The international event 'WindEurope Conference & Exhibition' was held with great assistance in Bilbao

Submitted by Ander González on 14 May 2019

The Basque wind power sector has shown its powerful industrial fabric at the WindEurope Fair, the most important meeting worldwide in this field, which was held from 2nd to 4th April at BEC and was attended by 8,000 professionals, 300 exhibitors, offering 30 conference sessions and 155 leading speakers and experts from the world of technology and policies in the field of energy.

The Basque Energy Cluster, in conjunction with EVE, organised the joint participation of 40 Basque companies and entities in the ‘Wind Energy Basque Country’ Hall , a space that allowed the capacities and latest developments to be displayed on a 700 m2 joint stand located in the main hall.

The “Wind Energy Basque Country” brand, promoted by the Basque Energy Cluster, has been presenting the strengths of the Basque wind power industry  internationally for several years now and Basque companies have been able to show off through their active participation in this event of significant international interest. The exhibitors in the Basque Hall participated actively in the technical and promotion activities that the Basque Energy Cluster organised throughout the week.

These 40 entities, along with the 20 Basque companies with their own stands at the fair, represented the powerful industrial fabric that has been developed in the Basque Country in the wind power sector. The high levels of industrialisation, technological intensity and a long tradition in the energy sector are the factors that have given rise to this important positioning of the Basque Country. More than 100 Basque companies compete at different levels of the value chain within wind power, focusing on technology and innovation as key factors for their competitive differentiation.

The Fair enjoyed a large institutional presence, King Felipe VI gave the opening speech at the official opening of the event and made an official visit to the ‘Wind Energy Basque Country’ hall, along with the President of the Basque Government, Iñigo Urkullu. The Basque Minister, Arantxa Tapia, visited each of the companies located in the Basque Hall, positively evaluating the joint participation of Basque firms, pointing out that the exhibition was an ideal showcase for participating companies to position themselves and become known, hence facilitating their incorporation in new projects.

Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope, highlighted that the experience of holding the Congress in Bilbao had been extremely positive for the European wind power industry, highlighting the BEC facilities and remarking that the prime reason for organising it in Bilbao was the important industrial presence in the Basque Country, "A base that continues to grow", he pointed out.

The event was a success in terms of attendance, conferences and participation of the exhibitors. The active and relevant presence of Basque exhibitor companies has been extremely prominent, so the authorities do not rule out the possibility of repeating this event in Bilbao in future editions.

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