ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 6 – With its commitment to providing the best and most comprehensive skills and safety training to its service technicians and engineers worldwide, Siemens is making plans to build a new, state-of-the-art wind service training facility in Orlando, Florida, USA. The demand for skilled wind service technicians is increasing as more wind projects come online in the Americas, thereby requiring long-term service and maintenance. Siemens is designing this new 40,000-square-foot center, which will be located close to the global headquarters of Siemens’ Energy Service division in Orlando, to be among the most advanced wind training facilities in the world. Siemens’ initial investment will be approximately $7 million and the company plans to create 50 new full-time jobs and host approximately 2,400 trainees annually from the U.S. and the Americas. The training center, which is being built based on LEED Gold green-building standards, is scheduled to begin operations by this summer.

“As wind energy has become a mainstream source of power generation, the continued reliable and competitive performance of renewable energy is critically important to meeting the nation’s future energy demand,” said Randy Zwirn, CEO of Siemens Energy, Inc. and CEO of Siemens Energy’s global Service Division. “As an industry leader in both onshore and offshore wind, Siemens is poised to meet that demand and this new, advanced training facility in the U.S. will help ensure that our wind service technicians receive the highest standard of technical and safety training. In addition, the training center’s proximity to Siemens Energy’s Americas headquarters will allow us to leverage synergies and provide cross-functional support within our Service and Wind Divisions. Orlando has been home to Siemens Energy for more than 30 years and our employees are vested in the community. We look forward to bringing this new state-of-the-art training facility to the Central Florida region later this year.”

“We are pleased that Florida remains a solid business base for Siemens as indicated by its choice of our state over other U.S. states for this innovative, high-tech training center,” said Florida Governor Rick Scott. “This project shows that Florida’s workforce and business climate are making us more competitive for jobs and opportunities that will benefit the families and professionals who call this state home.”

The Orlando wind training center will be one of four Siemens wind service training facilities globally, joining Brande, Denmark; Bremen, Germany; and Newcastle in the United Kingdom. The training center will provide technical and health and safety training for Siemens’ wind power service technicians, equipping them with the skills required to safely and expertly meet the service needs of the industry. It will offer a wide variety of qualification and training options covering all aspects relating to the technology and operational reliability – an important contribution toward the efficient, reliable operation of wind turbines over the long-term.

“Siemens has a strong presence in Orlando and Central Florida with offices and facilities supporting its energy, healthcare and industry sectors,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. “The region offers convenient access to transportation and the new training facility will be located in close proximity of one of the world’s leading international airports, Orlando International Airport. The project is anticipated to have a favorable economic impact on the region, with estimates of up to 7,200 hotel room nights occupied by up to 2,400 visiting technicians and other personnel annually, along with spending on meals and rental cars,” continued Dyer.

The central feature of the new training center will be two full-size Siemens nacelles upon which wind service technicians will be trained to perform maintenance based on Siemens specifications. In addition, two 32-foot high climbing towers, ladder structures, electrical and hydraulic modules, and a maintenance crane will make training, safety and rescue simulations possible under realistic conditions. The Orlando location will also be designed to accommodate large classroom sizes.

In the past two years, Siemens global wind service business has grown from approximately 1,600 employees to well over 2,400 today and those numbers are expected to grow as more and more regions increase their commitment to building renewable energy resources to support the growing demand for clean energy around the globe.

The Siemens Energy Sector is the world’s leading supplier of a broad spectrum of products, services and solutions for power generation in thermal power plants and using renewables, power transmission in grids and for the extraction, processing and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2012 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of EUR27.5 billion and received new orders totaling approximately EUR26.9 billion and posted a profit of EUR2.2 billion. On September 30, 2012, the Energy Sector had a work force of almost 86,000.

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Source: Siemens