Celebrating the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize Winners in Copenhagen
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IROE Chair Susan Gourvenec had the privilege of participating in a celebration of the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize winners, Dr. Andrew Garrad CBE and Henrik Stiesdal, at the Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber (Danish Academy of Technology) in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Laureates Andrew Garrad and Henrik Stiesdal were awarded the prestigious QEP for their groundbreaking achievements in advancing the design, manufacture, and deployment of high-performance wind turbines. Their innovations have significantly contributed to the world's electricity generation through wind energy.
The event commenced with welcoming remarks from the Chair of the QEP and UK Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Lord Patrick Vallance, and the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities, Lars Aagaard. Both highlighted the global impact of wind energy, and the leadership of both the UK and Denmark particularly in development and deployment of offshore wind.
The Laureates shared their 50-year journey in wind turbine development, from building turbines in their backyards to creating technological solutions and companies that transformed the global wind market. The event featured two panel sessions discussing respectively the commercial and research challenges for wind power over the next 50 years. The Laureates were joined by Kasper Roed Jensen, VP New Concepts at Vestas, and Thomas Thune Andersen, Chair of LR and LRF, and former Chair of Orsted, to discuss the necessary commercial levers and environment to better enable offshore wind globally. Marie Brons from DTU and Susan Gourvenec joined Andrew and Henrik to discuss research challenges and potential solutions to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind to meet decarbonization targets and combat global warming.
While technological solutions were central to all presentations and discussions, the role of government, the commercial sector, and the public were emphasized as essential to scaling up offshore wind capacity to help decarbonise and mitigate climate change.
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