Siemens to build Ontario’s first wind turbine blade factory

Siemens announced that it will supply up to 600 MW of its wind turbines to Samsung C&T and independent wind and transmission operator, Pattern Energy, to serve the Ontario renewables market. In addition,  the development of the agreement, under Ontario’s Green Energy Act and the associated Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program, will annually provide enough electricity to power more than 240,000 homes.

To supply Samsung and Pattern Energy’s demand, Siemens Canada also announced it will build Ontario’s first wind turbine blade factory. Although Bill Smith, senior VP of Energy for Siemens Canada, would only say the plant will be located in South-western Ontario, he said the facility will begin operations in late 2011. Initially, the facility will produce a minimum of 350 turbine blades per year but will be sized to ramp up production depending on market demand. Its primary product will be 101-meter rotor blades for the company’s popular 2.3-MW turbines.

Siemens has been working with Samsung C&T and its development partner Pattern Energy, on this first phase of development under Ontario’s FIT program where Samsung has committed to develop 2,000 MW of wind power over the next six years. Siemens will supply wind turbines at selected projects in southern Ontario and the implementation of this agreement will create up to 300 jobs connected to the new blade manufacturing facility and up to an additional 600 construction and indirect service jobs over its term.

"Canada continues to be a major wind power market for Siemens and we are pleased to reach this milestone with Samsung on the first phase of Ontario’s FIT program," stated Smith. "Ontario’s Green Energy Act and the FIT program are important enablers for the development of clean sources of energy, and the Ontario government has shown tremendous leadership in ensuring that the province is one of the world’s most progressive jurisdictions. Our blade factory will enable the Ontario market and will deploy Siemens’ state-of-the-art blade manufacturing technology in doing so."

So far, Siemens has installed a total of 130 2.3-MW rated wind turbines at Kruger Energy’s 101.2-MW Port Alma wind farm and TransAlta’s 197.8-MW Wolfe Island wind farm in Ontario, and is supplying an additional 152 units of its 2.3-MW wind turbines to four recently announced projects. By the end of 2011, the company estimates installed capacity will total 550 MW .
www.siemens.com