Wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa has launched a new technology and manufacturing center in the Madrid town of San Fernando de Henares, Spain.
Image: Siemens Gamesa plan to generate €2bn in cost savings in the period between 2018 and 2020. Photo: by Nagy Arnold on Unsplash.
The new Gamesa Electric technology and manufacturing center comprises two test benches for testing and validating systems with capacity of up to 10MW, for wind and solar photovoltaic (PV), as well as for energy storage purposes.
Siemens Games said it has invested more than €3m in the facility, which upgrades and expands an existing plant. The facility employs 183 people.
Siemens Gamesa Southern Europe and Africa onshore division chief executive Enrique Pedrosa said: “The significant effort being made by the company on the technological and innovation areas, having just unveiled one of Europe’s most cutting-edge facilities. Not only will it enable us to meet the industry’s current demands, it will prepare us for future developments thanks to the ability to test systems of up to 10MW.
“From now on, it will be possible to do many of the tests that were being performed elsewhere in Spain here at the factory. This will translate into a significant improvement in development times and, thus, in competitiveness.”
About half of the facility is comprised of test benches while the other area features manufacturing lines required for the production of power electronics for the wind power, photovoltaic and energy storage segments.
Siemens Gamesa expects to boost its production of PV inverters by 70%. It has produced systems with capacity of around 2.5 GW for the wind and photovoltaic segments in 2017.
Earlier this year, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has unveiled its plan to generate cost savings of €2bn in the period between 2018 and 2020.
As part of this plan, the firm plans to implement a series of measures to reach the cost saving target which includes faster delivery of the targeted merger synergies.