when
it is combined with salt it becomes heavier. In order
to make the experiment more vivid, the day care
teacher Eva Schneider handed out food coloring
beforehand. Red, green, yellow. This makes the bubbles which Raja and Rio are creating in their glasses
along with Moritz, Nola, Jonas, and Elena, look a lot
like the up and down of the colorful fluids in a lava
lamp. At the “juwelchen”, the company daycare center
of juwi, children learn how to understand natural connections. And the experiment with water, oil, and salt
is only one of many. The shelf houses a globe, several
hourglasses, paper, paint colors, brushes, books, and
of course wind wheels which turn faster, the more
you blow on them. “Our little ones have their first
eureka moments here in the little research lab and
learn to be enthusiastic about nature,” explains Eva
Schneider. Not just in the “home for little researchers” but also outside: they can watch bugs, butterflies, or bees in an “insect hotel”, plant and harvest
lettuce and beans in the vegetable garden. At the
moment there are about 60 children discovering the
world in the “juwelchen” while their parents plan
where the large wind turbines can catch the wind in
the neighboring office building. To make it easier to
combine work and family, juwi opened its own daycare center in 2009, for the wind park planners of
today and those of tomorrow.
Eva Schneider
has been working as educator
in the “juwelchen” since
December 2011. Here she mainly
works with the children in the
pixy group (“Wichtelgruppe”) and
the research lab. She also guides
visitors who want to study the
pedagogical concept of the
kindergarten. In 2014, she
welcomed 120 guests from 22
institutions.
Consultation daycare
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate
has nominated the “juwelchen”
as a consultation daycare centre
in 2014. This means that educators from other institutions
can receive training here, for
instance during afternoon
workshops or guest visits.
Politicians and operators of
other daycare centers may
receive information here. The
“juwelchen” has been a “home
for little researchers” since 2013.
A foundation under the same
name supports pedagogical
institutions in conveying the
responsible treatment of natural
resources to children.
www.haus-der-kleinenforscher.de/en
3
content
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10
05
06
10
18
TRAILBLAZERS
It is neither a theory nor a secret that investments
into solar power pay off. Our three trailblazers
provide us with reports from their practice.
FIVE MINUTEs
What does a solar eclipse have to do with the
energy transition? Find the answer to this question
and many other news items on our 5-minute pages.
in focus
An American energy supplier, a mine operator from
Australia, and a winegrower from South Africa: all of
them take advantage of the benefits of solar energy.
employees
From Australia via the Alps all the way to Wörrstadt:
portraits of juwi employees.
24
20
22
24
27
28
projeCt
The “Galgenberg” (gallows hill) in the Palatine no
longer features gallows as it did in the Middle Ages
but instead highly modern wind turbines.
partner
Markus Stillger and Armin Stahl are Asset Managers
with a preference for wind and solar parks from the
project labs of juwi.
documentary
Their history starts in 1996. Since then, a winegrower and a wind energy expert from juwi have
been collecting a bountiful harvest. Year after year.
my position
juwi is tackling new challenges with a lot of confidence. And with a strong partner by their side.
energy
Fireflies: beautiful light in the dark. Their energy
efficiency is unique.
Imprint
Publisher: juwi AG, Energie-Allee 1, 55286 Wörrstadt; Responsible for content and editor in chief:
Christian Hinsch, Thomas Hoch; Editorial team: Benedikt Brüne, Eva Eichberger, Robert Habi, Michael
Löhr, Felix Wächter
Concept, design, production: SIGNUM communication Werbeagentur GmbH, Mannheim
Print: Heyne-Druck GmbH, Offenbach am Main
Picture credits: Stephan Dinges (title, pages 2, 3, 10, 27), TWS/Felix Kästle (5), Fraunhofer Institute
for Solar Energy Systems ISE (5), picturingafrica.com (5, 14), fotolia.com (6), S. Fischer Verlag (6),
Solar Impulse (8), Agency for Renewable Energies (9), Volker Wilhelm (9), Dominion Generation (13),
istockphoto.com (28), juwi, private
Circulation: 5,200 copies
Editorial deadline of this issue: May 11, 2015
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
TRAILBLAZERS
IS SOLAR POWER ALREADY
COMPETITIVE TODAY?
Power from sunlight has noticeable cost benefits for users — even today.
An energy supplier from Baden-Wurttemberg, a winemaker from the Cape
Town region, and a well-known scientist confirm this from their perspective.
HELMUT HERTLE
is the Managing Director of the TWS Netz GmbH,
which is part of the Technische Werke Schussental
(TWS). In 2012, juwi installed a 4.5 megawatt solar
park for the TWS located in Ravensburg.
Anthony F. Corin
The South African winegrower owns the
SlimSun Swartland solar farm in the north of
Cape Town. The operation of the plant that
juwi has constructed started in early 2013.
Professor Eicke R. Weber
He is one of the best-known solar scientists in the
world. The physicist is the head of the Fraunhofer
Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg,
Germany, and teaches physics and solar energy at
the university there.
The reform of the Renewable Energies
Act (EEG) requires a great deal of flexibility
and individual solutions from developers,
operators, and customers. When carefully
planning and optimizing the customer load
profile, the use of solar power can be
economical for customers, when it is
compared to obtaining energy from the
grid, even today. When considering all
external costs and a medium-term time
frame, the production of solar power is
competitive already today compared to
conventional energy sources. For this
reason, the Technische Werke Schussental
are consistently expanding their production
for own use in the area of regenerative
energy sources.
As a wine farmer who is not running a
large-scale commercial operation I had to
look into other mechanisms to balancing
out the overall economic viability of the
farm. That is how we got into solar PV as a
viable ”farming with sun” activity. The best
contribution in supporting and sustaining
the rest of the farming activity happens to
be through our five megawatt renewable
energy project. Additionally, one of the big
benefits of the South African Renewable
Energy Program is the very strong social
economic development angle to it. It
creates jobs for the immediate community
and that is worth a lot to us.
The rapid development of photovoltaics
in Germany – seven gigawatt annually just
in the years 2010 to 2012 – led to a price
reduction at the energy exchange since
solar power served especially peak loads.
At the same time, these German pioneering efforts led to a boom in the market and
thus to an unexpectedly rapid reduction in
costs. Today one can produce solar power
for ten euro cent per kWh, i.e. clearly
cheaper than power from the socket. The
systems pay off; own consumption and
storage systems have become attractive.
Unfortunately, the latest EEG reform has
led to uncertainty of citizens and businesses, new construction has taken a
massive hit, Germany is at risk of losing its
pioneering role.
5
AWARD-WINNING
5 Minutes
JUWI RECEIVES
HEALTH PRIZE
Book
recommendation
Solar eclipse
The national
grid passes the
stress test
The solar eclipse in March caused no problem for
Germany’s power supply system. “It was hard
going for both the national grid as well as everyone involved, but not a serious problem. Conventional electricity stations were powered up to
compensate, which meant they were, therefore,
able to keep mains frequency at the nominal
value of 50 hertz,” said Fraunhofer IWES scientist
Dominik Jost. “The consumption and production
of electrical energy were in balance.” Owing to
the shadowing of the sun by the moon, critics
had, in the run-up to the eclipse, feared a blackout due to a sudden flare of solar energy.
Thuringia
Naomi Klein:
“This Changes
Everything”
Global warming can still be
stopped, but the necessary
climate protection fails due to
capitalism. This is Naomi
Klein’s thesis in her book
“This Changes Everything”.
The dominance of large
energy corporations is the
problem, as they defend their
climate-damaging business
with all means. A few months
before the important climate
summit at the end of November in Paris, the Canadian
thus makes an appeal to the
world: a mass movement for
climate protection may be our
last chance to force business
and politics to act.
Naomi Klein (2014):
“This Changes Everything”,
576 pages, Simon & Schuster,
New York.
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
juwi finished in second place at the
Alternativer Gesundheitspreis (Alternative Health Prize) 2014 founded by the
Health Insurance Fund BKK Advita
located in Alzey, Germany. During the
award ceremony at the Biofach fair
2015 in Nürnberg, State Secretary
Thomas Griese from the Ministry of
Health of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate praised juwi for its extraordinary
infrastructure at its company headquarters in Wörrstadt. It includes energy-­
efficient office buildings, a fitness gym,
a football and beach volleyball field, as
well as the sustainable concept of the
company restaurant “juwitality”.The
BKK Advita awards the health prize to
honor the commitment of small and
medium-sized businesses in the area of
health promotion.
FIVE E-101 are ON
THE POWER GRID
In Mihla, in the local authority of Wartburgkreis, juwi is currently installing
five Enercon E-101 wind turbines and
thus its first wind park in the state of
Thuringia. Once the park is connected
to the grid, it will produce about 35
million kWh of climate-friendly power
annually – enough for about 10,000
households. There are plans to expand
the wind park with another four E-101
turbines.
wind park Lettweiler Höhe
EDUCATIONAL TRAIL
FOR HIKERS
EXPERIENCING RENEWABLEs LIVE
a look back
The wind park Lettweiler Höhe in the District of Bad
Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate promises hiking fun
with many insightful experiences. In the beginning of
May, juwi together with the associated municipalities
of Alsenz-Obermoschel and Meisenheim has created
a hiking trail. On ten boards visitors are provided with
fascinating information about wind energy and the
region. This will transform a mundane walk underneath
the mighty rotors into an informational experience.
Arno Mohr is the mayor of the municipality
Alsenz-Obermoschel in the north of Palatine.
MUNICIPAL UTILITY TÜBINGEN
THE NEXT STEP
By 2020, the municipal utility of
Tübingen want to cover half of
their power sales from regenerative sources. In order to achieve
this goal, the energy supplier is
expanding its wind power portfolio step by step. The latest
examples of this are the four
wind turbines type Nordex N-117
which juwi is currently installing
in Oberkochen in the Ostalb District. The wind park
Oberkochen is the second wind park developed by juwi
in Baden-Wurttemberg – after Nassau in Tauberfranken.
juwi Regional Manager Sabine Pierau: “The wind park
is another important step for the energy transition in
Baden-Wurttemberg.”
World Future Energy Summit Abu Dhabi
At the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, juwi employees
displayed their services in the area of solar energy in a trade show
booth with an oriental design. Exhibitors and visitors took the
opportunity in January to connect and exchange information. juwi
had competent representation there with employees from the
Dubai subsidiary. With about 30,000 visitors from 170 countries,
the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi is the leading trade
show for future-oriented technologies and clean energies in the
region.
outlook
The leading trade show of the wind energy industry, Husum Wind,
will take place September 15 to 18, 2015 in Schleswig-Holstein.
Visitors will be able to find the juwi group at booth 2B15. Experts in
the energy business from all over the world are meeting in the
district capital of Nordfriesland in Germany.
Find out more about our schedule at www.juwi.com.
7
JUWI International
5 Minutes
turkey
JUWI CELEBRATES ITS
PREMIERE IN TURKEY
juwi has successfully implemented its first Turkish solar
project in the Denizli province in the southwest of the
country. Since the beginning of May, Yingli modules with a
total output of 7.4 megawatt spread over an area of about
50,000 sqm are producing clean solar power. The client for
the construction of the seven individual plants was the
Turkish company Karine Enerji. “Rainy weather and very
rocky ground made the construction tremendously difficult,” this is how Project Manager Takis Sarris describes
the challenges.
india
51 MEGAWATT ON THE GRID
With the Charanka solar park in the Indian Patan district,
juwi has completed another major project on the Asian
subcontinent. Since April, thousands of modules are
collecting the energy of the Indian sun and generating
a total of 51 megawatt power. In the Indian market juwi
works mainly as an EPC service provider.
JAPAN
GOOD OUTLOOK FOR
SOLAR ENERGY
“‘Solar Impulse‘
is not an airplane.
It is a symbol of what
we can achieve
when we believe in
the impossible.”
In February, juwi Shizen Energy completed a two megawatt solar park in Nishi-Izu in the prefecture Shizuoka,
about 200 kilometers south-west of Tokyo. The solar
power plant in an idyllic setting is located on the grounds
of a former quartz mine which had been unused for years.
By April, the joint venture has already started operations in
five plants with a total capacity of nine megawatt.
In the beginning of March, the Swiss adventurer
Bertrand Piccard started his circumnavigation of the world
in a specially constructed solar airplane, the “Solar Impulse”.
facebook.com/piccardbertrand
Solar park with view of the sea in Japan’s Nishi-Izu.
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
84,000,000,000 €
The damage of the nuclear
catastrophe in Japan’s
Fukushima reaches
unimagined dimensions.
According to an estimate
by Professor Kenichi Oshima
of the Ritsumeikan University
in Kyoto, the damage just
until today has reached a cost
of approx. 84 billion euros.
“Of this sum, the power plant
operator Tepco has only paid
about 16.6 billion. The rest is
paid for by the general public,
even though they are hardly
aware of this,” explains
Oshima. Four years after the
accident the damaged
reactors are still not
completely under control.
KNOW-IT-ALL
Opponents of wind energy claim:
“Infrasound generated by wind
turbines can lead to illnesses such
as high blood pressure, depression,
diabetes, or sleep disorders.”
But we know: Wind turbines do not generate nearly high enough noise levels to lead to health
concerns. At a distance of only 250 meters, the infrasound generated by the movement of
the rotors can neither be heard nor felt. This has been confirmed by studies of the State Agencies for Environment in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg. At a distance of 700 meters, the
infrasound generated by a wind energy plant is even weaker than that of the wind itself.
Sources: www.lfu.bayern.de, www.lubw.baden-wuerttemberg.de, Bundesverband Windenergie [Federal Association for Wind Energy]
hesse
JUWI INSTALLS WIND PARKS
IN THE TAUNUS
Three plants of the wind park Hohenstein
in the Taunus forest have been assembled
and operating since the end of March.
The 7.6 megawatt wind park consists of
wind turbines of the type General Electric
GE 2.5-120. The trio of turbines, each with
a hub height of 139 meters and a rotor
diameter of 120 meters, generate about
22 million kWh annually – enough for
about 6,200 households. The investor is
the Regensburg Energie- und Wasserversorgung AG (Rewag). Hohenstein is
the largest wind project in Hesse to date
for juwi.
READER SURVEY
A TRIP IN A BALLOON
AND A COOKING COURSE
The readers of the Energie-Allee magazine are satisfied with its quality. This
was confirmed by our reader survey in the January issue with good to very good overall
ratings. Of the roughly 80 participants, the grand prize winners were: Ralf Labusch
(cooking course), Rupert Köhler and Lorenz Heinen (each winning a trip in a hot air balloon).
Congratulations!
9
SOLAR FUTURE
Worldwide GROWTH
Clean solar power is not only good for our climate. Many companies as
well as countries around the world are already using the cost benefits of
solar energy, from the major energy supplier in the US state of Virginia
to a mining company in Australia.
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
C
limate change has become a reality.
Instead of talking, we need to act and
invest into renewable energies. The
sun is our future.” The man who says this is not a
lobbyist for the solar industry. Tim Cook is the CEO
of Apple, the largest corporation in the world
according to its stock value. The iPhone company
is constructing an enormous solar plant in California for about 850 million dollars. Spanning 12
square kilometers, with a total output of 130
megawatt, the utility-scale solar power plant is
supposed to generate sufficient electricity for the
new company headquarters in Cupertino and all
Apple Stores in California. “We are doing this
because it pays off,” Cook is convinced. “For the
environment and for Apple.”
More and more large companies around the world
share Apple’s view. Google and Microsoft have
invested hundreds of millions into wind power.
Walmart and Amazon are using the roofs of their
stores and logistics centers for solar power generation. Even Ikea has recently announced that
they will completely switch to green energy at the
latest by 2020. In the US, even major energy suppliers who previously put their money into fossil
energy sources and more recently on fracking,
have now discovered the renewables. Not always
out of conviction, but always due to economic considerations.
On one hand, the commitment of companies to
clean energy supplies is more and more valued by
customers. Where does the power which runs
these enormous cloud data storages come from?
This is no longer just an argument for hardcore
tree huggers whether to choose one supplier over
another. But even more importantly: energy from
renewable sources is already a lot cheaper than
traditional fuels. And this trend continues – despite
fracking and decreasing oil prices. So it is no wonder that even states like Dubai, which literally
swim in oil, are now looking towards solar energy
and investing millions in large photovoltaic plants.
“Sustainability and profitability are the decisive
arguments for the transformation of our energy
supply,” says Jan Warzecha, Director of Technology
at the juwi international GmbH and an expert in the
Jan Warzecha: “Over the next few
years, the production costs of solar
power will continue to decrease.”
11
Start of construction
at Pavant solar park in
Utah, USA. At the end
of 2015, the juwi project
will go on the grid and
will supply 12,000
households with energy.
Karl Simich, CEO of
Sandfire Resources NL:
“The combination of
new off-grid solar park
and existing diesel
power plant is unique in
the world.”
current developments in the use of renewable
energies. Then Warzecha adds by saying: “By
2025, the production costs of solar power in
Europe will drop to four to six cents per kWh. This
will make this form of power generation not only
cleaner but also cheaper than power from new
coal or natural gas plants.” A current study of the
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE)
confirms his assessment: even with constant
prices for raw materials, coal and natural gas
plants will not be able to keep up with renewables.
We will not even mention new nuclear power
plants whose power will not be available for less
than ten cents/kWh in the near future.
The price of solar power depends on many factors:
solar irradiation, costs for solar plants, modules,
inverters, all the way to grid connection. Add to
this capital costs for financing the plants. “The
costs for the technology will continue to fall vigorously in the future,” Warzecha is sure. In the worstcase scenario, energy experts assume that the
price of solar power plants will almost be cut in
half by 2050, from today’s roughly 1,000 €/kW
peak electrical power to about 600 €/kW peak.
THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD AND COPPER MINE:
CLEAN AND CHEAP OFF THE GRID
Worldwide, many governments and energy suppliers have recognized this trend in the meantime, as
well as large and smaller businesses. In Australia,
for instance, the mining company Sandfire
Resources NL takes advantage of cheap solar
power for its gold and copper mine DeGrussa.
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
Here, in the middle of the Australian outback the
company has extracted more than 250,000 tons
of the coveted precious metals since 2012. The
mine does not have a grid connection to Perth,
which is 900 kilometers away. It is energy self-­
sufficient. The power is still being generated in a
20 megawatt diesel power plant. This will change
in the spring of 2016. Then one of the largest solarhybrid power plants in the world will start operations and supply the mine with cheap, clean power
during the day. The sophisticated system of a 10.6
megawatt single axis solar power plant including
battery unit will be completely synchronized with
the diesel generators. The Australian subsidiary of
the juwi group is slated to build the plant.
“The project represents an opportunity for us to
participate in a low-risk renewable energy initiative
with minimum capital requirement and the opportunity to significantly reduce our medium and longterm power costs,” Karl Simich, CEO of Sandfire
Resources NL, praises the implementation of the
project. “The scale of this project will be an Australian and a world first – a unique combination of
an off-grid, high capacity solar power array which
will be fully integrated with an existing diesel
power station. In addition, it is a very manageable
project which, importantly, will not impact on the
efficiency or safety of our existing operations,
while allowing Sandfire to make a solid contribution to the broader challenge of reducing harmful
CO2 emissions and potentially reducing our operating costs in the long run,” states the head of the
mining company.
South Africa: In the land of hard
coal, solar energy is already more
competitive than power from new
coal-fired power plants will ever be.
For Jan Warzecha the project confirms the profitability of solar energy: “For energy-intensive mining, farming, or tourism operations in off-grid
areas, large ground-mounted solar plants are
already the more cost-effective alternative. The
prices for fossil energy sources will not remain at
current levels for a long time but start going up
again in the future. In contrast, the prices for
renewable energies are continually decreasing.”
AMERICAN ENERGY SUPPLIERS:
MORE GREEN THANKS TO LESS COAL
In the past decades American energy suppliers
lived by this unwritten rule: you can only earn real
green with coal. Giant excavators were digging
coal from the ground, especially in the desert
states Nevada and Utah, where the dirty gold can
be extracted close to the surface. Power plants
with giant smokestacks were constructed right
next door, that burned coal and produced power.
Huge transmission lines transported the energy
for hundreds of miles to the metropolitan areas in
California and ensured that neon ads could illuminate the night and A/Cs could run around the clock.
However, the change that President Barack Obama
called for in politics has also reached energy supply. Los Angeles will completely switch to renewable energy by 2025. The city of angels wants to
transform from “Smog City” to “Sun City”. The
major energy suppliers have no choice but to adapt
their power production to the wishes of their customers. A company which recognized this early on
is the publicly traded energy corporation Dominion
Resources Inc. with headquarters in Richmond,
Virginia. “Solar energy is the key component of
Dominion’s growth in renewable generating capacity,” says David A. Christian, CEO of Dominion
Generation. “We are delighted to expand our solar
footprint into Utah.”
Consequently, at the end of last year Dominion
has awarded juwi one of the largest solar projects
in the history of the company. By the end of 2015,
juwi Inc. will install a solar power plant with an
installed capacity of more than 60 megawatt in
the state of Utah, about halfway between Salt
Lake City and Las Vegas. The power will be transferred to PacifiCorp for 20 years via a so-called
Power Purchase Agreement, which will in turn
supply 12,000 households with clean energy.
“The project with the name Pavant Solar is not
only the largest of our currently 14 PV plants in
the US,” says Mike Martin, CEO of juwi Inc. “It
also very impressively shows that solar energy is
now easily able to compete with fossil fuels in
terms of costs.” In the end it is this proven profitability of renewable energies which has convinced
other US energy suppliers to use juwi’s help to
secure a place in the sun: PSEG (Public Service
Enterprise Group) in Arizona and Vermont, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) in
Maryland, and El Paso Electric in Texas. juwi will
soon have a sort of home game in Colorado. A 22
megawatt solar plant will be created less than 100
kilometers from the headquarters of its US subsidiary in Boulder. Here, too, an energy supplier is
the partner of the juwi group – the Platte River
Power Authority (PRPA).
13
Thanks to renewable energies,
thousands of new jobs are being
created in rural areas of South
Africa.
Whole regions had to be disconnected from the
grid. The damage to the economy was enormous.
This is part of the reason why the government is
now going for renewable energies which can be
realized quickly. The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme
(REIPPPP) is supposed to lead to green power
plant capacities in a very short time. The program
is also initiating a new era of socio-economic
development and participation. Everyone who participates in REIPPPP is obligated to involve the
“local community” at the plant location. This can
be in the form of employment or even financial
participation in the project via trust companies.
This is supposed to ensure that the investments
will remain with the local people in the long run.
Please also see the link
to our Swartland video:
www.juwi.com/swartland
Regional added value in South Africa:
showing off with the sun
In South Africa, solar energy is able to display its
benefits over fossil energy sources in several
ways. It is already more cost-effective than electricity from the two planned coal-fired power stations Kusile and Medupi will ever be. Both power
plants have been under construction for years.
However, their completion keeps getting delayed
year after year and is consuming mountains of
money. If they will indeed go on the grid in 2019,
the power they generate will cost a bit more than
ten euro cents per kWh, according to the calculations of the South African Standard Bank. The
power from the planned diesel plants for peak
loads will be even more expensive. According to
the study, the power generated here will cost
more than 50 euro cents per kWh. In comparison:
the average price for solar power in the current
bidding round lay at about six euro cents per kWh.
“The country at the Cape of Good Hope urgently
needs new power plant capacities. Right at this
moment, power is being rationed there – whole
city neighborhoods are switched off for hours at a
time,” says Jan Warzecha. Already in 2007 the
country suffered from massive power shortages.
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energie-allee | JUNE 2015
How this works can be seen in the example of the
solar park Swartland built by juwi near Darling in
the Western Cape Province. During the sevenmonth construction phase, two out of three positions were filled with people from the immediate
neighborhood of the solar park. In addition, a reliable cooperation partner was found in the Darling
Trust, which has a financial participation in the
solar park for a period of 20 years and will finance
local educational projects from the revenue.
“Generating a maximum of local added value is
one of the elements of the juwi company philosophy,” states Jan Warzecha. And because of this,
juwi has been awarded the construction of the
largest solar park in the history of the company in
South Africa. The company is building an 86 megawatt solar power plant near Prieska. It will already
start up in the coming year.
South Africa, America, or Asia-Pacific: solar energy
has been on a steep growth curve in many regions
of the world for a long time. There are good reasons for this. One of the most important: clean
power generated from the sun no longer has to
fear profitability comparisons.
interview
“Our projects
generate
long-term cash
flow for our
investors.”
Vincente S. Pérez
“The linchpin of global
energy supply”
In the Asia-Pacific region the demand for clean electricity rises
dramatically. Philippine politician and businessman Vincente S.
Pérez therefore sees excellent opportunities for the development of solar energy.
Mr. Pérez, as Secretary of Energy of the
Philippines you have launched an ambitious
program for the transformation of the power
supply in your country. What are the key
advantages of renewables?
Pérez: Key advantages of solar and wind power
include the environmental benefits they provide,
offsetting carbon emissions, mitigating climate
change, and emitting zero localized pollution.
As a fossil-fuel importing country, renewables
finally provide energy security to the Philippines.
Vincente S. Pérez
is considered one of the
leading energy experts in
Asia. After studying in the US,
as the youngest member of
the cabinet in the history of
the Philippines he initiated the
transformation of the energy
supply towards renewable
energies from 2000 to 2005.
Today, Pérez is the president
of the energy supplier
Alternergy, CEO of the
consulting firm Merrit Partners, and the founder of Solar
Pacific, partner of the juwi
group in several photovoltaics
projects.
Apart from the fight against climate change:
What are the economic rationale for the
energy revolution?
Renewables provide a no-fuel cost option to
long-term power pricing, so producers and
customers have certainty about future prices
and a hedge against fuel price volatility. Furthermore, as more renewables are implemented,
the cost per unit of energy has been falling
significantly – compare that to conventional
power sources.
How important is solar energy in that context?
Solar is the linchpin of global energy supply, no
question.
Does this work all over the world or only in
very sunny regions?
Although stronger irradiation means greater
solar energy output per unit of area, it is not the
most important factor in solar power feasibility.
Solar project implementation requires land,
interconnection and regulatory certainty. Solar
has worked in every climate around the world
for different reasons.
In which Asian markets do you see the greatest growth opportunities for solar energy?
In my view, the Philippines represents a tremendous opportunity due to rapid growth in
electricity demand due to high economic
growth, stable political environment, and growing support for renewables.
Today, you are the president of an energy
provider that takes full account on renewables. Can you provide your customers and
investors – besides a good conscience – also
with a sustainable income?
Our projects generate long-term cash flow and
risk-appropriate returns for our investors under
bankable long-term offtake contracts. As part of
our philosophy, our projects not only ensure
financial sustainability, but must protect the
environment and benefit the local community.
Your company, Solar Pacific, has chosen juwi
as EPC provider. What were you motivations?
juwi is a global leader in solar power EPC services and has a strong demonstrated track
record in successfully completing projects
worldwide. juwi has a history of working in
Southeast Asia. We felt juwi was best positioned to ensure successful completion of our
project.
15
Worldwide markets
Sunny forecast
In Germany, the legislature has put the brakes on the development of solar
power over the past few years. At the same time, on a global level, there are
a lot of indicators for an accelerated push into the age of solar energy.
140.9
87.9
9.5
2008
2.3 gw
6.2 Gw
2014
2019
Europe
Great Britain
USA
1.9 gw
Germany
0.9 gW
France
0.6 GW
89.5
0.1
2008
24.2
1.1
2008
2014
21.0
2019
India
2.6
2014
2019
middle east
and Africa
Americas
0.8 GW
South Africa
16
Development and forecast for
worldwide installed photovoltaic
capacities (in gigawatt)
Top ten countries with the
greatest installed photovoltaics
output in 2014
The worldwide photovoltaics market has increased tenfold
over the last five years and will continue to grow strongly.
Asia and America will take over from Europe as drivers of
growth.
In the worldwide comparison, China, Japan, and the
USA by far dominated the addition of photovoltaics
capacities in 2014. After a few strong years, Germany
has dropped to fifth place.
Source: IHS Technology (Q4/2014 PV Demand Market Tracker)
Source: International Energy Agency
EnergIE-ALLEE | JUNE 2015
Cheaper and cheaper
The costs for the construction of photovoltaic plants are continuing to sink. This
trend will persist: experts forecast further price reductions both for modules
and systems. This includes, for instance, the costs for support frame construction and cables.
In terms of the module price development, the scientists of the Fraunhofer ISE
have come up with three scenarios. Even with conservative assumptions, the
learning curve will continue at 19 percent. It would thus lie only barely below
the historic curve of 20.9 percent.
252.8
Development and forecast of modules prices
Module prices in €/Wattspeak
Scenario 1:
270–360 €/kWp
100.00
68.4
1980
10.00
3.0
2008
2014
1985
2000
1995
2019
Asia-Pacific
Scenario 2:
180–260 €/kWp
1990
Scenario 3:
140–210 €/kWp
2010
2013
1.00
0.50
0.9 gW
Korea
0.20
9.7 gW
Japan
0.10
Accumulated capacity in Gigawatt
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1 000
10 000
100 000
Source: Current and Future Cost of Photovoltaics 2015, Agora Energiewende
10.6 gw
China
forecast for System costs
Worst-case and best-case scenario for development until 2050
~1,000 €/kWp
0.9 gW
Australia
–39 %
~610 €/kWp
2014
–72 %
~280 €/kWp
2050 max.
(Worst-case scenario)
2050 min.
(Best-case scenario)
Source: Current and Future Cost of Photovoltaics 2015, Agora Energiewende
17
NO HALFMEASURES
Name: aNDREW DRAGER
JOB: MANAGING DIRECTOR JUWI AUSTRALIA
ProjeCt: SOLAR HYBRID SYSTEM FOR COPPER
AND GOLD MINE
When juwi enters a new market, qualified staff is
needed, employees that are equipped with more than
just technical expertise and country-specific knowledge.
They should also have a passion for renewable energies
and should not be afraid to take on new challenges.
Andrew Drager has it all. The 30-year-old grew up on a
farm some 70 kilometers from Brisbane. After having
completed his studies of Mechanical Engineering and
before joining juwi he was Managing Director of Qi
Power, an Australian project developer for solar installations. After having met Amiram Roth-Deblon, juwi’s
Regional Director for Asia-Pacific, both quickly agreed to
join forces. Today Andrew Drager is the Managing Director of juwi Australia, following juwi’s acquisition of Qi
Power in 2014. “There’s a lot I can learn from the new
juwi colleagues,” says Andrew Drager, “that incredibly
motivates me.” Currently, he is overseeing the construction of the DeGrussa project – one of the largest solar
hybrid plants worldwide. Commenting on the project he
says: “Personally, I will get a lifelong satisfaction once the
project is installed and performing to expectations. I hope
this project will enhance the uptake of utility-scale renewable energy for remote power generation.” Andrew
Drager’s numerous hobbies – including football, gym,
spearfishing, martial arts – are currently on hold. His
major project requires passion as much as time.
18
energie-allee | JUNE 2015
Melanie mobilizes
VETERAN WITH stamina
Name: Melanie schmahl
job: HEAD OF MOBILITY SERVICES
Project: juwi Motor Pool
Name: Ingo Klute
job: HEAD OF THE SYSTEM PLANNING &
REALIZATION DEPARTMENT
Project: PV SYSTEMS IN EUROPE, AFRICA,
AND THE MIDDLE EAST
This woman simply fits to juwi: Melanie Schmahl has tons of
energy, is able to connect mobility and green conscience
perfectly, and has the inner balance needed to master big
tasks. As head of the motor pool, she is responsible for more
than 200 vehicles – from small electric VWs, to economic
diesel Skodas, all the way to large construction site pick-ups.
Melanie makes juwi employees mobile: she negotiates with
leasing companies and ensures that vehicles with the lowest
possible CO2 emissions are acquired at favorable conditions.
She makes sure that winter tires are changed to summer
tires on time, schedules repairs and inspections, and ensures
that there is a sufficient number of vehicles in the pool. She
herself has an all-you-can-drive license and drives everything
on wheels – from tractors to big bikes. In her private life she
rarely gets on motorcycles. After work she is focused on her
children. For Oliver (14) and Sophie (12) she is simply mommy
who helps with homework, plays table tennis with them, and
makes sure they eat healthy. The circle closes at the stove at
home: Melanie Schmahl began her career with a dual education as foreign language correspondent and office clerk at the
Schott Corporation in Mainz. “Not in the solar sector, but the
production of glass ceramics stove tops,” she says and
laughs mischievously.
He has crossed the Alps on a bike, summited the Mont Blanc
as a mountaineer – and he is not daunted by demanding
photovoltaic projects. Ingo Klute finds enthusiasm and endurance equally important for hobbies as well as his profession.
And he is a veteran in his field. He decided early on to work for
the environment: at the end of the 80s a Greenpeace ship had
docked at the Dortmund-Ems canal in his hometown Münster.
The exhibit they had on board concerning renewable energies
electrified him – figuratively speaking: after graduating high
school and finishing an apprenticeship, Klute went to Wuppertal and studied electrical engineering with a focus on energy
technology. He already gained professional experience during
his studies at the wholesaler IBC Solar and then, starting in
1999, as an electrical engineer at the inverter manufacturer
SMA. In 2007 he joined juwi. Today, he is responsible for
planning and implementing solar plants in Europe, Africa, and
the Middle East: layout, cabling, construction plans, documentation. In addition, Klute prepares certificates as expert for PV
systems. His stamina was challenged in particular throughout
the project Prieska in South Africa: the preparations alone took
two and a half years. The 86 megawatt power plant now under
construction – is the largest that juwi has put up until now.
Ingo Klute: “We have the chance to make juwi-history.”
19
PROJECT PORTRAIT
“A BLESSING FOR
THE COMMUNITY”
juwi is building a wind park near Rothselberg.
The village lies north of Kaiserslautern and
has about 700 inhabitants. In addition to
climate-friendly power, the wind park brings
many other benefits – even for the citizens of
the community who have not yet been born.
L
ooking out of the car window on the drive
through the district of Kusel on the way to
Rothselberg you see plenty of nature.
Dense forests and soft ridges interchange along the
way. One hill, however, stands out: the Galgenberg,
which means “gallows hill”. The name is still a relic
from the Middle Ages. Like many villages, the inhabitants of Rothselberg and their neighbors used a hill
outside of the town in order to execute the law of
the time – a somewhat shadowy part of the past.
Today, the Galgenberg has come to represent a
renewable energy supply and thus the future of the
community.
Rainer Mohr
Mayor of Rothselberg
juwi is currently building a wind park there with eight
plants and is repowering the existing rotors of the
neighboring Jettenbach wind park. This means: three
old turbines were disassembled and replaced by four
new, more efficient models. Since the end of last
year, the new Enercon E-101 turbines are generating
climate-friendly electricity. The experts are currently
mounting the last rotor blades at the remaining four
plants in the second section of the park so that they
should be good to go on the grid in June.
The community is on board
“Topographically, we are in an ideal location. The
highest wind turbine lies 416 meters above sea level.
This gives us very good wind conditions,” explains
juwi Project Manager Irina Hahn. She and her team
integrated the involved communities in the planning
right from the start. She continues: “The great thing
was that we had a trusting cooperation with all parties involved. For this purpose we had a meeting with
the property owners and the local administration
before the start of construction.” This way juwi was
able to clear up any incipient doubts and clarify
remaining questions directly.
Rothselberg mayor Rainer Mohr also confirms this.
He knows each of the 700 inhabitants personally and
cannot remember any conflicts concerning the wind
20
energie-allee | JUNE 2015
park – on the contrary: “Due to the property distribution around the plants, we were able to have about
70 families participate in the project with lease agreements. In addition,” the mayor adds, “there is no fear
concerning the topic. The inhabitants have been living
with the older wind turbines in their surroundings for
a while now and have gotten used to it.”
Wind park Galgenberg
Since the Galgenberg is the
highest elevation in the
surrounding area, the plants
can exploit the wind, which
blows mainly from the
southwest. Overall, the park
has eight plants, which
produce 24 megawatt together. They can produce
enough power for about
19,000 households every year.
Life in the small village 15 kilometers north of Kaisers­
lautern is idyllic. You can find protected nature and
many hiking trails right in front of your door step.
Many Rothselberg inhabitants have spruced up their
houses to give the village its visual charm. But, like
many small, rural communities in Germany, their economic power is weak and the financial means of the
community limited. Work on community squares,
sports centers, or schools is difficult to finance. The
wind park is thus also an important source of income
for a period of at least 20 years or, as Rainer Mohr
says, “a blessing for the community.”
He regularly visits the site to see the progressing
works on the biggest project in the history of the
community. At the construction site, juwi employee
Christian Hartisch regularly informs him of all upcoming steps. As a construction foreman, he coordinates
the work and has answers for the most important
questions: which access roads need to be expanded
The energy transition requires teamwork:
Irina Hahn (left) and Christian Hartisch (right) planned
and implemented the wind park Rothselberg in the
Palatine – together with many colleagues.
for the heavy load transports, where are the rotor
blades going to be stored, or when will the crane
move from one plant to the next? In addition, he and
Project Manager Irina Hahn are planning the 12 kilometer power lines from the plants to the closest
transformer station. His conclusion: “The construction of the park is proceeding very nicely. We had a
few days of interruption during the winter due to
snow and ice, and especially the strong winds on the
Galgenberg. But overall, construction is still on
schedule.”
BAT PROTECTION
Sensors attached to the
gondolas register the movements of bats. The collected
data will help to adjust the
operating and downtimes of
the rotors ever more precisely
to protect the small mammals.
When completed, each turbine will measure 149
meters from the ground to the hub. A 120 ton concrete tube forms the foot. On top of this, there are
another 29 concrete and three steel elements – all
firmly tied together on the inside with steel cables as
thick as an arm. The firmly fixed, pivoting gondola sitting on the tower carries three rotor blades with a
diameter of 101 meters. At this dimension, a turbine
is able to supply power to up to 2,500 households
annually.
Protection for bats and red kites
When building plants to generate wind energy, the
protection of fauna and flora is a very important factor.
Bats are especially important. Between April and
October, in certain weather conditions the wind
power plants are turned off at night during the hunting
times of bats. Comprehensive bat monitoring is to
clarify whether this protective measure needs to be
implemented for the long run. So-called listening stations are installed on the gondola and their data is
analyzed by biologists. The faunistic experts of juwi
have also taken precautions for protected birds of
prey such as the red kite: The area below the rotors is
not mowed or harvested from March to June. This
makes these areas uninteresting for the birds as hunting grounds. Instead, specified areas elsewhere are
mowed and so provide the birds an alternative hunting ground.
Irina Hahn and mayor Mohr have also developed a
joint plan for the inhabitants and visitors of the community. Compensation measures will bring humans
and nature closer together in Rothselberg: In addition
to a two hectare biotope nearby, a nature and adventure trail is supposed to raise the awareness of hikers,
inhabitants, and students for plants and animals in
their surroundings. Signs reveal news and historical
facts at various locations along the trail. “In addition,
it was my wish to create a birth meadow,” explains
Rainer Mohr. A new tree will be planted there for
every newborn child. In addition to the wind park, this
gives the inhabitants of Rothselberg a second futureoriented project right at their doorstep.
21
PARTNER profile
investors of the first hour
They are independent financial consultants, fund managers, and stock
specialists. About 18 years ago, Markus Stillger and Armin Stahl purchased
their first wind turbine. Since then they have invested close to 300 million
euros into renewable energies. juwi has almost always been their partner.
I
t was just before Christmas in 1997. Markus Stillger and Armin Stahl had been successful financial consultants for more than ten years with a
knack for stocks. Then a friend, himself a Chief Technical Officer in a company, asked them whether they
might be interested in purchasing a wind turbine.
After a viewing and a long dinner, they were interested. A week later, on December 28, Stillger and
Stahl signed the contract for their first wind turbine.
In January 1998 there was lots of wind and revenue
rolling in. From this point onwards they were hooked.
“Of course, we also quickly saw that there could be
slow months, too. But we recognized the basic potential,” Markus Stillger remembers.
After this first, spontaneous wind turbine purchase
they started looking for a professional partner for fur-
22
energie-allee | JUNE 2015
ther projects. This is how they met Matthias Willenbacher and Fred Jung. The chemistry was good from
the beginning. They had a lot in common: Stillger and
Stahl, who had only wanted to finance their business
studies with stock transactions, had quickly discovered that they could do a lot more than just that. Jung
and Willenbacher, too, became entrepreneurs straight
out of college. All four had been able to convince others of their idea when they were still young. This also
worked in their mutual interactions: “We liked each
other from the beginning,” Armin Stahl states.
This turned into a partnership which is almost as old
as the juwi company itself. Just before the millennium,
they realized their first joint wind project in Alsenz in
Rhineland-Palatinate. Since then, the two companies
have implemented more than 20 projects together –
juwi as project developer and Stillger & Stahl as inves-
In front of their
headquarters:
In 2007, Markus Stillger
(left) and Armin Stahl
constructed the Max
Value Tower in
Limburg.
tor. In the beginning of 2015, Markus Stillger and
Armin Stahl purchased the wind park Weiskirchen with
four Enercon E-115 turbines from juwi.
The photovoltaics roof on
the Bruchweg stadium in
Mainz is a joint project of
Stillger & Stahl and juwi.
STILLGER & STAHL
ASSET MANAGEMENT GBR
As independent financial
consultants, Markus Stillger (52)
and Armin Stahl (55), together with
about ten employees, take care of
the asset development of their
customers. In addition to the stock
market, the investment focus lies
especially in the area of renewable energies. The company also
acts as agent for real estate
financing. The two entrepreneurs
consult for four securities funds
of the private bank Hauck &
Aufhäuser via the MB Fund
Advisory GmbH. The two company
founders met each other when
studying business in Gießen. In the
meantime they own numerous
holdings in other companies –
many of which are located in the
Max Value Tower in Limburg.
The two financial consultants also invested their own
money in the plants. They then offered the remaining
shares to their long-time customers – often in their
extended circle of family and friends. The two founders grew up in the Limburg region, and here they
have their roots and a great network. In the meantime, they have a base of about 1,500 customers.
Markus Stillger looks out of the office window on the
eighth floor of the Max Value Tower, not far from the
Limburg ICE train station, and says: “Most of our customers live within view, 80 percent come from within
a 15 km radius.” In 2007, Stillger and Stahl built their
own office high-rise, whose name is a reminder of the
first of their securities funds: the “Max Value” was
started at the end of 2000 and invests exclusively into
German stocks. In the meantime there are four funds,
which are managed by the MB Fund Advisory GmbH,
a company from the company network of Stillger and
Stahl.
Completely behind the energy transition
“We are absolute stock fans,” Armin Stahl admits.
This opinion is backed up by 30 years of experience.
“Since our start we have achieved an average annual
return of more than nine percent with stocks.” Of
course, they also experienced crashes and had to
learn hard lessons. Overall, it is a success story: in
1983, when the two started dealing in stocks, the
Deutsche Aktienindex (DAX) was at 500 points –
today it is more than 11,000: the interest is low and
investment alternatives are rare. This suits the stocks
just fine – as well as the second major leg of Stillger
& Stahl: renewable energies.
The two financial consultants have been following a
clear principle until today: “We recommend our customers only products into which we also invest our
own money.” Over the years this has also grown into
a conviction for renewable energy in general. They
have inspected almost every wind and solar park in
person. And once in a while they also convene shareholder meetings at a restaurant close to one of their
plants – including a tour. “We stand completely
behind the energy transition,” says Armin Stahl. For
this reason, the Max Value Tower is not heated with
conventional but with geothermal energy.There is one
project which Stillger and Stahl particularly love to talk
about. In 2004, together with the two juwi founders,
they installed the photovoltaics system at the Bruchweg stadium in Mainz. “Football is another passion
that connects us,” explains Markus Stillger. Visiting
the stadium together is part of their joint activities, as
is participation in the juwi football tournament. They
even have a cup displayed at the entrance to the
office floor.
The two entrepreneurs from Limburg do not hide the
fact that they have a special preference for investments in solar energy. Since the middle of the 2000s,
Stillger & Stahl have intensively invested into larger
and smaller solar projects. Since the sun years have
been better than the wind years since that time,
these investments paid off especially. However, they
continue to invest in wind energy. “We assume that
the industry has drawn its conclusion from the
weaker wind years and that the forecasts are now a
bit more conservative,” says Stillger.
Their first wind turbine, which juwi put up for them in
Alsenz, has long since been replaced by a larger,
more powerful turbine. The two financial experts have
been investing money into the renewable energies for
over 17 years – a total of almost 300 million euros.
This also included biogas and wood pelleting plants.
A few days ago, their wind park in Weiskirchen in the
Saarland was connected to the power grid – at one of
the locations with the most wind that juwi has ever
developed. The DAX is also doing its part. These are
good times for the financial experts from Limburg.
23
Tobias Jung (left) and Sven
Siebecker in the vineyards in front
of the wind park Spiesheim.
documentary
GOOD HARVEST
Two men with a passion for wind energy: their joint history started
almost 20 years ago. At that time they knew nothing about each other.
Today they are proud of their project.
24
energie-allee | JUNE 2015
A
stiff breeze blows over the vineyards.
Sun and clouds are interchanging
quickly. Without a coat and cap it
would be pretty chilly on this day in March. In
Spiesheim, Rhine-Hesse, three kilometers south of
the juwi headquarters in Wörrstadt, two men meet
who one could without exaggeration describe as men
of the first hour in terms of wind energy. Tobias Jung,
winemaker and wind turbine operator, and Sven Siebecker, employee of the juwi Operations & Maintenance GmbH. Renewable energies were important to
them already 19 years ago, when the energy transition was still in its infancy. They had installed wind
turbines in Spiesheim at the time which by comparison to today’s system appear almost puny, but without which the development of wind energy would not
have been possible.
From the first day until today, the five Enercon E-40
produce clean power – as reliably as is possible. Each
of the turbines has an installed capacity of 500 kilowatt, 40 meter rotor diameter, 65 meter hub height.
The wind is there, the turbines turn and turn and turn.
In good years, an E-40 can achieve one million kWh
– depending on location and wind strength. The harvest always depends on the location and the weather
conditions. This is no different for wind than for wine.
As a farmer, Jung knows the role of nature – and
knows how to deal with it. A good wine is crested on
the vineyard and in the cellar. And a good wind harvest requires favorable weather and a reliable plant.
Technical availability is the decisive variable here. At
the turbines in Spiesheim it lies at over 99 percent.
This is a top value even for the wind industry, whose
technology is always being optimized.
Jung and Siebecker meet for a photoshoot on the
vineyard. Both are now over 40. The one manages
one of the largest German family-owned vineyards.
The other takes care of juwi customers who invest
capital in wind parks. And both of them were here
before, in 1996, without being able to remember
VINEYARDS WITH
WORLDWIDE SALES
Tobias Jung is 41 years old,
married, and has three
children. He plants 26 different grape varieties on 60
hectares of land in his wine
business. The wine from
Rhine-Hesse is sold all over
the world.
www.weingut-jungknobloch.de
25
The wind park Spiesheim
generates power very reliably – and this is since 1996.
meeting. 1996: this was the year in which Oliver Bierhoff made Germany European Soccer Champion with
his “golden goal”, Greenpeace presented the first
three-liter car (a converted Renault Twingo), and Bill
Clinton was reelected as president of the US. Sven
Siebecker still worked for the wind plant installer
Enercon.
“Spiesheim was my beginning,” he says and looks up
at the rotor. “These are the first turbines I managed
myself and the first ones which I climbed.” Back then,
Siebecker developed the service for southern Germany for the turbine manufacturer from Ostfriesland,
guided start-ups, fixed disruptions, performed maintenance. In January 2001 he then changed to the
start-up juwi as employee number eight, first worked
as service technician, and then switched to the office.
Today he is the contact person for the operating companies of more than 90 wind energy plants.
Very satisfied with the yield
Siebecker is proud of the E-40 which came onto the
market in 1996 as one of the first systems with a ring
generator. “They all run almost without any disruptions.” Software and hardware are up-to-date, repairs
an exception. Tobias Jung is also very satisfied with
the yield data of his E-40. “We made a very conservative calculation at the time and because the system
ran so well we were in a position to make repayments
early on.”
When asked about the period of the mid-90s, Jung
smiles. Together with his friend Fred Jung he performed wind measurements in Spiesheim. “The wind
always blows here,” Tobias Jung said to his friend,
who later went on to found juwi. And voilà: the data
of the wind measuring device which the two affixed
ten meters up on a light pole confirmed his percep-
26
energie-allee | JUNE 2015
tion. So they gathered the necessary capital and submitted applications for construction permits for the
first three wind turbines which were put up in 1996
by Sven Siebecker and his colleagues. One year later,
two more systems completed the turbine quintet.
Since then, the wind industry has gone through a
steep development. In 1997, a total of 500 megawatt
wind power had been installed in all of Germany.
Today it is more than 35,000 megawatt. Today, the
towers are up to 140 meters high and thus more than
twice as high as the turbines in Spiesheim. The rotor
diameters have tripled – and as a result of these
increased dimensions, the revenue has multiplied.
In view of this development, were there no plans to
exchange the plant in Spiesheim for a more modern
one per repowering? “Yes, we thought about it,” says
Jung. But ongoing contacts with a mobile broadcasting provider who mounted emitters and antennae on
one of the towers and licensing aspects always
stopped them in their tracks. However, Tobias Jung is
still satisfied: the power from the wind turbines and
a photovoltaics system installed on his roof allow him
to supply his vineyard with sustainable power. “The
yield allowed us to operate CO2-neutral. This is very
important to me in terms of future generations.”
After the photoshoot is finished, Jung and Siebecker
continue talking about wind power. They discuss the
details of a full maintenance contract for another wind
park. But one question needles Sven Siebecker on the
way back to the car: “Why can I remember only Fred
Jung, but not you?”
Tobias Jung smiles. “That’s easy. In 1996 I lived in
Canada for half a year. When I got home, the E-40
whose construction you managed was already up.”
TRADEMARK
RING GENERATOR
In the beginning of the 90s,
with the system type E-40,
Enercon converted its
production from geared
systems to gearless wind
turbines with ring generators.
A principle which the manufacturers have stuck with
until today. After the collarshaped gondola of the E-40,
Enercon designed the
machine housing of all
following models in the
typical egg shape.
my position
“Designing
the future with
clear objectives”
Fred Jung
juwi founder and CEO
W
e started 2015 with fresh verve and tail
wind: this year we want to fortify our
position as one of the leading German
project developers for wind parks and operations
managers of regenerative energy plants. In addition,
there are numerous energy projects in select countries. Especially outside of Europe, the share of
solar energy is growing rapidly. We have reported
about this in depth in this issue.
All of this happens in view of a very eventful period
of time – not just for the energy markets in general
but also for juwi in particular. Matthias Willenbacher,
one of the founders and driving forces of the energy
transition, retired from the Board of Directors of the
juwi group. The Board of Supervisors of the juwi AG
thanked him for his special merits, his entrepreneurial achievements, and his personal commitment to
the juwi AG over the last two decades. I, too, would
like to thank him personally for our time together
since the mid-90s. In particular his unconventional
manner, his boundless store of ideas, and his tireless commitment for 100 percent renewable energies defined juwi and will not be forgotten in the
future.
Despite these changes, we will continue to design
the future of our company with courage and clear
objectives. The foundation for this confidence is in
place: at the end of 2014 we entered into a partnership between the renewable and the traditional
energy industry with the Mannheimer MVV Energie
AG, which is unique in Germany in its extent. Well
aware of the challenging financial situation of the
juwi group, the MVV Energie AG and our financing
banks decided to help us develop a sustainable
energy supply with long-term financing. We are
grateful for this, as we are for the loyal and reliable
commitment of our customers, business partners,
and employees who walk this path with us.
27
95 percent
Energy
This is how efficiently fireflies are able to generate light. Almost no energy at
all is lost to heat. There is no artificial lighting that can copy this achievement:
a standard light bulb converts about five percent of the power it receives to
light, the rest of the energy is radiated as heat.