JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009 - 9

in partnership with JEC Composites E-letter AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW LOW, MANAGING DIRECTOR, VESTAS TECHNOLOGY R&D SINGAPORE PTE LTD met in the future without increasing greenhouse gas emissions, generating energy without the expense to the future generations. In other words, it is about meeting demand without creating more pollution and waste. Many people view nuclear energy and clean coal technology as sustainable alternatives because, like wind power, they do not emit greenhouse gases. But there are downsides to these resources: radioactive waste, high production cost and an enormous consumption of pure water, which is already in short supply in many parts of the world. Wind power is a clean, stable and renewable source of energy. That is why Vestas would like wind power to be considered on par with oil and gas. JCM: Which country drives wind energy production in the Asia-Pacific area? M. L.: Wind is a well-established energy source in Europe and the United States, but its potential is only just being realized in the Asia-Pacific region. Vestas currently has an installed base of over 5,000 wind turbines in wind farms across China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Asia’s electricity demand is growing rapidly and wind energy will play an important part in covering the demand. We expect high growth in Asia. Until 2004, wind power was an insignificant source of energy in Asia. With the accelerated economic growth in countries like China and India, the need for energy prompted these countries to seriously develop wind as a viable source of energy to replace coal and gas. Last year, China alone installed no less than 3,000 MW, overtaking the traditional “big hitters” such as Spain and Germany, and coming second to the United States in newly installed capacity. JCM: Do you have plans for new investments in Asia-Pacific over the medium term? M. L.: Wind energy is a global business, JEC Composites Magazine: Can you sum up Vestas in a nutshell? MATTHEW LOW: Vestas is the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturer. One in four of the world’s wind turbines is installed by Vestas. This translates to more than 36,000 wind turbines across 63 countries. In fact, Vestas turbines generate more than 50 million MW per year, which is enough power for a country the size of Spain with a population of 45 million. It is undeniable that the potential of wind energy is enormous. Not only is it an inexhaustible and non-polluting source of energy, it also contributes to ensure energy independence and – in contrast to other forms of energy – does not draw on precious water resources. Despite these advantages, wind energy currently makes up only 1% of the global electricity consumption. However, this figure is increasing at an exponential rate. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the installed wind power capacity increased by 27% in 2007 alone. Vestas believes that by 2020, this figure could reach 10% of the global electricity consumption – even taking into account that the energy demand is set to rise significantly over the same period. With a 23% accumulated market share in 2007, Vestas is the world leader in delivering wind energy. The company installs one wind turbine every four hours somewhere in the world. JCM: What is your company’s vision? M. L.: Vestas’s vision is Wind, Oil and Gas. As the market leader, we have a responsibility to maintain and expand wind power as a modern source of energy, on-par with oil and gas. We understand that wind cannot replace oil and gas. Nevertheless wind must go hand in hand with oil and gas to ensure the world’s rising energy consumption is also and we need a global presence to get closer to our markets and customers to better understand their needs. Faced with such overwhelming growth and demand for wind energy in Asia, the challenge for Vestas is to maintain a strong position in the long term. To this end, we relocated the headquarters of our Asia-Pacific business unit to Singapore in 2006, to further establish our existing business offices in China, India and Australia. To date, Vestas has expanded its technology R&D facilities from Europe – in Denmark (HQ), the United Kingdom and Germany – to Asia-Pacific, in Singapore and India, and also recently announced the opening of a new R&D centre in Texas, USA. On 3 November 2008, Vestas wrote a new chapter in globalization with the inaugural opening of its regional technology R&D centre for Asia at Fusionopolis, Singapore. The R&D facility in Singapore is currently home to over 100 researchers and engineers, and we look to increase its talent pool of R&D engineers to over 300 by 2012. JCM: Why did you choose Singapore as a site for your R&D centre? M. L.: As wind technology was primarily developed in Northern Europe and America, Vestas understood the pressing need to attract, develop and train a competent and highly skilled talent pool for wind technology in Asia, a high growth area for wind energy. One of the challenges is the global war for talents. The demand for people and best brains is very high, therefore Vestas embarked on a mission to establish a R&D centre in Asia. The company already has three regional sales and service centres, as well as manufacturing plants in India and China. Deciding where to locate this R&D centre was not easy. Nonetheless, when measured up against four key criteria: i) access to world-class talent; ii) IPR environment, iii) competitive costs, and iv) ease of doing business, Singapore came up as a clear choice to establish our regional R&D centre. No46 January-February 2009 / jec composites magazine 9

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #46 - January/February 2009