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A history marked by inventive genius, growth and a clear vision
The teardrop nacelle shape was launched by ENERCON in the mid-1990s. It was designed to provide protection from the weather and to optimise the wind turbine’s aerodynamic properties, while also making the turbine look good. This distinctive design feature was set to become one of ENERCON’s global trademarks, along with the green rings seen on the tower bases.
At the same time as developing new products, ENERCON also played a role in lifting the manufacturing of wind turbines to a whole new industrial level. Working together with its partners, the wind turbine company established specialist suppliers of turbine components, who were able to manufacture generators, rotor blades, nacelles, towers and power cabinets in large quantities and to the very highest quality standards.
ENERCON has established six regions in which the regional business segments are directly responsible for the regional sales/after-sales, project management and services teams. This allows the company to really focus on the customer even more than before.
The idea of sustainability is rooted deep in ENERCON’s corporate identity. From the very beginning, ENERCON has been active in fields that go beyond ‘just’ wind energy technology and are part of a wider energy transition. For example, by developing hydropower plants, stand-alone systems, energy storage systems and rapid charging solutions for e-mobility applications, the company has been able to gain important insights that flow into its core product.
Dr Aloys Wobben, born in 1952 in Rastdorf in the Emsland district of Germany, founded ENERCON in Aurich in 1984. He developed his first wind turbines in-house with just a handful of employees. Back then, the wind energy sector was still a world away from the industrialised branch of the economy that we know today.
But that did not stop Dr Wobben from pursuing his vision of alternative means of energy generation with passion and tenacity – his enthusiasm rubbing off on his employees, plus many customers and business partners.
Dr Wobben had been grappling in depth with the subjects of renewable energies and wind energy since his time as an electrical engineering student. His main area of research was how to convert electrical energy using power electronics.
Dr Wobben received numerous accolades for his dedication, inventions and contributions to the field of renewable energy. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1997. In the year 2000 he received the German Environment Prize. The University of Kassel bestowed an honorary doctorate on him in 2006. In the years following that, Dr Wobben was also awarded the Solar Prize of the German Society for Solar Energy and the Rudolf Diesel Medal of the German Institute for Inventions.
Dr Aloys Wobben stepped down from active business in 2012 for health reasons. He transferred the company to the Aloys Wobben Stiftung (AWS) in line with his succession plan.
As ENERCON’s sole shareholder this family trust has since been safeguarding the independence and long-term prospects of Dr Aloys Wobben’s lifetime achievement.
