Ørsted Innovation Report: Better, Faster, Smarter – Harnessing Innovation to Create the Green Energy Systems of Tommorrow

VEJLE, 16 September 2026 – East Jutland-based wind service specialist CNC Onsite is now launching an expansion into the North American continent with the establishment of a new U.S. subsidiary in Houston, Texas. This strategic growth venture is being accelerated in close cooperation with the public business promotion system, as the company has secured export funding through Business House Southern Jutland (Erhvervshus Sydjylland). The funding will serve as commercial co-financing for the company’s targeted rollout and market penetration in the United States.

The co-financing from the Danish Board of Business Development’s export grant scheme provides support for private consultancy on go-to-market strategies and establishment in new markets. The establishment of the new American company, CNC Onsite Inc., follows a record year for the business, which increased its gross profit by 74 percent in 2025 to DKK 58.7 million.

At Business House Southern Jutland, the development is viewed as a step forward in the company’s efforts to enter the U.S. market:

“We are pleased to contribute to CNC Onsite’s expansion in the United States. Targeted strategic initiatives support the company’s visibility in the complex North American market and pave the way for the vital, long-term business relationships needed to ensure international success for companies,” says Jørgen Fuglsang Bruun, Business Developer, Business House Southern Jutland.

Solving a critical U.S. infrastructure bottleneck

The rollout across the American continent differs significantly from traditional wind turbine maintenance. CNC Onsite brings its specialized, crane-free “uptower” technology directly to U.S. wind farms. Using proprietary mobile machining equipment, CNC Onsite’s technicians carry out complex repair and maintenance tasks, including repairs of yaw rings, rotor locks, generator shafts, main shafts and critical bolted connections, directly inside the nacelle.

In doing so, the company addresses one of the largest logistical and economic bottlenecks in the U.S. wind industry: the pronounced shortage of heavy mobile cranes, which traditionally hampers maintenance work and creates costly downtime lasting months. A conventional crane operation typically costs between USD 150,000 and USD 250,000 per job, excluding lost power revenues during the downtime.

“By performing precision machining directly inside the turbine, we minimize both the need for cranes and heavy transport, as well as the prolonged turbine downtime that replacement of major components normally requires,” explains Søren Kellenberger, CEO and Partner of CNC Onsite. “We are experiencing significant demand from the U.S., where we have already executed our first projects with great success.”

Independent consultancy CoralPoint, which has merged with advisory firm Brinckmann, confirms the strong market demand.

“Our market analyses show that traditional repair methods represent a substantial financial burden for U.S. operators,” says Carsten Brinck, Senior Partner at CoralPoint and founder of Brinckmann. “The United States represents a significant market for specialized wind turbine maintenance services. With a large and increasingly mature installed capacity, operators are placing greater emphasis on solutions that can reduce downtime, lower costs and extend the service life of existing assets.”

CNC Onsite’s mobile machines are fully modular and are transported into the turbine via standardized internal lifting systems, where CNC-controlled processes repair damage that previously required complete disassembly of the turbine. In particular, the repair of worn yaw rings and blade bushing wear is becoming a rapidly growing challenge at mature U.S. wind farms.

Cost savings of up to 80 percent for uptower repairs have already been documented in the European market, and the business case is expected to be even stronger in North America due to the widespread geographical distribution of equipment and high mobilization costs for heavy cranes.

The new office in Houston represents a long-term capital commitment to the North American market. CNC Onsite will initially deploy Danish specialists while simultaneously actively recruiting local American technicians to build a permanent national service team on the continent.

Meet CNC Onsite at WindEnergy Hamburg: CNC Onsite is exhibiting at WindEnergy Hamburg 2026 at Hall B1, Ground Floor, where representatives from management and the technical team will be available for interviews and demonstrations of the company’s solutions.

AALEX is developing software that uses flight data to simulate operational requirements and automatically generate staff schedules for airports. The idea originated at Aalborg Airport, where founder Emil Louis Hansen experienced first-hand how time-consuming and complex workforce scheduling can be through his work.

"Airport staff scheduling is far more complex than many people realize. Flight traffic, collective agreements, and employee shift preferences all need to fit together. Managing this manually requires a tremendous amount of time and oversight," says Emil.

This marked the beginning of AALEX, founded with the ambition of making airport staff scheduling faster, more transparent, and better aligned with real operational needs. Today, Emil runs the company together with his partner and wife, Julia Bøgh Adsersen, who is responsible for the commercial side of the business.

Access to a Real-World Test Environment

The local business development organization, Business Aalborg, referred AALEX – Airport Scheduling to its colleagues at Billund Erhverv after learning about the opportunity to test solutions through Billund Airport Innovation Hub. AALEX subsequently entered into a dialogue with Billund Erhverv, which facilitated contact with Billund Airport and made it possible to launch the test project.

In Billund, Emil and Julia are testing their scheduling system in a more complex operational environment, including cargo operations, where flexibility and rapid adaptation are constant requirements.

"For us, it is crucial to test in a real-world environment. This allows us to determine whether the idea actually works in practice and to gain valuable input from the people who will ultimately use the solution," explains Emil.

The collaboration creates value not only for AALEX, but also for Billund Airport:

"We have found it very interesting to gain insight into what a startup can develop within workforce scheduling. There is certainly potential in the next generation of solutions in this area, and we are happy to contribute our knowledge and experience to the development process," says Lau Sunde, Head of Payroll & Planning at Billund Airport.

The partnership is built around real-life operational scenarios, with Billund Airport providing expertise and use cases that support AALEX's continued system development. This enables ongoing refinement of the solution and allows it to be tested against realistic scheduling challenges while respecting the demands of airport operations.

A Shortcut for Startups
Billund Airport Innovation Hub is an innovation and testing environment established through a collaboration between Billund Erhverv and Billund Airport. The hub is aimed at startups and SMEs developing digital or technological solutions relevant to airport operations, with a particular focus on transportation, logistics, and operational efficiency.

Billund Erhverv serves as the gateway for companies interested in exploring testing opportunities through Billund Airport Innovation Hub.

For AALEX, the collaboration with Billund Erhverv has made a significant difference in the development of its solution:

"Billund Erhverv made it much easier for us to get started. There was a clear pathway into the airport environment, and we always had a dedicated contact person to turn to whenever challenges arose," says Emil.

The opportunity to test solutions through Billund Airport Innovation Hub ensures that ideas do not remain assumptions but are validated in day-to-day operations. Here, startups gain access to the environment, data, and people who will ultimately use their solutions. This makes it possible to accelerate development and make better-informed decisions earlier in the innovation process.

"It's a completely different experience than simply making educated guesses," concludes Emil Louis Hansen.