UK PM Bids To Secure Siemens Wind Turbine Plant

Published: 20-Sep-2009

UK's Prime Minister (PM) Gordon Brown is trying to persuade Siemens AG (Siemens) to build a wind turbine plant in the country with financial package and market growth, guardian.co.uk reported. Gordon Brown will meet Siemens chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Loscher in next two weeks for the same. Last week, the company was awarded GBP1.1 million to help it develop a new offshore wind power converter.

UK wants to bring Siemens in the wake of Vestas Wind Systems A/S's plant closure in the Isle of Wight, which has resulted in the a public relations disaster that has undermined UK claim of leading the clean energy revolution.

Siemens Renewable Energy Division's CEO Rene Umlauft said that one of the most important aspects was seeing what came out of the Round 3 deep water licensing, which is expected to be announced shortly.

Umlauft denied any factory was dependent on Siemens being awarded a license, for which its financial arm has applied, but it needed to know there would be plenty of new customers.

"We are looking at two locations [for factories] in the UK, one in Denmark and one in Germany. Great Britain has the advantage of Round 3, which could result in a huge market," Umlauft said.

The two factory sites in Britain, include one in the north east – ringfenced as a "low carbon economic area", while a second plant is thought to be in East Anglia.

Umlauf said that he had at least 12 months to make up his mind, but insiders said they expected to see a decision much earlier if the company got what it wanted out of government.

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