A look back at the Learning Expedition to WindEurope Bilbao

WindEurope was once again the international gathering not to be missed this year in the field of wind energy, both onshore and offshore, and WEAMEC was there with its first Learning Expedition.

The WEAMEC delegation attended WindEurope 2024 with the support of the Pays de la Loire Region with the aim of promoting collaborative research and innovation, fostering an entrepreneurial climate, and generating projects that benefit the region’s competitiveness at both the national and international levels.

WindEurope

WindEurope is the must-attend event on the topic of wind energy. The event offers the opportunity to build a substantial network thanks to the unrivalled concentration of players representing the entire industry.

This year, the event was bigger than ever, with more than 12,000 participants, 500 exhibitors, and 250 speakers from over 40 different countries. WindEurope highlighted the latest advances in the onshore and offshore wind energy sector and provided a forum for discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the sector through conferences, workshops, round tables, and B2B meetings.

Some key highlights of the event

• The opening speech by Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy, highlighted the importance of wind energy in meeting the European Union’s ecological transition objectives.
• The inaugural speeches emphasized the need to keep the entire value chain in Europe.
• New innovations were presented during the conferences and workshops, including new, more powerful and efficient turbines, new energy storage solutions, and technological innovations for floating wind power.
• The spotlight was on issues affecting the sector, such as falling renewable energy prices, opposition from local residents, and the sharing of maritime space.
• WindEurope’s B2B meetings, which are a unique opportunity to forge links and develop partnerships.

Highlights for our delegation

Collaborative discussions at the France Pavilion stand

The delegation from the Pays de la Loire region, led by Claire Hugues, met with participants in the WEAMEC Learning Expedition at the France Pavilion stand.
This gave our participants the opportunity to discuss their expertise and areas of research and innovation with the Vice-President of the Regional Council. It also provided a chance to highlight the various themes of our delegation, with project ideas that had emerged during the trip and potential future partners met at the show.

Participation in the ETIPWind Steering Committee

This Steering Committee provided an opportunity for the delegation to hear a speech by Mr. Bernd Biervert, Director of the European Commission’s “Clear Energy Transitions” unit, on European priorities for wind energy. The delegation also attended a presentation on ETIPWind’s Research and Innovation strategy and learned about ETIPWind’s synergies with the EERA (European Energy Research Alliance).

International meetings with the Scottish MRE cluster and the Norwegian Offshore Wind cluster.

This was a great opportunity to discuss topics related to the pooling of testing resources and each country’s research and innovation priorities in the field of MRE.

Visit to the port of Bilbao

The port of Bilbao, Spain’s gateway to northern Europe, defines itself as a medium-sized, high-quality port, particularly in terms of energy, with an Innovation Lab that supports companies in their maritime and port projects. The short-term goal is to produce 30% of the port’s electricity using carbon-free technologies. Five wind turbines installed on the breakwater already supply the port with power.

Did you know?

Spain is one of the continent’s leading countries in onshore wind power, with an installed capacity of 27 GW. Its roadmap for offshore wind power aims to build up to 3 GW of floating wind turbines by 2030. Today, the sector employs 28,000 people in Spain and contributes €3 billion to the country’s GDP. Spain’s ambitions in the field of Marine Renewable Energy continue to grow, and wind power is at the heart of its long-term energy strategy.

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to the Pays de la Loire Region for supporting WEAMEC in this wonderful adventure.

Well done to all the members of the delegation for helping to organize this WEAMEC Bilbao Learning Expedition. We hope that this mission has been fruitful for your projects and future partnerships.