SIEMENS AG, Europe's largest engineering company, may get as much as 10 percent of its wind turbine sales in Asia in coming years as demand for clean energy increases orders for large-scale projects.
An order for 62 turbines for a 140-megawatt project in New Zealand is the company's largest contract in the Southern Hemisphere, Siemens said yesterday. The company expects to install about 1,500 turbines this year, and Asian sales in coming years will average about 10 percent of that rate, Andreas Nauen, head of the company's wind division, said yesterday.
"That includes Japan and here and there some other countries," Nauen said in Wellington. "Asia for us mainly means Australia and New Zealand."
Siemens accounted for 7.3 percent of the world's 15,000 megawatts of turbine sales last year, making it the sixth-largest player in an industry dominated by Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA and General Electric Co, according to BTM Consult data. That share is increasing as generators seek larger and more efficient turbines to help meet rising power demand, Bloomberg News said.
Siemens is concentrating on large turbines to get the best value from investments in heavy engineering and to avoid competition from new providers, Nauen said.
While there is big growth in countries like China and India, most of the turbines being installed in those countries are about one megawatt in size, he said. Demand in the company's main markets in Europe and North America is shifting toward bigger plants.
"In China, you have somewhere between 20, 30 or 40 companies starting up turbine construction as well as logistical challenges," Nauen said. "The smallest turbine we will make in future is 2.3 megawatts and we will focus on more established markets."