Plastinov and NGup Service have started a joint activity in the south of France: NGup South Europe. This company focuses on repairs and maintenance of wind turbine rotor blades. For more insight into Plastinov, we spoke to Fabien Baumann, CEO of Plastinov.

Can you tell us something about your background?
I have worked in the composites industry for 30 years.
In different fields, such as aerospace, Formula 1, racing boats, wind turbines. In different positions such as production manager, quality control, research and development (R&D).

What was Plastinov doing in the past?
Plastinov was a sub-contractor of glass/polyester parts for the automotive industry and the agricultural equipment sector.

And now?
I acquired Plastinov three years ago with a clear strategy to enter the aerospace (mainly tooling) and wind turbines market. We’ve just won two important contracts for 23m blades with full housing in wind turbines. Also, we recently signed a contract with Thales to supply a new flight helicopter simulator. France is now more open to wind energy and the Bordeaux region wants to invest in this type of industry.

When did you enter the blade market?
In February 2009, Plastinov signed a contract with EADS for an order of 45 blades. We brought the production order to NGup Holland and they trained us in Marmande for 3 months.
We previously received an order from Vergnet concerning their new 1 MW housing. It includes the complete mould design and manufacture.

What do you expect of NGup SE?
This new activity will demonstrate to customers that NGup and Plastinov present a real strategy for the service and maintenance business. It makes sense, technically and commercially, to present the core businesses of our two companies as complementary: NGup for service and repair and Plastinov for manufacturing.

What are the plans for the future?
Launch NGup SE at the right moment. We must be competitive knowing that there are only few players in this exponentially growing market. Our links with EADS and existing NGup customers should be very helpful for this start-up.