Siemens Canada was one of the leading companies in the Canadian wind market in 2014, contributing to more than half of the 1.9 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity installed.
That momentum is reinforced today with the completion of the 1,000th blade at Siemens’ wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Tillsonburg, Ontario. The production of 1,000 blades generates enough electricity to power more than 230,000 Ontario homes per year.
This milestone further demonstrates the progress of the Green Energy Investment Agreement (GEIA) between Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. (Samsung), and the Ontario Government. The agreement was implemented with the intention of creating green manufacturing jobs in the province, in exchange for the government’s investment in new transmission capacity. This lends to the success of the Green Energy Act as well, a provincial policy which underscores Ontario’s commitment to economic growth and environmental sustainability.
All Siemens wind turbine blades in Canada are manufactured at the company’s blade facility in Tillsonburg. Situated on 40 acres of land, the 253,000-square-foot facility manufactures 49-metre blades for the SWT-2.3-101 geared platform and 55-metre blades for the SWT-3.2-113 direct-drive platform. Blades produced in Tillsonburg are installed in Canadian wind farms and abroad.
As the largest turbine supplier in the Ontario market last year*, Tillsonburg’s first blade was one of 372 used in the commissioning of the South Kent Wind project in Chatham-Kent, one of Canada’s largest wind farms and part of the 270-megawatt (MW) agreement between Siemens, Samsung and Pattern Energy Group LP (Pattern Development). Siemens has also supplied, delivered and commissioned turbines for several other Samsung and Pattern Development wind projects in Ontario including the recently completed 150-MW Grand Renewable Wind project in the County of Haldimand, the 270-MW K2 Wind project currently under construction in Goderich, and Armow Wind project, currently under construction in the Township of Kincardine.
The Canadian wind energy market is growing at a rapid rate and is now the ninth largest in the world, with a current installed capacity of approximately 9,700-MW. Siemens Canada is making a significant contribution to this growth, holding a leading position in the Ontario market with over 1,600-MW of installed capacity in the province.
- “We greatly value our partner’s confidence in our products and services and are pleased to continue to provide Ontario with jobs, economic growth and viable, affordable and sustainable wind energy. We’re very proud and excited to be celebrating the completion of our 1000th blade today and our recent 10-GW installation milestone in the Americas reaffirms our commitment to renewable energy, the competitiveness of wind power, and continuous innovation.”
Jacob Andersen, Head of Wind Power Renewables, Siemens Canada
- “Partnering with Siemens has allowed us to use wind turbine blades made by Ontarians at our projects across southwestern Ontario, which has led to the creation of thousands of manufacturing, construction and wind facility operations jobs in the Province.”
Mike Garland, Chief Executive Officer, Pattern Development
- “Samsung believes that renewable energy is a very important part of eliminating our dependence on dirty coal production and protecting the air that we breathe. We are very pleased that our investments have created over 1,000 total manufacturing jobs in communities across Ontario.”
Steve Cho, Vice President, Samsung C&T Corporation
