WindEurope annual event, the most important event for the wind sector in Europe, has welcomed more than 15,000 professionals from the wind sector to this year’s edition in Madrid and has featured the participation of 45 companies from the Basque wind industry with the support of BASQUENERGY Cluster, both in stands in the exhibition area and in the various sessions and activities of the event.
The WindEurope annual event once again became the main stage for the European wind sector in Madrid. Records were broken for the number of exhibitors and attendees; at a time when the sector is not going through its best moments, the industry responded to this new appointment with broad interest. There were no major technological announcements or announcements by the countries most involved in the deployment of wind energy, but activity and contact between attendees at the fair was constant.
BASQUENERGY Cluster has organised the “WIND ENERGY BASQUE COUNTRY” joint stand at the event, with the presence of 34 companies and entities from the Basque wind industry. These companies are joined by another 11 with their own stand in the event’s exhibition space. Likewise, from BASQUENERGY Cluster we held various sessions for the presentation of collaborative projects, meetings with the main agents of the wind sector in Europe and networking activities.
The BASQUENERGY Cluster stand was the meeting point for the companies that make up the wind value chain in the Basque Country with customers, collaborators and institutions from all over Europe. Two visits to the stand were organised with a delegation from Poland and another from Canada. In addition, meetings were held with different associations and companies from Norway, France and Belgium.
At an institutional level, the stand was visited by high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry for Ecological Transition, as well as representatives from different parliamentary groups. Likewise, the General Deputy of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, visited the Basque stands leading the delegation from the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. Finally, the Director of the EVE also made a visit to the stands of the Basque companies.
The BASQUENERGY Cluster stand has also served to highlight the various collaborative R projects in which it participates. Specifically, the Hazitek projects: (HAIZEEKO, SCALE-UP, WINDLIFE, FLOWIND and INTEGRIA), the Elkartek projects (CONFIA and GEROWIND), and the European projects (I3FLOAT, WILLOW and EASYDC-FOS). Likewise, the closing session of the INTEGRIA project was held within the framework of the event to present its final results.
Furthermore, during the fair, two Basque researchers were awarded for their posters, in a competition where 8 prizes were awarded among 500 candidates. Miren Sánchez from Tecnalia with her poster titled “RUL-ET: AI-powered data framework for predicting the RUL of offshore renewable mooring and cable systems” and Markel Peñalba from MU with his poster “When the Wind Changes: Climate Risks and Opportunities for Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy”.
The next edition of the fair will take place in Copenhagen from 20 to 22 April 2027. BASQUENERGY Cluster has begun preparations to facilitate the participation of Basque companies through a joint stand under the Wind Energy Basque Country brand.