Enterprises that Design the Future: The Alstom Experience

2/3/2015

The Fundación General CSIC and the Fundación PONS, with support from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the Fundación para el Conocimiento madri+d and PONS Patentes y Marcas Internacional, organised the third sector-specific conference in the series "Enterprises that Design the Future" in 2014 which, entitled The Alstom Experience, looked at wind power technological and market development, and the short and mid-term challenges to be faced.

The opening speech was by María Jesús Magro, general director of Fundación PONS, who said that the "Enterprises that Design the Future" series of conferences aims to showcase the work being done by researchers and enterprises on the frontiers of scientific and technological knowledge. "A large part of society is not fully aware of how this phenomenon is produced and its complexity. With the Alstom experience we want to draw attention to its main milestones in the sector in terms of social impact and developments".

Next, Oscar García Suárez, subdirector of Research, PhD and Relations with Companies at the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Madrid stressed that "the quest to generate cleaner and more secure energy and more sensible, efficient consumption are key principles that must guide the energy strategy of the future". In this context, he analysed some of the main challenges faced within the sector such as a greater presence of renewable energies, electric cars, electricity storage techniques and no-contact power.

The technical session of the conference was conducted by Jordi Puigcorbé, Vice President Business Excellence from Alstom Wind, who explained The Alstom Experience in this field. Puigcorbé underlined the technological evolution experienced by the wind power sector in the last 30 years. "In three decades we have achieved a twelvefold increase in wind turbine diameter and multiplied generation capacity by 400". As a result of efforts in the field of innovation and the development of more efficient, more powerful equipment, it has also been possible to drastically reduce the cost of wind power to levels as competitive as those achieved with non-renewable sources, enabling grid parity in several countries and areas.

Investment in innovation is key to securing growth and sustainability of wind projects and is the foundation of the growth of wind power around the world. According to Puigcorbé, more than 200 engineers from all the disciplines are working at the Alstom Wind R&D centre in Barcelona to achieve this. In the past, the use of three disciplines was required to design a wind turbine, these being mechanics, aerodynamics and electricity whereas nowadays, specialists in electronics, software, materials, structures, force and fatigue control, corrosion, industrialisation systems, dynamics, thermo-mechanics, etc., are also involved. One of the main objectives, in any case, is still to find areas where the cost of wind power can be reduced. "To further establish wind power as a source of competitive, reliable, renewable electricity, manufacturers must continue to find ways of speeding up this process through technological and industrial innovation", concluded Puigcorbé.

Luis Sánchez Álvarez, general manager of the Fundación para el Conocimiento madri+d, brought the conference to a close by highlighting the Community of Madrid's support for research, technological development and its transfer to the entrepreneurial area as a driving force for the economy and for its repercussions on the wellbeing of citizens. Alstom is a great example of this, as it offers solutions, technologies and innovative products in relevant areas that transform society such as railway transport, infrastructures and different sources of energy, such as wind power, among others.