By Renewable Energy Focus staff

Siemens says it will set up two Research and Development (R&D) Centres in Brande and Aalborg, Denmark.

In addition, Siemens will match the capacity of its Danish production plants to the growing demand for offshore wind turbines in Europe expand office spaces at its headquarters in Brande to accommodate the growth in number of employees.

From 2012, the Offshore Business will have a new Centre of Competence in the Danish city of Vejle.

“Our investments in R&D and the extension of production facilities will pave the road for our global expansion,” says Jens-Peter Saul, CEO of the Siemens Wind Power Business Unit.

“We will continue to expand our global production network and to regionalize our sales and project management functions to get closer to the customer. Further factories are planned in the UK, in Canada, Russia and India.”

Henrik Stiesdal, Chief Technology Officer of the Siemens Wind Power Business Unit, adds: “Through the investment in the new R&D test centres, we will be able to thoroughly investigate and verify new products and solutions like the Direct Drive and Quantum Blade technologies before they are implemented in the field. This will help us to ensure that we keep our unmatched track record in reliability for our next generation of large wind turbines.”