‘Climate change is an issue that has the potential to impact every aspect of our business activities. We are working to anticipate and address these impacts, while at the same time actively pursuing businesses that facilitate the transition to a low-carbon society and reduce greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions. Mitsubishi Corporation is always looking for opportunities to expand its involvement in projects in the field of environment friendly infrastructures. We own environmental friendly gas turbine power plants, as well as offshore and onshore wind farms and solar power installations, enabling us to meet society’s demand for power. In 2013, we teamed up with Eneco, a public-sector energy company in the Netherlands, to jointly construct and operate the Luchterduinen offshore wind farm. Since starting operations in 2015, the project’s 43 turbines have supplied clean electricity to 150,000 households in the country, contributing to the transition to a low-carbon society. We’re looking forward to our next joint projects: the Norther offshore wind project in Belgium and the Borssele III and IV offshore wind projects in the Netherlands.’

Yoshinori Katayama, Division COO, New Energy & Power Generation Division, Global Environmental & Infrastructure Business Group, Mitsubishi Corporation

‘A great deal has changed in the past ten years. Sif was transformed from a reputable builder of pressure vessels for chemical plants to the market leader in offshore foundations for the oil and gas and wind energy industries. Almost 90% of our turnover comes from our wind activities, the rest of the production of steel pipes is for oil and gas foundations. Offshore wind farms are responsible for a growing share of the green energy supply in Europe. In many European countries such as France, Belgium, Denmark and England, offshore wind is part of their energy mix. This means that the energy generated by the offshore wind farms in the North Sea and other locations makes a significant contribution to the energy economy. This is a positive development that Sif is proud to be a part of. By making large investments, we want to keep our position as frontrunner and contribute to accelerate the process.

The next few years, we are investing around EUR 40 million in new production and operational adjustments and around EUR 70 million in an additional facility at Maasvlakte 2, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Primarily for the production of (X)XL monopiles up to 11 metres in diameter, weighing 2,000 tons.

Jan Bruggenthijs,
CEO Sif Group

‘A decade ago, wind energy was a new development for Siemens. Now we have 10,000 people working in this sector. Creating a sustainable energy system is one of the key challenges of our time, it is vital that dependence on fossil fuels be significantly reduced. 

This challenge is compounded by the need to keep energy production cost-efficient and Siemens wants to lead this development in offshore wind energy. We were involved in the construction of the offshore wind farm Westermeerwind located in the IJsselmeer, and supplied the turbines for the offshore wind farm Gemini, in the North Sea. Thanks to our innovations the costs of generating wind power are reducing. In the 25 years since the first offshore wind power plant was installed, turbine capacity has increased from 30 kilowatt to 8 megawatt. Our challenge is to drive down the cost of wind electricity and making our innovations the new standard for wind power around the globe.’ 

Ab van der Touw,
CEO Siemens Netherlands