Siemens Executive Wants Low-Cost Strategy For Wind Plants - Report
May 06 2012 - 7:05AM
Dow Jones News
German engineering conglomerate Siemens AG (SIE.XE) plans to use
common platform and production strategies and the introduction of
components to lower costs in the wind plant business, the head of
the wind power unit tells German weekly WirtschaftsWoche in an
interview.
"We need to be in a leading position with regards to quality and
to costs," said Felix Ferlemann, chief executive of Siemens Wind
Power. However, despite deteriorating prices and increasing
competition by new players in the Far East, Ferlemann doesn't
expect the German wind energy industry to suffer a similar fate as
solar energy companies in Germany, most of which are struggling to
compete.
Mounting costs at its energy division have forced the European
industrial giant to clip its forecast for the year recently. Due to
extra costs for projects mainly related to connecting North Sea
wind farms to the German power grid, Siemens lowered its profit
forecast for the current year at the end of April.
Separately, the chief executive of Allianz SE's (ALV.XE) Allianz
Climate Solutions unit said the industry needs a secure political
framework to ensure the necessary investments into offshore wind
parks.
"The federal government needs to create incentives for the
construction of energy storage facilities and the grid network,"
Armin Sandhoevel told WirtschaftsWoche.
Magazine website: http://www.wiwo.de
-Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires, 49 69 29725 500;
djnews.frankfurt@dowjones.com