Mankind has set itself a huge task: The growing world population will have to use far fewer fossil raw materials in the future in order to slow down climate change. A strong ally in this endeavor is wind, which exists in limitless amounts - and Evonik is helping to make it usable for green energy.

“Without us, no wind turbine will rotate,” says Evonik CEO Christian Kullmann with reference to the many components that his company supplies for high-performance wind energy systems. Evonik makes the foundation durable. Evonik protects the mast against rust. Evonik ensures that the gearbox runs smoothly. Evonik makes the rotor blades so durable that they will spin for decades. And Evonik protects the cables against short circuits.

This expertise will become increasingly important in the years ahead, because wind power is no longer in its infancy. Europe is investing in wind power. Germany and the United Kingdom are just two of the region’s driving forces. Meanwhile, the USA is planning to build huge wind farms along its coasts and on land. The island state of Japan is exploiting its good wind conditions and working hard to make the energy transition.

However, the development in China is especially dynamic. The country is going from record to record and is by far the world’s biggest wind energy market. More than half of the wind turbines that are being built in the world today are being erected in China in order to quench its thirst for energy. Six of the world’s top ten wind turbine manufacturers are based in China. That’s why Evonik built a facility in Shanghai some years ago in order to supply the sector with the crosslinkers that it needs to lend rotor blades a high level of durability.

The main arena for this energy transition will be the coastal areas of the world’s oceans. Ever larger wind turbines are being built at sea because that’s the only place where there’s always sufficient wind to drive these giants. Turbines that are 270 meters tall and have a capacity of up to 16 megawatts are now coming on the market. A single one of these wind turbines can supply 30,000 households with environmentally friendly electricity.

Evonik is using new processes, such as crosslinkers based on renewable raw materials, in order to ensure that the production of the wind turbines themselves is becoming more sustainable. Our commitment to the transport and use of hydrogen from wind power is helping to drive the energy transition forward even when there’s no breeze.