Siemens will invest around €200 million to build its first production facility for offshore wind turbine components in Cuxhaven, Germany, the company reported today.
The factory, expected to create up to 1,000 new jobs, will accommodate the final assembly of generators, hubs and nacelle back-ends, which are all connected to form complete nacelles, the core of Siemens 7 MW wind turbines.
The groundbreaking is scheduled to take place later this year, with production of the first components to begin in mid-2017.
“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 CEO 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.”
The production facility will have a surface area of 170,000 square meters – the size of roughly 24 soccer fields – and will be located directly at the edge of Cuxhaven’s harbor, allowing heavy components to be loaded directly onto transportation vessels, thereby avoiding expensive ground transportation, Siemens explained.
“We’re looking forward to building at this factory the most efficient and reliable ‘Made in Germany’ wind turbines,” said Markus Tacke, CEO of the Wind Power and Renewables Division . “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.”
In addition to the new facility in Cuxhaven, Siemens is also currently constructing a plant for rotor blades in Hull, UK, for six- and seven-megawatt-class wind turbines. This plant is also scheduled to be fully operational in 2017.
Image: Siemens