RINGKØBING-SKJERN: The wind is somewhat fitting that we are in the Danish municipality with the most wind turbines, because the cover in front of the stage for the Westwind Challenge has torn loose during the night and has been completely removed. It is an electric car race, where the goal is to get the electric cars to drive as far as possible. It is also an event day with entertainment, ranging from green political transport discussions to mini-concerts with Anders Blichfeldt and Pernille Rosendal. Not least, today's moderators, comedian Jan Gintberg and Huxi Bach, are entertainment enough in themselves.
Mayor Hans Østergaard (V) is also in no doubt why the municipality has chosen to participate as co-organizers in the Westvind Challenge.
- Friends Anders Agger and Jan Gintberg came up with the idea before corona, and we decided together with a large number of partners that we would like to be part of it. We are participating to draw attention to the fact that we are a green municipality, says Hans Østergaard about a work that began for Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality a long time ago.
- We took action as early as 2008, when we decided that we would be a self-sufficient municipality with green energy as early as 2020, says the mayor about a project that will not be finally achieved until 2024.
However, the delay in no way means that the ambitions for the green transition have stopped. There is a clear desire for the development to go even further. The Westwind Challenge is also a signal of this.
- Green transition is not just something we talk about. That is why we are co-organizers. At the same time, it is to create even more cooperation with companies and attract the green industry to the municipality, says Hans Østergaard, before Jan Gintberg and Huxi Bach call him on stage for the event, where over 500 tickets had already been sold in advance before the day.
"Schwung" on stage
The duo Jan Gintberg and Huxi Bach had already come on stage by walking across the entire party space and being followed on the stage big screen.
- This is the kind of weather where we move closer together and hope the weather doesn't get worse. So now you have to pull yourself together and take some selfies - No, I really said that, Jan Gintberg shouted, before he moved on to the more professional content.
- We are here today to learn how to use electric cars even better, we are sending drivers out on the route, says Gintberg about the 20 cars that were going to go on a race where it is about keeping your car battery economical rather than coming first.
- Everyone has promised to drive well, and that is what it will be, added Huxi Bach, while he introduced Hans Østergaard on stage.
- Now we have to have Schwung in the whole thing with the mayor of Ringkøbing-Skjern Municipality, if Huxi Bach is to say it.
- Straight up Schwung in with a mayor, says Jan Gintberg, before Hans Østergaard is allowed to come.
- A warm welcome to the Westwind Challenge. We are here today because we are not just talking about the green transition, we are also supporting it. We must focus on energy sources that do not pollute. Petrol and diesel are not the only energy sources, says Hans Østergaard.
Just the beginning
The municipality has contributed two million DKK to the preparation of the Westwind Challenge, where a project manager has been employed, among other things.
- The Westwind Challenge event itself today cost 2.6 million DKK, says the mayor, as he has come down from the stage again.
This is only the beginning, because there are much bigger plans in the municipality.
- We will now conduct an evaluation in 14 days, but it is my hope that we can make this an annual event. We would like to attract even more partners from abroad, says Hans Østergaard about Westwind Challenge 2022, which may be just the beginning of a much larger event in the future.
On a day when electric cars are in focus, the question must come when Hans Østergaard himself will have an electric car.
- I have already bought an electric car, which I should have had in April. But I have just been told that it has only just gone into production, says the mayor, who practices what he preaches with the switch to electric cars.
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