REpower UK is the subsidiary of German-based REpower Systems AG, a world leading manufacturer of wind turbines.
REpower offers bespoke wind farm solutions on land and at sea.
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REpower UK News Summer 2009
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 Skills supply remains abarrier to growth
The opening day of the recent All Energy Conference in Aberdeen was made extra special thanks to a speech delivered by REpower Managing Director, Henning von Barsewisch.
Henning spoke on the topic of skills and training in a session titled “The future for green collar jobs.” As a board director of the British Wind Energy Association and Chair of its Skills and Education strategy group, Henning’s presentation explained that employment and skills supply to the wind energy sector was the third largest barrier to growth. At the REpower stand, the team showcased the latest products from REpower including the 3.XM, REpower’s most recent addition to its onshore fleet. 4,500 visitors attended the recent All Energy conference in Aberdeen along with REpower.360 exhibitors from 13 countries joined Ed Milliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Jim Mather MSP, Scotland’s Minister for Energy. |
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European banks battle to back REpower
REpower Systems AG, the German parent company of REpower UK, has secured €600 million of growth finance from a consortium of banks. The syndicated loan is led by Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Dresdner Kleinwort – a brand of Commerzbank AG – Euler Hermes Kreditversicherungs-AG, HSH Nordbank AG, and The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. The loan, with a term of three years, consists of one tranche of EUR 500.0 million for the provision of warranties and guarantees and a second tranche of EUR 100.0 million as working capital. In total, twelve German and international banks and loan insurances companies are participating in this loan, the syndication of which was slightly over subscribed. Pieter Wasmuth, CFO of REpower AG, stressed the importance of this contract for the company’s growth: “We are delighted that the banks and credit insurances are placing their trust in us in these economically turbulent times and are supporting our development by significantly widening our lines of credit. By concluding this finance agreement, the course has been set for REpower’s ambitious growth targets.” |
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REpower goes live in North Scotland
 REpower UK has gone live with its first onshore project in the far north of Scotland, successfully installing a wind farm in Wick. The Achairn Wind Farm is the first of four onshore wind farms which REpower has been appointed to deliver in the Highlands. Three other sites are also in progress. The combined value of the four contracts is €160 million for delivery of 72 turbines. These are due to be installed and operating by 2010 and will power enough energy for 80,000 homes. |
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REpower launch world’s most powerful wind turbine: 6M
REpower recently announced the installation of three 6M wind turbines in Northern Germany, the first wind farm to be built exclusively using these new machines.
With an output of 6,150kW REpower is currently in pre-production with its latest innovation which should be available and on the market in the next two years. The 6M has a rotor diameter of 126 metres and a hub height of 95 metres in offshore installations. One turbine can supply power for up to 5400 households. REpower will shortly commence land based testing for the 6M before it will be produced in the new Offshore and Logistics Centre in the German port of Bremerhaven. From there it will be shipped directly to off shore locations around the world. |
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Graduates urged to get into renewables
 Graduates looking for a recession proof career are being encouraged to consider renewable energy in the annual careers brochure “Get Into Renewables” sponsored by REpower for a second year.Produced by Scottish Renewables, the brochure is a guide to the opportunities for graduates and skilled professionals in a number of areas from engineering to marketing. Recruitment remains a major barrier to growth for the renewable sector with a limited supply of skilled electrical engineers. However, the sector, despite a global recession, continues to grow. Henning von Barsewisch commented; “Renewables is an exciting and dynamic sector with long term career prospects and is not affected by the economic challenges experienced by other sectors. Graduates should be looking consciously at renewables to establish if their career is compatible. Information and careers advice is always available from REpower and we would be delighted to hear from young aspiring professionals looking for their first break.” |
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REpower people
Chris Spry
A REpower turbine is a bit like a brand new Audi, it is very high specification technology and every piece of it needs to be configured and tested before it goes to the grid.
As a commissioning engineer, I load in the software, check wiring and run a series of tests on the whole turbine and all its parts to make sure it is up to specification. Communications are also vital and all our parts are linked to our software so we can track and trace performance. I have to make sure that the software is tracking all the parts properly. Our customers can directly access live data on the turbine. It’s a very important feature for our customers as they can check stats such as power output, wind speed and active power. Typically it takes around four working days to commission a turbine. I’m currently working at Bagmoor where there are eight turbines and we should be finished here in about two week’s time. Working in the wind industry is very satisfying. My first job in the wind industry was in 1995 in Holland. I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to come up and joined REpower in 2007 initially as a service engineer, but I’ve now moved to Commissioning which is what I really wanted to do. I travel all the time for my job but home is a small village in Lancashire. In my spare time I restore and ride vintage motorcross bikes. A bunch of us are involved in a small racing circuit and we race our bikes only to trash them and have to rebuild them agan! |
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Did you know?
1. REpower UK is the third largest supplier of wind energy in Great Britain and the only wind turbine supplier headquartered in Scotland.
2. REpower UK has installed over 300 MW of wind energy in the UK, enough to power 208,000 homes. 3. REpower was the first offshore wind turbine supplier in Scotland, supplying two 5M turbines to Project Beatrice in the Moray Firth for clients Scottish & Southern Energy and Talisman Energy. The 5M turbine is one of the largest offshore wind turbines in the world and is bigger than the London Eye. 4. 22 onshore wind farms in the UK have been installed by REpower UK. 5. A capacity of 1 MW of wind will power 559 homes over the space of a year, according to the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). |
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