DCTI - Windenergy V.2

115© DCTI 2009 | Volume 2 - Wind Energy 4. What is your growth strategy in the area of CleanTech? Beside of the commercialisation of our magnetic billet heater – awarded with the German Environmental Award 2009 – Zenergy Power focuses on energy technology. We are developing devices for the stabilisation of power grids, such as fault current limiters for medium and high voltage power grids, as well as – together with our technology partners – generators for wind and hydro power. Concerning hydro energy we focus on the repowering and increasing the efficiency of run-of-river plants with superconductor generators. Concerning wind energy we are developing the superconductor components for an 8-10MW offshore wind turbine. In both fields we are cooperating with the inter- national well known generator company, Converteam. As the Zenergy Group has subsidi- aries in Europe, the U.S., and Australia we can easily contact our clients all over the world. 5. How do you assess the political support for the CleanTech sector up to now – at national and international level – with respect to the EU, the USA and the rest of the world? What can be optimized in the future? The awareness of a lack of alternatives for fighting climate change is wide-spread in Ger- many. Therefore Germany plays a major role in the international context. The EEG, a law to support the renewable energy generation with feed-in tariffs, has boosted the renewable energy generation in Germany. But there is a disparity concer- ning the support of highly energy-efficient technologies. As well the legislation on the emission limits and the energy consumption (Eco design for Energy using products in the EU) has to be further extended similar to the laws concerning catalytic converter and particulate filter for cars. 6. Do you believe that the subject of CleanTech has entered into the consciousness of society, politics and business? The environmental consciousness in society is much more developed than in the economy and politics. However one has to notice that in the last two years a rethinking in the eco- nomy took place because of the development of new technologies combining economic and ecologic advantages. For the politics it is sometimes difficult to reasonably model appropriate instruments connecting different points of view. On the international level this is even more complicated. CHAPTERVI