Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has officially inaugurated its offshore nacelle plant in Cuxhaven, Germany.
This plant is the largest production facility of its kind in Germany, Siemens Gamesa said. With a total investment of around EUR 200 million, the Cuxhaven factory is expected to employ some 850 people by the end of this year. More than half of these employees will work directly in manufacturing. Construction work on the 55,000m2 factory began in June 2016 and production has been underway since mid-2017, initially during the usual ramp-up phase.
“With our new plant in Cuxhaven, Siemens Gamesa is sending a clear signal regarding the power of renewable energy. Numerous innovations continue to make offshore wind power even more competitive with other sources of industrial power generation. Lowering the Levelized Cost of Energy from offshore wind is a key focus area for us, benefitting our customers, ratepayers, and society-at-large,” said Markus Tacke , CEO of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy.
“Today I would like to thank our energetic employees here in Cuxhaven and in the company for their untiring commitment. We would also like to thank the numerous supporters of the project in politics and at Siemens AG as well as our committed partners.”
The new Siemens Gamesa offshore nacelle factory is built in close proximity to the edge of the Cuxhaven port, allowing the direct transport of large and heavy wind turbine components by ship from the plant to wind farms at sea.
The specially-built transport ship Rotra Vente is an elementary component of the Ro/Ro (Roll on/ Roll off) logistics concept developed by Siemens Gamesa. Compared with conventional road transport and crane loading, the Ro/Ro significantly increases safety and saves around 20 per cent of logistics costs, the company said.