Siemens has a nacelles factory at Hutchinson, Kansas and a blade factory at Fort Madison, Iowa. The company said the plants are set to supply components to the 265MW Ocotillo wind farm in California, which uses its 2.3MW turbines.
Siemens said it will also supply to the 115MW El Arrayan project in Chile, which also uses 2.3MW machines. According to Windpower Intelligence, Chile has a 2.8GW pipeline until 2015 although El Arrayan is Siemens' only Chilean deal.
The orders may reduce the likelihood of Siemens making more job cuts in the US. In September, Siemens announced plans to lay off 615 of its staff from plants across the US.
Speaking about the firm's confirmation of the Ocotillo deal, Siemens Wind Power Americas CEO Mark Albenze said: "Our US factories will supply the blades and the majority of the nacelles and hubs for the Ocotillo Wind project, and we will also export components to Chile.
"Siemens has invested more than $100 million in our factories here in the U.S. over the last five years and we remain committed to providing our wind turbines to the U.S. industry as well as exporting them to markets across the Americas."
Siemens looks to supply Chile from US factories
UNITED STATES: Turbine manufacturer Siemens said it is planning to offset the expected downturn in US orders by exporting components to Chile.
