Germany’s Siemens (NYSE: SI) announced Tuesday that it has selected Hutchinson, Kansas, for a new production facility to supply components to the growing wind power market in the U.S.
The 300,000-square-foot nacelle facility and an adjacent 80,000-square-foot service and repair facility will be built on more than 100 acres in Reno County, which is located northwest of Wichita on the Arkansas River.
The operation is expected to create an estimated 400 jobs and will be the first major wind turbine equipment factory in Kansas, which is ranked third in the U.S. for its wind energy resource potential.
"The United States already is and will continue to be one of the world’s fastest growing wind energy markets. We are thus intensifying our commitment to this green technology to further expand our leading global position in this field," stated Peter Loscher, CEO of Siemens AG.
Construction on the new nacelle production facility is expected to begin in August of 2009, and the first 90-ton nacelle is expected to be shipped from the factory in December of 2010.
The nacelle is the structure that houses all of the components that generate electricity, including the gearbox, drive train and control electronics. The nacelles that are made at the Hutchinson facility will be used for the company’s 2.3-megawatts (MW) wind turbine product family. Initially, the factory’s planned annual output is approximately 650 nacelles–or 1,500 MW. The service and repair facility is planned to start up sooner, using temporary space in the area until the new facility is completed.
The factory will include direct loading onto rail, which will provide easy access to project locations throughout the United States and Canada. Shipments can also be made utilizing the barge facilities at the Port of Catoosa, located 250 miles from the plant.
With revenues totaling EUR 19 billion in fiscal year 2008, Siemens claims to have the world’s largest portfolio of environmental technologies.
"We’ve been operating our wind turbine blade manufacturing plant in Ft. Madison, Iowa, for two years, and we’ve already expanded the facility there," said Rene Umlauft, CEO of the Siemens Energy Renewables Division. "This nacelle facility in Kansas means we are able to further expand U.S. dollar-based sourcing from qualified suppliers. It is our goal to reach greater than 90% U.S. dollar-based content by 2012 in order to better and more cost-efficiently meet the demand for our high-quality wind turbines in the U.S. Also, the expanded service presence will improve our responsiveness by being centrally located to key customers, and it will add capabilities in larger component repair."
Siemens’ global wind power business has grown from approximately 800 wind jobs in 2004 to more than 5,500 today. In the U.S. alone, Siemens Wind Power has grown from zero employees in 2005 to more than 800 employees today, and the company plans to double that number in the next two to three years, it said. Its U.S. operations include a Houston-based wind turbine service operation, its 600,000-square-foot wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Ft. Madison, Iowa, an R&D center in Boulder, Colorado, and its Americas headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Finalization of the planned Siemens facility in Hutchinson requires approval of incentive agreements by local governing bodies, the State of Kansas, Siemens Energy, Inc. and its affiliate Siemens Shared Services, LLC Real Estate Division.
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