New Zealand Wind Energy Association

At the 2010 Wind Energy Conference you will hear from nationally and internationally recognised experts in wind energy. 

Keynote speakers

Michael Walsh, CEO of the Irish Wind Energy Association, will share Ireland's experience with the development of wind energy.

Ireland’s electricity system is very similar in size to the New Zealand system. With very limited interconnection into the UK grid they also experience similar issues to the operation of our “islanded” system and do so without the benefits of our large base of flexible hydro generation to economically balance variations in wind generation.

Nonetheless, Ireland’s installed wind energy capacity is over 1,000 MW -  more than double New Zealand’s installed capacity – and is expected to have reached 1,400 MW by the time of our conference. Wind now provides more than 8%, and at times as much as 39% of Ireland’s electricity.

Michael’s visit to New Zealand will be a great opportunity to learn from the Irish industry’s experiences in achieving these milestones and to find out how Ireland plans to achieve its target of 40% wind energy.

Michael joined the IWEA as CEO in November 2007. Prior to joining he was manager of market readiness at EirGrid where he supported the introduction of the Single Electricity Market for Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Marc van Grieken, Principal, Land Use Consultants, is a qualified Landscape Architect who trained in the Netherlands and is now based in Glasgow. At the conference he will shed light on the variety of approaches being taken overseas for assessing the landscape effects of wind farms and what is emerging as good practice.

Landscape effects are a major issue for proposed wind energy developments here in NZ, with inconsistencies both in the way the landscapes themselves are assessed, identified and described in local authority planning documents and also in the way that the effects of wind farm development in those landscapes are assessed in the consent process. 

Marc has acted as project manager/lead designer on a diverse range of landscape design and urban design projects. Since the late 1990s he has been responsible for the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments of approximately 30 proposed wind energy developments in Scotland, England and Wales. These ranged from a single turbine (850Kw) scheme on a small Scottish island to the consented 155 turbine (542MW) Clyde Wind Farm scheme in southern Scotland. He has particular expertise in the design of wind farm layouts and with cumulative assessments. He recently completed the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment of the 'South West Scotland Grid Connection Project' comprising overhead grid connections of eight proposed wind farms (132,000KV overhead), a collector substation and a 400,000 KV mainline connection. Marc has given landscape and visual evidence at numerous local public inquiries.

Invited guest speaker

Dan Kofoed Hansen, the CEO and Managing Director of Suzlon Energy Australia Pty Ltd, has been in the wind industry for nearly 20 years.  With a background in marine engineering, Dan started his power generation career in Denmark, where wind technology first evolved, and worked in positions of increased responsibility thoughout Europe, India and the USA.

Dan arrived in Australia in 2003 in a senior management role for another turbine manufacturer and in September 2004 took on his current role with Suzlon.  Under his expert leadership and guidance, Suzlon has grown to become the largest turnkey constructor and operations and maintenance service provider of grid connected wind farms in Australia.  

Suzlon has secured contracts to deliver over 700 MegaWatts of clean energy on wind farms in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, and employs around 250 people in its Melbourne head office, site and regional offices.

As a result of the success of the business model developed for the Australian market, Dan was recently chartered by Suzlon’s ultimate parent company to take over the organisation’s existing Brazilian operations and to take the proven service delivery model into other new international markets.

Download the full programme to find out more about other speakers and their presentations (PDF, 84 kb)

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