Torsten Hinsche new board member at the Renewable Energy Hamburg Cluster General meeting 2014

Election of the new board member Torsten Hinsche, announcement of positive results of the cluster assessment - this year’s general meeting of Renewable Energy Hamburg on 17 November offered both an overview of key developments in 2013, as well as an outlook on cluster activities in the coming years.

Since 2010, the new board member of the development association Renewable Energy Hamburg, Torsten Hinsche, has been the Head of Corporate Finance and Treasury at Nordex SE. Previously, he had worked for Commerzbank in various management positions for over 20 years, and was in charge of the Center of Competence Renewable Energies (CoC RE). He was responsible for the development of a large wind energy portfolio. Hinsche succeeds Christoph Mertens, who for one and a half years held the office as a DONG Energy representative. Chairman Michael Westhagemann cordially thanked him for his commitment.

Among the key messages of the cluster assessment carried out in 2014 were a high level of satisfaction with the management amongst EEHH members, a balanced mix of cluster members, as well as the rapid establishment of the cluster and a high degree of acceptance of the cluster’s profile. As wishes and recommendations for the future, the respondents mentioned more joint research projects within the cluster, and a stronger role played by the EEHH office in terms of being an active project initiator.

The respondents stated that the greater focus on energy storage systems, smart grids, and the connection of the heat and electricity market was the most important addition to the current cluster orientation. The evaluation was carried out by VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH. In addition, the Renewable Energy Hamburg cluster was awarded the Bronze Label for clusters by the independent European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis within the framework of the cluster assessment.