Siemens Invests $218 Million in German Offshore Wind Factory

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--German engineering giant Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) is so convinced by the country's offshore wind ambitions that it has announced plans to build a 200 million-euro ($218 million) offshore wind turbine factory in Cuxhaven.

The new plant will be the company's first production facility for offshore wind turbine components in Germany. Groundbreaking for the plant is expected to take place this year, and it should begin producing nacelle components for the company's next generation of 7-megawatt (MW) turbines by mid-2017. Germany is the second-largest offshore wind market after the U.K.

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.

The Cuxhaven plant will cover an area of 170,000 square meters--the size of 24 soccer fields--and will be located directly at the edge of Cuxhaven's harbor, allowing massive components to be loaded directly onto shipping transport, which Siemens claimed will eliminate expensive road transportation costs. It will create up to 1,000 jobs and will handle the final assembly of generators, hubs and nacelle back-ends, which are all connected to form complete nacelles, the core of offshore wind turbines.

"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."

Markus Tacke, chief executive officer of the Wind Power and Renewables Division, added: "We invest where we see opportunities for growth--and Germany and Northern Europe are dynamic growth markets for us. The new factory will also make an important contribution toward helping us reach our goal of making wind power competitive."

Siemens is already constructing a plant for rotor blades in Hull, England, for 6- and 7-MW class wind turbines. The €371 million ($404 million) Green Port Hull project is being built with partner Associated British Ports (ABP). The project comprises construction, assembly and service facilities at Green Port Hull and a new rotor blade manufacturing facility in nearby Paull, in the East Riding. The two sites will create 1,000 jobs. For additional information, see January 27, 2015, article - Work on New U.K. Wind Turbine Plant Starts.

Siemens is among a number of large wind power players that have committed to reducing the cost of wind energy.

A recently released report commissioned by the U.K.'s Committee on Climate Change, called "Approaches to Cost Reduction in Offshore Wind," said there is "strong evidence" that offshore wind is already on track to drive down costs by a third, to reach its target of £100 ($155) per megawatt hour (MWh) by the end of the decade. Costs are expected to fall further in the 2020s with more reliable turbines, and by increasing their capacity to 10 MW or higher. These advances will cut offshore wind costs to £80/MWh ($124/MWh) by 2030, it predicted.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.