Germany: Signing ceremony “Siemens is coming – a fresh breeze for Cuxhaven”

Only a few days after announcing the project, Siemens senior management and political leaders gathered in Cuxhaven for a signing ceremony for the planned facility. At an event at the factory’s construction site in the eastern port area, Markus Tacke, CEO of Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division, and Ulrich Getsch, Mayor of Cuxhaven, signed documents on the investment. Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG, attended the ceremony, as well as Olaf Lies, Minister of Economic Affairs for Lower Saxony.

Kaeser emphasized the significance of the location: "Today is an important day for German industry, for the North Sea region and for Germany as a business region. The offshore wind turbine plant we are going to build is a model for successful collaboration between politics and business.” Minister Lies referred to the up to 1,000 employees at the factory and the resulting secondary effects on regional employment in his speech: “Siemens is bringing a fresh breeze to the coast of Lower Saxony, to Cuxhaven, an area with proven expertise in wind power. This is no coincidence! I am particularly glad to see the offshore wind industry’s effect as an amplifier for the job market in northern Germany. We’ve always believed in the offshore wind industry, and have worked intensively to support it.”

For Wind Power CEO Tacke, the decision to build this factory is an important milestone in the future of offshore wind power. “Today marks the conclusion of a lengthy planning phase, but it is also the beginning of an exciting new chapter. We are confident that our business will continue to grow, and additional capacity is essential. We invest where we see opportunities for growth, and we see Germany and Northern Europe as dynamic growth markets.”

Mayor Getsch intends to support the settlement intensively: “The city of Cuxhaven will use the time before the factory opening in 2017 to enhance the qualifications of the people in our community, and to improve the infrastructure needed to create optimal conditions for the operational start of the new Siemens facility.”