Siemens puts up wind turbine plant in China for US$83M

Siemens is investing more than US$83.88 million for a wind turbine plant production facility in Lingang New City, Shanghai. This new facility is scheduled to take up operation in the second half of 2010, initially with 400 employees. The wind turbine plants produced in Shanghai will be for the Chinese market and for export.

The new production site will have a total space of 180,000 square meters and be situated at an excellent location with regard to shipping and traffic facilities, being in the direct vicinity of the Yang Shan deep-sea harbor.

"Siemens is expanding its commitment to environmentally-friendly energy technology in China with this new wind turbine production facility in Shanghai,” declared Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of the Siemens Energy Sector and member of the managing board of Siemens AG.

"China could soon become the largest wind energy market in the world and with our new production facility in Shanghai we are establishing an excellent starting position for meeting the growing demand of this exciting market. In addition, we are also rigorously advancing the internationalisation of our manufacturing network for wind turbines to optimally meet the needs of our customers in Asia, Europe and America," he added.

Siemens will initially produce blades for 2.3 and 3.6 MW wind turbine plants. These blades will be produced using the IntegralBlade process patented by Siemens, without any glued joints that are susceptible to damage. Wind turbine plant nacelles will also be produced at this new plant.

The production capacity for the new facility is initially planned at 500 MW annually. The first wind turbine blades and nacelles are scheduled to leave the plant in time for the EXPO 2010 international exhibition in Shanghai. Siemens has already reserved additional space in Lingang for potential expansion of this production facility.