Today, Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee of Gazprom JSC, and Peter Loescher, President and CEO Siemens AG have signed a Memorandum of Understanding during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The parties intend to cooperate in the area of liquefied natural gas (LNG) technology development and will carry out a number of joint development programs.
After a nearly ten-year development phase, Siemens has entered the market with its new generation of extremely energy-efficient gas turbines, the so-called H-Class. A leading U.S. utility is the first commercial customer. Starting in 2013, no fewer than six of the “world-record turbines,” which will cut fossil fuel consumption in combined-cycle power plants by a third, will be in operation in the Sunshine State of Florida. By upgrading its power plants, the customer Florida Power & Light will achieve net savings of nearly $1 billion over the turbines’ entire lifecycle. “The H-Class is a masterpiece of engineering and a model of energy efficiency. We’re the first to the market. With this top-class Siemens product, we’re now helping U.S. electric companies achieve the energy transformation being driven by President Barack Obama. We’ll now be moving into other regional markets,” said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher.
Siemens AG is to partially redesign its headquarter buildings in Munich, Germany. The aim is to set international standards for energy efficiency. “The project will give Siemens and the city of Munich a new green showpiece and a symbol of sustainable urban development,” said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher. An architectural design competition is to start in early 2011. Construction is scheduled to begin at the end of 2012 and be completed in 2015.
Siemens officially opened the new headquarters of its Austrian subsidiary at a gala event in Vienna on Friday. The company has invested around €150 million in the new home for its 6,000 local employees. The new buildings feature an extremely ecofriendly design coupled with advanced green building technology. “Siemens City highlights our strong commitment to the Vienna location and to Austria,” said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher.
The summer holidays are just around the corner: millions of cars, motorcycles and buses will soon be traveling daily over Europe’s popular north-south highways. According to the Swiss traffic census, in July 2009, roughly 1.3 million vehicles passed through the Alps to vacation spots in the South via the country’s Gotthard, San Bernardino, Great St. Bernhard and Simplon tunnels alone. Siemens traffic systems support vacationers over thousands of kilometers. The company’s advanced control systems help reduce the number of traffic jams by automatically adjusting traffic guidance systems to changing traffic volumes and weather conditions. Fewer jams means safer travel, a cleaner environment and lower costs: according to the Federation of German Industries, clogged roads cost over €100 billion a year in Germany alone. Innovative technologies help optimize traffic flow guidance. Since Siemens equipped Austria’s autobahns with an intelligent traffic information and control system, there have been 40 percent fewer accidents. Travel times have also been sharply reduced. This is just one of the ways in which Siemens traffic systems are making holiday travel on Europe’s highways safer, more secure and more comfortable.
Siemens AG has concluded two groundbreaking agreements with Russian partners and thereby strengthened its business in Russia, a key growth market. Siemens has launched a strategic cooperation with the grid operator Federal Grid Company (FGC) to upgrade Russian power grids through the use of energy-efficient power highways and smart grid technologies. To strengthen Siemens’ position in Russia’s natural gas market, the joint venture LCC Russian Turbo Machinery has been established with the Russian partner ZAO Iskra-Avigaz. Siemens is the majority shareholder in the joint venture. The two partners are investing a total of about €60 million. As part of the joint venture, plans call for producing compressors for gas pipelines in the Russian city of Perm. The first compressors, which are intended primarily for the major customer Gazprom, are scheduled for delivery as early as 2011. Both partnerships underscore the Russian energy market’s major strategic significance for Siemens.
Following the successful expansion of the compliance system at Siemens, the Chief Compliance Officer, Andreas Pohlmann, is moving to Ferrostaal AG, where he will become a member of the Management Board. “Andreas Pohlmann has performed a great service for our company. We wish him every success in his new duties at Ferrostaal. Regardless of personnel changes, compliance remains the highest priority at Siemens,” said General Counsel Peter Y. Solmssen, member of the Managing Board responsible for Corporate Legal and Compliance. Solmssen will serve as acting Chief Compliance Officer until a successor is picked.