Siemens Breaks Ground at German Wind Turbine Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Siemens AG (Munich, Germany) has started construction of its first German manufacturing plant in 20 years as the European offshore wind energy sector continues its rapid growth.

The new wind turbine factory is based at the edge of Cuxhaven harbour in Lower Saxony and will be responsible for building the company's next generation 7-megawatt (MW) turbines when it opens in summer 2017. This will coincide with the start of manufacturing of the 75-metre rotor blades at Siemens' new plant in Hull, U.K. The two plants, as well as the installation harbour ports, will be connected by two specialised transport vessels that will cater for Siemens' "roll-on and roll-off" method of loading products. The company said it does away with the need for expensive crane operations and road transportation costs. Siemens committed to building the plant last summer. For additional information, see August 10, 2015, article - Siemens Invests $218 Million in German Offshore Wind Factory.

On-site Siemens has already completed soil compaction and preparation of the pile foundation, consisting of 1,900 concrete piles. The groundbreaking ceremony for the 200 million euro ($225 million) plant was attended by Parliamentary State Secretary Enak Ferlemann, who said: "A new industry is developing at the German north and east coast which is not only beneficial for the labour market, but also for the energy transition. Cuxhaven is clearly on a solid course for the future."

Concrete mixers will start working on the site now, which covers an area of 170,000 square metres, around the same size as 24 soccer fields. The 1,900 piles will hold in place a poured concrete plate measuring 320 metres long and more than 160 metres wide. This will form the base of the future production hall, which needs to be able to support weights of several hundred tonnes once turbine manufacture begins. The roof height will exceed 30 metres.

"The decision to build a new production facility in Cuxhaven represents a clear commitment to Germany as a business location," said Joe Kaeser, president and chief executive officer of Siemens AG. "The new Siemens factory will employ up to 1,000 skilled employees. The expansion of offshore wind power capacity in Germany and Europe represents an enormous opportunity for northern Germany and Siemens."

Siemens installed a prototype of its new SWT-7.0-154 7 MW offshore turbine in Denmark in May. Denmark's Dong Energy (Fredericia, Denmark) has committed to using the turbine for the 330-MW second phase of the U.K.'s Walney Extension offshore wind project. For additional information, see March 18, 2015, article - Giant 7 MW Turbine for Walney Offshore Project.

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