It might seem ironic that a company specialising in wind turbine generators would set up shop in the balmy tropical stillness of Singapore, but for Vestas Asia Pacific its move from Denmark three years ago positions it close to the trade winds of a clean energy revolution in Asia.

Asia is expected to overtake Europe as the new growth market for the wind energy industry and, as Sean Sutton, president of Vestas Asia Pacific, explains, the move to Singapore was an obvious choice.

“Asia is actually forecasting a higher growth in the wind energy industry compared with more stable markets like Europe, so the future here is exciting,” Sutton says.

“Singapore is an internationally leading business centre with a skilled labour force. Logistically, it’s a perfect place for Vestas.”

Technically demanding, investment heavy and requiring a high level of scientific training, wind turbine generation demands the kind of expertise that only Singapore could offer as a one-stop shop. Being able to set up a research and development centre in Singapore was another key attraction for the Danish-listed company.

“Singapore has developed into a premier research centre,” says Sutton. “Its dynamic research environment, with its strict intellectual property laws and robust ethical frameworks were a few of the reasons Vestas set up here.

“Being surrounded by internationally acclaimed scientists and rich research resources makes it easy for Vestas to explore collaborations and to tap into this intellectual pool.”

The company’s regional R&D hub in Singapore’s Fusionopolis – the purpose-built research and development complex at One-North business park – allows it to carry out essential state-of-the-art research under one roof, leveraging on the skills of top scientists, engineers and technology experts.

“Wind turbine generators are multi-disciplinary engineering machines,” says Peter Cheng, managing director of Vestas Technology R&D Singapore.
“We need different calibres of talent from all fields of science and engineering. So far, we have been able to source this from a rich and broad engineering-based cluster in Singapore and the Asia Pacific. We now have engineers spanning 15 nationalities working in Vestas.

“In addition, the robust intellectual property laws and ethical framework are strong drivers for the set up of an R&D hub in Singapore.”

Singapore’s top universities and research institutes create a pipeline of skilled talent, an invaluable resource for a company like Vestas.

Already, the company has signed three master research agreements with Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, the National University of Singapore, and the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), collaborating closely with them on developing innovations in wind technology to offer the lowest cost of energy to its customers.

Vestas currently employs 250 people in Singapore but is starting to ramp up the number as part of a 10-year plan to invest up to S$500 million in the country to advance research into wind power technology. Its R&D centre in Singapore is one of its largest outside Denmark.

“We feel that the supportive role played by the Singapore government was vital for us in making this investment,” says Sutton.

Singapore’s connection to the region and its cosmopolitan workforce were also strong inducements for the company to set up its regional operations in the city. Its employees in Singapore come from many nationalities – Singaporean, Australian, Scottish, Indian, Chinese, Irish, Danish, Malaysian, Filipino, Indonesian, and Vietnamese – reflecting the global nature of its business.

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“The multicultural Singaporean workforce is highly educated, highly motivated and highly productive,” Sutton says. “It is also proficient in English – the language of international business.”

The company has been able to source 90 per cent of its management staff in Singapore, including foreigners who were already working in the city; a tremendous boon for a multinational company like Vestas.

“Even though a wind power plant is a high-tech and extremely complex product, Vestas is primarily about people and Singapore’s diversity has brought us substantial benefits,” says Sutton.

“There’s better decision-making, improved problem-solving as well as greater creativity and innovation.”

Also critical to the Vestas success story has been Singapore’s overall commitment to the clean energy sector. The city aims to be a global hub where clean energy products are developed, made and exported overseas, and it has come far since it identified the sector as a strategic growth area. Another company to find Singapore a happy fit for clean fuels is Neste Oil, whose Renewable Fuels business area is taking advantage of Singapore’s leading position as a refiner of petrochemicals and its proximity to crucial feedstocks, namely palm oil.

Petri Jokinen, managing director of Neste Oil Singapore, explains that the maturity of the country’s refining industry and its regional location made it the perfect choice for Neste.

“The majority of Neste Oil’s growth is expected to come from its Renewable Fuels business area and it is expanding at the moment in two locations; one is Rotterdam in Europe and the other is Singapore,” he says.

“We have established our global feedstock sourcing from this region, so it’s natural to be located here.” The ready availability of locally trained experts in the petrochemical field also provides obvious synergies for Neste Oil.

“You can see from the number of companies that have set up here that there is a significant pool of talent, many of them trained at Singapore’s institutions, polytechnics and universities – there is a very competent resource pool available,” Jokinen said.

“There are a variety of people from various ethnic backgrounds and disciplines in Singapore and that is reflected in the workforce we have hired here locally.”

With Singapore’s aim to make the clean energy industry contribute S$1.7 billion to Singapore’s gross domestic product and employ 7,000 people by 2015, both Vestas and Neste Oil are well positioned to take advantage of a potential boom.

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