15After installing and commissioning a total of 862 turbines in the UK and Ireland, the Nordex Group has now reached the 2 GW milestone of installed capacity in these two countries. Just under 1.5 GW of this is in the UK as well as what is fast approaching 600MW installed in the Republic of Ireland. An additional milestone of three-quarters of a gigawatt installed throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has also been reached. At typical capacity factors, this represents enough power for 1.3 million homes, resulting in a market share of installed turbines of around 20% in the Republic of Ireland and around 10% in the UK.
The Nordex Group installed its first turbines in the UK in 2001 and in Ireland in 2003. “We have built a strong team locally with over 230 staff who work increasingly closely with our HQ team,” says Rich Furniss, Managing Director for the UK and Ireland. “Our markets have special features: high wind speeds; complex terrains; difficult site access for components; challenging planning conditions such as noise restrictions; demanding grid connection requirements; and high expectations on HSE management are standard. Much of our business is repeat business from customers who know that we can meet these challenges, and the vast majority of our installed turbines are maintained by our extensive and experienced service team.” As both countries transition to the post-subsidy world, Furniss explains “Driving down the cost of energy is our mission as a company, and bringing larger rotor and generator machines to these complex sites does just that, putting us in a good position to continue growing our installed based in these islands.”
The Group has installed more than 21 GW of wind energy capacity in over 25 markets and in 2016 generated revenues of EUR 3.4 billion. The company currently employs a workforce of approx. 5,000. The joint manufacturing capacity includes factories in Germany, Spain, Brazil, the United States and India. The product portfolio is focused on onshore turbines in the 1.5 to 4.5 MW class, which are tailor-made for the market requirements in developed and emerging markets.
Photo: Courtesy of Nordex SE
