Dow Jones reported that Siemens AG is moving into Latin American market for wind energy turbines, beginning in Mexico, as it seeks a place among the world's top suppliers for wind driven renewable energy. Mr Jan Kjaersgaard VP & GM for Siemens Wind Power Americas said that "We have a defined target of becoming one of the top-three wind turbine producers. It's important to be in the markets where we see growth."
According to the International Finance Corporation, Latin America has little installed wind energy capacity even as global growth in the sector hit 30% a year at the start of the decade before slowing to 24% from 2004 to 2007. It has slowed further in recent years due to the debt crisis.
Currently, Siemens wind turbines have a global installed capacity of 9,600 MW, with about two thirds of that in Europe and the rest in the US, Canada and elsewhere. Mr Kjaersgaard said that puts Siemens at fifth or sixth in the world for wind turbine manufacturers. He added that "We are very strong especially in Canada and the US and are starting up in Latin America."
Siemens joined with the private Mexican energy producer Grupo Soluciones en Energias Renovables SOE to fuel the Los Vergeles wind farm in the Mexico Texas border state of Tamaulipas. The turbine order exceeds USD 270 million, with a ground breaking ceremony scheduled for this month.
