Siemens selects Tillsonburg, Ontario, as new home for Canadian wind turbine
blade manufacturing facility

Siemens Renewable Energy facility to create up to 300 jobs.

TILLSONBURG, ON, Dec. 2 /CNW/ - Siemens announced today that it has selected Tillsonburg, Ontario, for its Canadian wind turbine blade manufacturing site. The blade factory will be established in an existing 253,000-square-foot facility, located on 40 acres, that was originally opened in 1975. It's the company's first manufacturing plant for wind turbine components in Canada and represents an investment in excess of $20 million CAD. The manufacturing, service operations and associated back-office activities are expected to create up to 300 jobs.  An additional 600 related jobs for the construction and commissioning is expected to be created during the build-out of the wind farms under agreement with Samsung and Pattern.

This new manufacturing facility in Tillsonburg is intended to allow Siemens to help Samsung and Pattern Energy meet their contractual requirements to supply 600 MW of renewable energy to the province of Ontario. The factory is expected to produce all of the wind turbine blades for Siemens projects in the province.

"By investing in a new blade production facility in Canada, Siemens is pushing further ahead with the regionalization of its wind manufacturing network in important markets," said René Umlauft, CEO of the Siemens Renewable Energy Division. "Just this week we inaugurated our first manufacturing plant for wind turbine components in China, and Canada is a quite promising growth market as well. In 2009, Canada entered the 'Top 10 wind power markets in the world' by installed capacity," Umlauft added. Siemens currently has eight projects with a capacity of approx. 950 MW commissioned or underway in Ontario and Manitoba. Canada's current installed capacity climbed by 40 per cent to 3,549 MW in 2009 (enough electricity provided to power more than one million homes). Wind power capacity in Canada is expected to increase to more than 15,000 MW in 2020 and thus is projected to provide approximately 11 per cent of the country's total power generation.

Renovations to the Tillsonburg facility will begin later this month with the facility expected to be production ready in October 2011. The blades manufactured at the new facility will be for Siemens' 2.3-MW wind turbines.

The site was selected for a number of reasons, such as excellent access to major highways and wide roads to transport the blades - which are up to 52 metres (170 feet) long. In addition to close proximity to the market, Tillsonburg was the best selection from among a number of sites Siemens considered since first making the announcement to open a Canadian operation in August 2010.

"By opening a new factory in Canada, we will be able to increase our ability to competitively serve the important North American market," according to Bill Smith, senior vice president, of the Energy Sector. "We are extremely pleased that we are opening our first Canadian facility in Ontario." Through its Green Energy Act and the associated Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program, Ontario has become one of the most supportive provinces of wind and other renewable forms of energy, such as solar. "Siemens is bullish on prospects for Canada, and as a result will continue to work with other developers on future projects and may expand the facility to serve these interests."

About Siemens in Canada 
Siemens is one of the largest and most diversified companies in the world of electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industry, energy and healthcare sectors.  The company has approximately 5,000 employees in Canada, working to develop and manufacture products, design and install complex systems and projects, and tailor a wide range of solutions for individual requirements.   For almost 100 years in Canada, Siemens has stood for technical achievements, innovation, quality and reliability.  Sales for Siemens in Canada for fiscal 2010 (ended September 30), were $2.3 billion CAD.  Further information is available at www.siemens.ca

The Siemens Energy Sector is the world's leading supplier of a complete spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation, transmission and distribution of power and for the extraction, conversion and transport of oil and gas. In fiscal 2010 (ended September 30), the Energy Sector had revenues of approximately EUR25.5 billion and received new orders totalling more than EUR30.1 billion and posted a profit of more than EUR3.6 billion. On September 30, 2010, the Energy Sector had a work force of more than 88,000. Further information is available at: www.siemens.com/energy.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on the beliefs of the management of Siemens Canada Limited and its affiliates. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "forecast," "expect," "intend," "plan," "should," and "project," are used to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the management's current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause the actual results to be materially different, among others, changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in currency exchange rate and interest rates, introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance of new products or services and changes in business strategy. Actual results may vary materially from those projected here. Siemens Canada Limited and its affiliates do not intend or assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

For further information: