It all took off with the very first clients NEG Micon (which later merged with Vestas) and Bonus Energy (which was acquired and taken over by Siemens Energy). The first major wind power projects deugro Denmark successfully carried out were the NEG Micon, Yuya and the Bonus Nine Canyon US Projects, both executed in 2003.
Deugro Denmark is led by Hans Henrik Groen as Branch Manager and Managing Director, who also has 20 years of in-depth experience in the wind energy industry—as a project logistics expert at deugro as well as through his previous positions on the side of the wind turbine manufacturers Siemens, Vestas and Nordex.
Today, Deugro Denmark employs nearly 20 project forwarding professionals with altogether more than 130 years of experience in the logistical execution of onshore and offshore wind energy projects. Since 2003, they have successfully completed 214 wind energy projects in over 40 countries—a total volume of 3,835 wind turbines equaling 9,044,000 freight tons.
Highlights within the past 20 years include the Scottish Whitelee Project in 2009, which was the largest onshore wind farm in the world at the time, and the Swedish Björnberget Onshore Project with a total volume of 500,000 freight tons (nearly 50,000 metric tons) and consisting of 840 wind power components, including tower segments with a diameter of six meters, the largest onshore tower segments ever transported by deugro. They were moved from the ports of Gävle and Soderhamn to the project site in Björnberget, Sweden.
A further special highlight was the development of the Rotra concept, a unique transportation concept for the wind energy industry involving tailor-made transportation vessels—the sister vessels Rotra Mare and Rotra Vente—with a special roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) function to reduce cost and risk.
To keep pace with the development of new wind turbines and transport requirements, the Rotra concept has been and is constantly being developed and amended further.
To date, the Rotra vessels have transported over 2,003 blades, 1,405 nacelles, 176 generators, 330 hubs and 2,574 tower sections, totaling an impressive 10,800,000 freight tons of offshore wind equipment and equaling more than 11.25 gigawatts of wind power transported and later installed offshore.
The longest blades transported so far were 115-meter blades from the Port of Aalborg to the Port of Hanstholm, Denmark. These blades are part of the newest Siemens Gamesa offshore prototype wind turbine to be commissioned and tested at the Danish National Wind Test Center.
“I remember very well when we founded deugro Denmark in the library of Hotel Eyde in Herning— together with Henriette Bertram Ottosen and Richard Thomsen. Through all the changes in the industry, with the strong team we jointly carried the company through smooth and choppy waters together,” said Klaus Strahmann, Co-CEO, Deugro.
“From the beginning, we always worked with the highest level of competence in logistics for renewables. I’m looking forward to the next 20 years of development, growth and innovation.”
Richard Thomsen was the first Branch Manager and Managing Director for Deugro Denmark—from 2002 for almost 20 years. “It has been a privilege to have participated in the tremendous development and growth of Deugro in renewables in the past 20 years,” Thomsen, now retired, said. “I cannot think of any better way to retire than seeing the company continue to grow and knowing to be well prepared for the extensive expansion in the industry.”
“Deugro Denmark’s vision was and is ‘Shaping logistics of tomorrow’ while delivering safe, highperformance and cost-beneficial logistic solutions,” added Hans Henrik Groen, Branch Manager and Managing Director, deugro Denmark A/S.
“The focus for the coming years is to prepare for an even more globalized industry and to further introduce customized solutions catering to the demands and needs for the future.”
