Siemens Energy, along with state and local public officials, and a host of community leaders, celebrated the official grand opening of the new 64,000-square-foot wind service distribution center in Woodward, Oklahoma, today. The establishment of this new facility underscores Siemens’ commitment to providing increased efficiency to its wind power customers throughout the region. With its geographic location in the heart of the wind belt, the Woodward facility will allow for reduced delivery times and greater parts availability as Siemens follows through on its strategic focus to provide superior service to its wind power customers in the U.S.
"Locating our newest wind turbines service facility in Woodward affords us a tremendous opportunity to be close to many of our U.S. customers and provide them with a high level of service that’s both efficient and cost effective," said Tim Holt, Siemens’ CEO for Renewables Service. "As the wind power industry continues to grow in the U.S., there is a marked increase in the need for long-term reliable service and maintenance. This facility allows us to effectively address those needs for years to come. We thank Governor Mary Fallin, the state of Oklahoma and the Woodward Industrial Foundation for their support and assistance."
Siemens’ Woodward wind service center will store and distribute main components and spare parts, including wind turbine blades, drive assemblies and generators, as well as tooling operations. The warehousing operation is celebrating its opening today with 14 employees, and over the next five years, Siemens expects to create up to 40 "green-collar" jobs at the facility. More than 50 percent of the current employees are veterans of the U.S. military, with skills in logistics and materials handling, in keeping with Siemens’ ongoing pledge to hire veterans across all sectors of the company.
"We are excited about the jobs and investment the Siemens Energy wind service distribution center means for Woodward and northwest Oklahoma," said Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. "Our state’s abundance of wind resources, a friendly business climate and skilled workforce make this partnership a natural fit and we look forward to working with Siemens Energy to bring even more jobs to the state. The production of energy is an important part of Oklahoma’s economy which is why I have introduced the state’s first comprehensive energy plan which promotes traditional energy production while complementing its use with renewable sources of energy like wind power. As governor, my top priority is to create a business environment conducive to job creation and investment and today’s announcement is a great sign we are meeting that goal."
Siemens is involved in a number of wind projects across the state of Oklahoma. The OU Spirit wind project (formerly Keenan I), developed by CPV Renewable Energy Company and now operated by Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E), includes 44 SWT-2.3-93 wind turbines. With the 101-MW OU Spirit wind farm, the University of Oklahoma (OU) plans to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2013. Additionally, Siemens supplied 66 SWT-2.3-101 units to CPV’s 151.8-MW Keenan II wind farm located just south of Woodward, Oklahoma, in 2010. In Dewey County, Oklahoma, Siemens provided 95 SWT-2.3-101 wind turbines and three SWT-3.0-101 direct drive wind turbines for OG&E’s Crossroads wind farm. In addition to the projects in Oklahoma, the Siemens Energy Wind Service Center in Woodward will serve projects throughout the region and across the U.S.
Siemens has installed wind turbines with a combined capacity of more than 5700 MW in the U.S., enough to supply power to more than 1.7 million homes. There are more than 3800 Siemens wind turbines installed or on order in North America, thus creating a considerable base for the company’s wind service investment. In addition to the Company’s more than 1300 employees involved with the manufacture and installation of wind turbines in the U.S., Siemens has over 500 wind service employees at present in the U.S. and the company expects that number to grow to as many as 1,500 over the course of the next two years.
The Woodward wind service distribution center joins Siemens other wind power locations in the U.S., including the company’s recently opened distribution warehouse in Wichita, Kansas, a nacelle assembly plant in Hutchinson, Kansas, a wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in Fort Madison, Iowa, a service center in Houston, Texas, an R&D center in Boulder, Colorado, two gearbox factories in Elgin, Illinois, an offshore office in Boston, Massachusetts, and the company’s Americas headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Wind power is part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio. In fiscal 2011, revenue from the Portfolio totaled about EUR30 billion, making Siemens one of the world’s largest suppliers of eco-friendly technologies. In the same period, our products and solutions enabled customers to reduce their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by nearly 320 million tons, an amount equal to the total annual CO2 emissions of Berlin, Delhi,Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, New York, Singapore, and Tokyo.
By José Santamarta, www.siemens.com/energy
