Singapore: Siemens to set up wind energy centre

Chua Hian Hou, Straits Times 16 Jan 08;

Sales office will be based at group's MacPherson building, it says at centenary celebration

IN THE latest in a spate of alternative energy-related investments in Singapore by foreign companies, Siemens will open a new regional sales office to promote its wind energy technologies.

The German industrial giant announced the new initiative at a conference as it kicked off its 100th anniversary celebrations at the Victoria Concert Hall yesterday.

The guest of honour at the event, President SR Nathan, also sealed a time capsule with 100 items, including a copy of yesterday's The Straits Times and a price list of HDB flats. It will be opened in 50 years.

Siemens also donated a $75,000 sculpture by the late Brother Joseph McNally symbolising creativity and $750,000 in cash to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

The wind energy centre, which will be based at the Siemens Centre building in MacPherson Road, will initially have just a 'handful of staff', said Siemens country manager Hans-Dieter Bott. Siemens will 'build it up over time' and hire more staff as business grows, he added.

And he is confident it will grow as countries around the world look for new sources of energy to power their economies.

Globally, he said, the 'booming' market for wind energy has grown from a multimillion-

euro market to a multibillion-euro one within a 'short time'.

And while the Republic itself is unlikely to be installing any wind generators, it is a 'strategic' location that is well linked to both the key wind energy research centres in Denmark and regional wind energy markets such as Australia and South Korea.

Siemens, said Mr Bott, has had a 'longstanding relationship' with Singapore since 1908, when it set up a sales office in the Republic. It was then one of the first German companies to establish a presence here.

Even during Singapore's 'turbulent post-independence years', the company said in a press statement, it 'signalled its strong commitment to the Republic' by setting up a semiconductor factory - its first such complex outside Germany.

Today, Siemens, which employs more than 2,200 people in its 'six companies, four major research and development sites and 16 regional centres of competence...is one of the largest European companies' in Singapore, said Mr Bott.

Its products are also part of everyday life here: Siemens has built one-third of Singapore's power generation plants and 19 Siemens trains traverse the North-South MRT line daily.

Hospital patients undergoing in-vitro diagnostics are scanned by Siemens equipment, and its mail systems sort mail for Singapore Post.

For Siemens, said Mr Bott, 'investing in Singapore and her future has never been a difficult decision', and it remains committed to the Republic 'now and into the future'.

Siemens puts wind power in S'pore sales
Republic picked to be regional HQ
Neo Chai Chin, Today Online 15 Jan 08;

You may never see a wind farm here but wind power is set to make its presence felt in Singapore's expanding renewable energy industry.

German engineering giant Siemens said yesterday it has chosen Singapore as its wind power regional sales headquarters.

"Singapore serves as a good base for us to reach markets from South Korea to Australia," said Mr Hans-Dieter Bott, country manager of Siemens in Singapore, who added that the HQ will be set up by the first quarter.

Siemens' move follows the announcement last October by Norway's Renewable Energy Corporation that it will invest $6.3 billion to build the world's largest solar manufacturing complex in Tuas in the next five years. In November, the Government said the Singapore Initiative in New Energy Technologies Centre will open this year to develop energy systems from sources such as wind, solar and fuel cell technology.

Mr Bott said yesterday Siemens will set up offices for its corporate technology division here by April. The company will further invest in research and training facilities here for water technologies, audiological innovation and in-vitro diagnostic products and solutions.

Siemens Singapore's sales revenue in the fiscal year ended Sept 30 was $1.3 billion. While Siemens' global operations are still under the cloud of a corruption scandal over bribes paid to win contracts, its businesses here are not affected, said Mr Bott.

Siemens, with more than 2,200 employees here, celebrated its 100th year in Singapore yesterday by donating a sculpture and $750,000 to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.