North German renewable energy expertise in China: Marten Jensen, founder and CEO of OffTEC GmbH & Co. KG and the GreenTEC Campus, was part of the trade delegation accompanying minister-president Daniel Günther to Zhejiang from 15 to 22 September. In Schleswig-Holstein’s partner province he also visited wind turbine manufacturer and wind farm operator Windey, one of China’s biggest players in the wind sector. Jensen presented the OffTEC Triple-Four concept for qualification of employees in the wind industry, with its focus on safety, rescue and technology, arousing considerable interest. He also sees cooperation possibilities with Chinese firms in the extended application of wind power.
A concentrated and exciting programme awaited Günther, economics minister Bernd Buchholz, president of the state parliament Klaus Schlie and the almost 60-person delegation of politicians, scientists and businesspersons in Zhejiang. The region is home to around 55 million people. While Günther remained in the provincial capital Hangzhou with party secretary Che Jun to expand the relations between Schleswig-Holstein and Zhejian that have been in place since 1986, the delegation visited the Schleswig-Holstein Business Center, high-tech centres like Dream Town and businesses in the renewable energy sector.
Streets ahead with extended application of wind power
In talks with Windey and Mr. Wu Gang, chairman of Goldwind, the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturer, Jensen explained how Schleswig-Holstein plans to raise energy transition to the next level. The ideas of using wind power for green server farms, vertical farming, electromobility, autonomous driving and storage as hydrogen were enthusiastically received. “When it comes to direct use of wind power, we’re way ahead of the pack. Here we can definitely expect further exchange of ideas and experiences, especially relating to electric vehicles, energy storage and green data”, adds a very pleased Jensen.
Safety and rescue with concept
The 130-hectare GreenTEC Campus in the North Frisian town of Enge-Sande was set up by visionary Jensen in 2011 as a free space for a new creative cooperation between humankind, nature and technology for the benefit of the energy transition. This is where he simultaneously established OffTEC, a training centre that is unique in Europe, and which represents many years of wind experience. The training firm comprises six different training facilities for training technical staff from a variety of sectors. OffTEC offers complete training courses and refresher courses to best prepare staff for their challenging tasks.
The basis of the all-round training is the OffTEC Triple-Four concept, which combines 3 x 4 factors of the training: courses for all four natural elements at four levels of difficulty for four sectors: fire, water, air and earth – wind industry, maritime industry, rescue and safety sectors – at basic, advanced, pro and special levels. This includes technology, sea survival, helicopter, rescue from height, fire-fighting and first aid courses. All courses are held at one and the same location using real, state of the art technology, and includes accommodation and catering in the new guesthouse on the campus. This extensive Triple-Four Concept is unique and assures customers straightforward management and optimum cost transparency.
The future made in Schleswig-Holstein
During his trip to China, Jensen found plenty of inspiration for new projects in the energy transition field – in Germany and in China. In his final statement, it was not without reason that minister Buchholz underscored the expertise of Schleswig-Holstein wind sector businesses with regard to such exciting topics of the future as synthetic fuels.
