Siemens Energy has been awarded six new wind turbine orders in North America over the last month: two in Canada and four in the U.S., totaling more than 565 megawatts (MW) rated capacity. In Ontario, Canada, Siemens will supply 44 units of its 2.3-MW rated wind turbines for Kruger Energy's Chatham wind farm and 22 wind turbines for the Gosfield wind farm, owned by Brookfield Renewable Power Fund. In the U.S., Siemens will provide Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) with 66 wind turbines for the Keenan II wind farm in Oklahoma; Duke Energy with 44 wind turbines for its Top of the World project in Wyoming; Cannon Power Group's Windy Flats Extension wind farm with 26 wind turbines in Washington State; and Pattern Energy with 44 wind turbines for its Hatchet Ridge project in California. Together, these projects have the potential to provide clean power to approximately 170,000 North American homes. The total value of the six orders is more than US$900 million.
"These orders prove that the wind industry's fundamentals are still strong even in times of an economic downturn," stated Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of the Siemens Energy Sector. "The continuing support for renewable energy from the administrations in the U.S. and Canada is having a positive effect on wind project development. We are confident that the industry will get back on its growth track soon."
"Importantly, these orders show how North America has been able to lay a groundwork to sustain this renewable industry over the long-term," added Randy Zwirn, president and CEO of Siemens Energy, Inc. "Five years ago, Siemens had one employee working in wind energy in the U.S. Today we have 900. And with continued investment and growth in this industry, as evidenced by these orders, the number of green jobs should only continue to grow."
On September 17, Siemens celebrated the groundbreaking of its planned wind turbine assembly facility in Hutchinson, Kansas, to better meet the increasing demand for clean energy in the Americas. The 300,000-square-foot wind turbine nacelle facility is scheduled to become operational in fall 2010 and is expected to employ up to approximately 400 "green-collar" employees. The plant's annual planned output is approximately 650 nacelles – or 1,500 rated megawatts. Siemens also recently expanded its 600,000-square-foot blade manufacturing facilities in Fort Madison, Iowa, which it opened in 2007.
"Since Siemens entered the wind market in 2004, the company has become the third largest wind turbine supplier to the North American market, which is expected to be the second largest regional market in terms of total installed capacity over the next three years, just behind Asia Pacific," said Bill Smith, senior vice president, Energy Sector, Siemens Canada. "Our portfolio and strategy supports the Canadian wind power market, which is expected to see unprecedented growth over the next decade."
Wind power is one of the biggest contributors to the company's environmental portfolio. In 2008, revenue from products and solutions of Siemens' environmental portfolio was nearly EUR19 billion, which is equivalent to around a quarter of Siemens' total revenue, making Siemens one of the largest providers of environmentally friendly technology worldwide.
The Siemens Energy Sector is the world's leading supplier of a complete spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation, transmission and distribution of power and for the extraction, conversion and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2008 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of approximately EUR22.6 billion and received new orders totaling approximately EUR33.4 billion and posted a profit of EUR1.4 billion. On September 30, 2008, the Energy Sector had a work force of approximately 83,500.
