Siemens to Expand Gas and Steam Turbine Manufacturing Capacity in Germany and India

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--German electrical and electronic company Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany) has expanded its gas turbine plant in Berlin, Germany, by opening a new production facility for the manufacture of gas turbines in the Moabit district of the city. The Berlin plant is Siemens' largest production facility, and the recent expansion will enable the firm to produce an additional 14,000 gas turbine vanes and blades annually. The expansion will also create 200 new jobs.

Siemens invested about $58 million setting up the new facility. Approximately one third of the total investment was directed to the new production hall. The 3,000-square-meter building has been designed to be energy efficient, and bears the European Union's "Green Building" label. The building's energy consumption is about 25% lower than typical levels, which will reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by about 1,775 tons per year. Currently the 2,800 workers at the Berlin gas turbine center produce mainly high-efficiency, environmentally friendly turbines with capacities of up to 340 megawatts (MW). The complex also produces the most powerful gas turbine in the world, which is capable of supplying sufficient electricity for half the population of Berlin.

Each Siemens gas turbine contains about 2,500 blades and vanes, the most critical components of a gas turbine. These parts have a significant effect on the performance and efficiency of the turbine. The higher the efficiency of a turbine, the less amount of fuel consumed, leading to a reduction in emission levels. The turbines produced by Siemens in Germany are shipped around the world.

In 2008, Siemens earned about $26 billion from its environmental portfolio, of which gas turbines form a major component. This equates to about a quarter of the company's total earnings and makes Siemens the largest provider of environmentally friendly infrastructure in the world.

Siemens is also planning to expand its steam turbine production capacity in the state of Gujarat in India and recently announced plans to set up a new 14,000-square-meter facility at an investment of $19 billion.

The new production facility will enable Siemens to triple the production of high-efficiency steam turbines by 2010, which are also an important part of the firm's environmental portfolio. These are mainly used in small- to medium-sized combined heat and power plants, cogeneration plants and combined cycle power plants. They can also be used in small chemical plants and sugar and pulp mills, where they can use the process-steam in the plant to produce power and increase efficiency.

The steam turbines produced at the new facilities will be in the small- to medium-range, with generating capacities of up to 45 MW. The products will be marketed mainly at the local regions in addition to being exported to Asia and Africa, where demand for turbines of this size is growing rapidly in order to combat the shortage of electricity during peak load times.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy related markets. For more than 26 years, Industrial Info has provided plant and project opportunity databases, market forecasts, high resolution maps, and daily industry news.