On 1st December saw the beginning of the first WindEnergy Hamburg Digital: After the world-leading trade fair had at first been postponed from September to December, it quickly became clear that a leading international event with exhibitors and visitors from 100 countries was simply not going to take place in the year 2020. Hamburg Messe und Congress therefore developed a new concept to provide a business platform for the industry despite all adversities.

WindEnergy Hamburg Digital from 1 to 4 December 2020 lays down a foundation stone for a permanent digital industry marketplace that will be further developed over the coming years. “Our goals are ambitious. However, within the short time available to us we did not succeed in generating online exhibitor profiles at a quality level that satisfied our own expectations and those of our customers right from the beginning of the event,” says Bernd Aufderheide, President and CEO of Hamburg Messe und Congress. “But we are learning from our current experiences and working hard on the development of a digital presence for our exhibitors.”

As for the year 2020, the focus of WindEnergy Hamburg Digital is on two online live streams: The “WindTV Premium Stream”, an updated edition of WindEurope’s Premium Conference, and the “WindTV Open Stream” which will feature a free programme put together jointly by the European wind energy association WindEurope, the Global Wind Energy Council, GWEC, and Hamburg Messe und Congress.

The WindTV Premium Stream broadcasts the annual WindEurope conference to the digital world along with a wide range of other programmes such as videos, interviews and discussion panels. The roster of speakers includes top experts from industry, government, finance and technology and from other walks of life including music and sport. WindTV Premium will cover a wide range of topics, from the development of global wind markets and challenges related to permitting procedures and community engagement, to hydrogen from wind power, to technologies, digitalisation, electrification and system integration, and through to innovations for onshore and offshore wind and challenges facing the supply chain of the wind energy industry. The list of participants includes such names as IEA executive director Fatih Birol, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, the Chairman of BASF SE, Dr. Martin Brudermüller, as well as Fridays for Future activists.

The free-of-charge WindTV Open Stream, produced jointly by WindEurope, GWEC and Hamburg Messe und Congress, will likewise broadcast for four days from three studios in Brussels, Shoreham Port (UK) and Hamburg. The programming will include news and reports on the latest developments in business, policy-making and technology: daily Live Business News, GWEC Global Wind Briefs, Exhibitor Talks, VDMA Industry Talks, panel discussions about hydrogen, electrification and system integration, sessions on technologies and community as well as the viewer forum “What people ask“.