Siemens to build R&D wind turbine center in Colorado

Siemens Energy, the energy arm of the German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), today announced plans to establish its first U.S. wind turbine R&D competence center in Boulder, Colorado.

Also today, the company’s burgeoning renewable energy group announced intentions to enter a cooperative research and development agreement with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) for the installation of a Siemens 2.3 MW pilot wind turbine at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC), just outside of Boulder.

“The proximity of important institutions such as NREL and the NWTC, as well as the support received from the State of Colorado and the City of Boulder, make Boulder the perfect location for a R&D center," said Randy Zwirn, head of Siemens' Energy Sector in the U.S.

With this turbine, Siemens says it will test basic wind turbine characteristics and verify new features and turbine reliability under severe weather conditions over a minimum of three years.

Just this year, Siemens announced international wind turbine deals with Norway’s StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) and Australia’s Scottish & Southern Energy (see StatoilHydro to test floating wind turbine and Scottish and Southern signs $3B in wind contracts).

Siemens currently has core competency centers for wind turbine R&D in Copenhagen (Denmark), Aachen (Germany), Delft (Netherlands) and Keele (United Kingdom).

Siemens intends for the Boulder facility to enable technology transfer with other Siemens wind turbine R&D centers in Europe.