ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°147 - Mars/Avril 2013 - 22

FoCus

By Alexander MASSENBACH (MEB 05)

Offshore
wind farms

Alexander von MASSENBACH, a Project Manager for Offshore
Wind Projects at Vattenfall thinks his firm is on the way to become
Europe’s smartest energy enabler… Explanations.

Vattenfall is a leading European energy company
and the second-largest operator of offshore wind
farms. Today, Vattenfall supplies 7.5 million customers in Scandinavia and Central Europe with
electricity and heat, and 2 million customers with
gas. In line with its strategic approach of smartly
balancing the energy sources, Vattenfall wants to
greatly reduce its carbon footprint in the coming
years. A key component of this strategy is the development of renewable energies, particularly in
the areas of biomass and wind.
Many stakes
In wind energy, our firm is active in five European
countries and has doubled its production capacity to 4 TWh during the last three years, currently
operating 727 MW onshore and 832 MW offshore. Germany and UK are the main markets for
offshore wind, where the next projects will be realized. Recently the construction of the wind farm
DanTysk in the North Sea has started, where from
2014 on 80 Turbines (3.6 MW each) will supply
up to 400 000 households.
As a project manager for logistics excellence
across our offshore wind projects, my main job
is to improve value creation in our supply chains.
This includes project supply chain analysis, transfer of experiences and initiatives to improve transparency, cost and control. It also means engaging
suppliers, understanding industry trends and
developing strategic partnerships.
Each project is unique
Offshore wind projects, moving further from
shore every year (now up to 100km), continuously
challenge our knowledge and expertise about
materials, processes and methodologies. From
the air, such a turbine might look almost cute in

- ESCP Europe Magazine N° 147 - Mars/Avril 2013

size, while on the ground
or, rather, on the water,
the enormous scale becomes apparent. A single
blade twice as long as the
longest truck you find on
Europe’s roads. The wind
turbine generator, with its
up to 500 tons, competes
in size with a small house.
While for the foundations
of up to 2.000 tons it
becomes hard to find a
comparison. And you still
need substations and
a few dozen vessels to
make it work. All this is
consolidated in logistical concepts for tier 2, tier 1,
ports, vessels and also maintenance for the 20 ye
ars of operations. Due to the limited experience,
however, best practice does not yet exist and
transfer from industries like oil & gas is often not
feasible. Thus, the industry became a source of
innovation & strategies with developers going different routes in regards to the vertical integration
of their projects and supply chains. This makes
each project truly unique in its search to achieve
the lowest possible cost of energy.
To develop any such project with a feasible
business case for hundreds of turbines,
significant risks and financing hurdles need to
be overcome. So far, most companies try to
achieve this with only a limited number of EPC
contracts and bank financing for each project.
This reduces risk exposure but also the level of
control and flexibility. Vattenfall’s approach is a
balance sheet based financing permitting more
contracts, more control and, with increasing inhouse experience, lowered risks for the entire
project pipeline.
●

Table des matières de la publication ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°147 - Mars/Avril 2013

Couverture
Zapping
Sommaire
BUSINESS
Personnalités du mois Didier CORDERO (EEMBA 96) : Donner de l’énergie
Focus
- The global energy map
- At the edge of a new age
- Le futur énergétique
- Sustainable cities
- La performance énergétique
- Offshore wind farms
- A change of attitude
- Indian challenges
Itinéraires
- Joaillerie sur mesure
- Tous les chemins mènent à l’énergie
Entretiens Agro-alimentaire
NEWS
Vie du réseau
- Fany PECHIODAT (01 BE), Fondatrice de My Little Paris
- Nominations
- Bon anniversaire !
- Les fauves de la 57
- Carnet
- Passation de relais
- Agenda
À lire
Carrière Énergie managériale : ressource vitale ?
Voyages Chutes Victoria : le premier matin du monde
CAMPUS
École Entering a new era of the energy industry
Fondation Merci pour votre soutien !
Vie étudiante
- cHeer uP ! souffle ses 10 bougies
- Nous voulons l’Europe
- Sur la ligne de départ
- Un avenir où vous allez bien tourner !
- Faire renaître le théâtre

ESCP Europe Alumni Magazine - n°147 - Mars/Avril 2013