Siemens opens gas turbine plant in North Carolina
Siemens Energy, along with state and local public officials, celebrated the official grand opening of the new 450,000-square-foot gas turbine production plant adjacent to its existing steam turbine-henerator manufacturing plant in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The event marks another important milestone in Siemens' growth strategy in the US, the company said, further demonstrating commitment to US investment and confidence in the long-term future of the US energy market.
When fully operational in spring 2012, the new gas turbine factory will complete Siemens' Charlotte energy hub, which in this one location will provide the engineering, manufacturing, servicing and other support functions related to the supply of Siemens' gas and steam turbines and generators to markets around the world.
"Today marks an important milestone for Siemens Energy and for Charlotte ," said Randy Zwirn, CEO of Siemens. "This state-of-the-art gas turbine manufacturing facility represents the expansion of our US manufacturing footprint, the incredible opportunity for increasing American exports, and for creating even more highly skilled jobs in the region.
“It also further expands our capabilities to help our customers optimize their investments and competitively generate electricity to meet the nation's growing needs,” he added. “Nearly 50% of the work in both the steam turbine-generator and gas turbine factories is for servicing customer-owned equipment or manufacturing replacement elements for existing plants."
"As the global market leader in the advanced gas turbine business, our investment in this new manufacturing facility in Charlotte is a bold move that further demonstrates Siemens' confidence in the U.S. as the right location for a global manufacturing hub," said Roland Fischer, CEO of the fossil power generation division of Siemens Energy.
"Despite the economic and policy uncertainties that exist, we are producing and exporting cleaner, more efficient power generation solutions paramount to solving the world's energy challenges," said Fischer.
At Siemens' newly-expanded Charlotte hub and at the company's gas turbine production facility in Berlin, Germany, gas turbines can, as demand dictates, be manufactured at either location for both 60-Hz and 50-Hz markets.
However, as Siemens' Americas hub, Charlotte will be primarily producing gas turbines for the Americas region and other 60-Hz markets, while Berlin is the main production hub for 50-Hz gas turbines, designed for use in Europe and other 50-Hz markets.
In March 2010, Siemens announced it would expand its worldwide manufacturing and service center for power generation equipment in Charlotte , adding gas turbine production and service capabilities to an existing plant for electric generators and steam turbines and LEED Gold certified engineering facility.
The groundbreaking for this facility took place in October 2010. It was designed based on LEAN manufacturing principles and US LEED Gold green building standards, making it the most advanced gas turbine production plant in operation, according to the company.
The day also celebrated the first gas turbine leaving the expanded facility, an SGT6-5000F gas turbine that will be exported to the 250-megawatt La Caridad 1 combined cycle power plant in Sonora State, Mexico.
Officials from the customer, Grupo Mexico, joined Siemens at the grand opening as the turbine was prepared for shipping.
During the ceremony, it was also announced that the Siemens Energy and Grupo Mexico signed another agreement to supply a second 250-megawatt combined cycle power plant featuring the SGT6-5000F for its La Caridad 2 project, located adjacent to the La Caridad 1 plant.
Siemens has exported more than $600 million worth of power generation equipment from Charlotte .
With the company's expanded production capabilities, Siemens Charlotte said it expects to ramp up exports to more than $400 million annually to markets all over the world.
To staff the entire expanded Siemens Charlotte facility, including an expansion to the existing engineering facility, more than 700 high-skilled jobs have already been added to the nearly 700-person existing workforce, with 400 more to be hired by 2014.
In addition, it is estimated that another 2,000 indirect jobs will be created as a result of the economic impact of this investment. Siemens has partnered with local universities and community colleges, including the University of North Carolina and Central Piedmont Community College, to offer skills assessment and training opportunities to prepare its expanded workforce with the advanced skills needed to operate the sophisticated production systems.
Viewed by many as "the new energy capital of the US”, Charlotte is home to more than 250 energy-related companies, and with its expansion Siemens Energy is now the largest equipment manufacturer.
With the addition of gas turbines, Charlotte is Siemens Energy's North American hub, producing the full range of fossil power generation equipment used by central station power producers (generators, steam turbines and gas turbines).
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