Lars Lysgaard, Danish Wind Design
Release Date: 2009-12-07
Lars Lysgaard, Managing Director and Chief Electrical Engineer of Danish Wind Design, was interviewed by GreenTechFocus to talk about the company development strategy and competitive advantages in promoting state-of-the-art European design solutions for the booming Chinese wind power market.When was Danish Wind Design set up and why?
It was officially set up in August 2009 but we have prepared and worked for the company for more than a year.
Obviously, the company’s engineering success is rooted in Denmark while the global industry is requiring global solutions. Why can a company consisting of purely Danish engineers be a partner of choice for companies in China with global ambitions?
It’s all a matter of good will. The Chinese customers want to know the persons behind a company; it is a matter of trust for them. The Management Team of Danish Wind Design is old colleagues from Nordtank recognized worldwide, and in China as well, for their trustworthiness and high quality wind turbines. Telling potential customers that you are the R&D team behind turbines operating successfully in China for more than 10 years is very valuable marketing.
Besides, we have also realized that knowledge about the market and the business culture is essential. Therefore, we engaged with Beijing ADC Integrated Solutions Co. to become our exclusive agent in China. This cooperation ensures easy access to our potential customers on the Chinese market.
Of course, in your case your Chinese partners have established contacts with good Danish guys, but now you will have to prove your ability to deliver. What is your contribution in the first project?
There is a feeling that we are reliable turbine design supplies, and that they can get our help afterwards too, as we provide training and support.
As I see, Danish Wind Design is a very open company. Are you not afraid of losing your know-how and why?
I know that the Chinese people are, just like us, very clever and, of course, they will find out the know-how anyway. But the new business approach is openness and sharing our ideas, which is the approach that we apply with our Chinese partners. It’s a matter of growing together to be stronger and better against our competitors. This trend - openness and sharing technologies - started in Sweden and Denmark. There are lots of companies in Denmark like us, being established companies or small companies specialized in certain parts of the wind turbines. We network to have a better chance to compete with bigger companies. I guess, this is the new trend in the industry.
One of the main topics at this conference is the future of Chinese turbine manufacturers. There’s a debate on how many companies will survive out of the 70-80 that exist now. What is your expectation on how many companies will survive, and what will be critical for their survival? Will your partners be among the survivors?
Of course, our partners will be among the best! We agree that some companies will die and others will merge or be acquired by other companies inside or outside the business – exactly like it happened in Europe. In fact, Vestas is a merger of nine former Danish and foreign wind turbine manufacturers. China is a large country and a large market, so it is hard to say how many manufacturers are left. It is probably also a political subject.
What is most critical for the survival is to have the right turbines of the right quality, and the financial strength to overcome the necessary investments and unavoidable technical problems.
How important is the Chinese market in prospective to all other markets?
Right now we’re starting to look at the Chinese market but we also have contacts with other countries that need our help. We believe there is a big market in China.
What makes a good Chinese company a good partner for you, given your experience in the wind industry?
Our preferred partners are companies looking for long-term, open-minded cooperation having the vision of becoming recognized for competitive and reliable wind turbines.
What quality and technology level does a Chinese company need to be successful?
The primary goal is quality and proven technology.
Recently we were invited to gather with companies from all over China. We talked about design processes. In particular, one of the points discussed was what that the Chinese companies should take care of in order to avoid the disaster that the Danish wind industry suffered from, I mean the gearboxes. The attitude right now seems to be the same as ours was 10 years ago: everything was going great and suddenly the gearboxes started to collapse and we had a major problem to solve.
What is the feedback - do they acknowledge the fact that they will need to introduce some improvements?
They do realize the need to improve quality but, on the other hand, my first feeling is that this will not happen.
What is your personal message to the CEOs of Chinese companies in wind energy looking to develop their technology and their business both domestically and internationally, while acknowledging Europe’s current leadership in wind technology?
It is quite simple – focus on design verification and product reliability. Those doing so will be the survivors in the long run.
| Company: | Danish Wind Design |
| Position: | Managing Director, Chief Electrical Engineer |
| Country: | Denmark |