The foundation stone of the future converter station was laid on the morning of February 23rd in Folkestone by Jesse Norman, Minister for Industry and Energy signalling the start of the construction work for high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) project ElecLink. Siemens has been awarded an order to supply a link between the French and British power grids by customer ElecLink Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Groupe Eurotunnel SE. The ElecLink high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) link will enhance power supply reliability in both countries and promote the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid. ElecLink, when complete, will supply enough electricity to power more than 1.65 million typical households per year. The HVDC link between France and Great Britain has been designated as one of the European Commission's projects of common interest to help create an integrated European Union energy market.
- Next step in further improvement of competitive position
- Setup of standalone company under Siemens umbrella
Siemens is giving its mechanical drives unit (Mechanical Drives, MD) a new setup that will enable the business to operate more efficiently and flexibly in implementing its growth plans in a competitive environment. MD's market, which is dominated by medium-sized companies, is currently characterized by weak growth, increasing competition from the Asian region and overcapacities, with correspondingly high price pressure. To achieve greater room to maneuver and intensify its business-specific orientation, the unit is to be managed in the future as a separate company under the Siemens umbrella.
The wind service operation vessel (SOV) for the Dutch Gemini project has been christened "Windea la cour" today in Hamburg. The vessel is to set sail to start operations at the Gemini offshore wind power plant this summer. This is the third Siemens-chartered SOV which is supporting Siemens and its offshore service operations. Since June 2015, 'Esvagt Faraday' is supporting service operations at the Butendiek offshore wind power plant in North Sea and 'Esvagt Froude' is utilized for service at the EnBW Baltic II wind farm in the Baltic Sea. A fourth SOV will be utilized for service operations by Siemens at the Sandbank and Dan Tysk wind projects. SOVs are part of innovative approaches in the sector of service for offshore wind power of Siemens anc can make a vital contribution in the future to further reducing the costs for electricity generated by offshore wind farms.
- 165,000 Siemens employees own company shares, up 12,000 from last year
- 49 percent of all eligible employees are also shareholders
- Siemens distributes €56 million in shares to employee shareholders
Of Siemens' 351,000 employees worldwide, nearly one in two is also a company shareholder. The number of employees holding Siemens shares increased eight percent to 165,000, compared to 153,000 in the previous year. This year, more than 131,000 employees – or 39 percent of all eligible employees – took part in Siemens' Share Matching Program, a very high figure compared to similar global share programs. Particularly noteworthy was the positive trend in North America and Asia: Participation in the U.S. alone increased by around 18 percent and even climbed by roughly 32 percent in China.
Siemens held its Annual Shareholders' Meeting at the Olympia Hall in Munich on February 1, 2017. The topics of the Siemens Annual Shareholders' Meeting are available here. Please find below the opening and the speeches of Dr. Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Joe Kaeser, CEO, press pictures of the event and a best-of-video of the press conference and Annual Shareholder's Meeting.
- Siemens ensures continuity and long-term succession planning for Supervisory Board
- International leader with industry expertise to strengthen Siemens' key future-oriented field of software and digitalization
The Nominating Committee of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG has recommended Jim Hagemann Snabe for the office of Supervisory Board Chairman. Siemens' Supervisory Board unanimously endorsed this recommendation at its meeting on Tuesday. The regular elections to Siemens' Supervisory Board will take place at the company's Annual Shareholders' Meeting on January 31, 2018. Mr. Snabe is to be elected Chairman at the Supervisory Board's constitutive meeting immediately thereafter.
- Annual Shareholders' Meeting ratifies acts of Managing and Supervisory Boards by large majorities
Shareholders at Siemens' Annual Shareholders' Meeting have approved distribution of a dividend of €3.60 per share for fiscal 2016 as recommended by the Managing and Supervisory Boards. This dividend is ten cents more than for fiscal 2015. The Annual Shareholders' Meeting also ratified the acts of the members of the Managing and Supervisory Boards for fiscal 2016. The proposals on these and the other agenda items were approved by large majorities.
We released our first quarter results for fiscal year 2017 on January 31, 2017. The Press Conference and the Analyst Call were broadcast live.
The "Fortuna" combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant at the Lausward location in the port of Düsseldorf was successfully handed over to the customer and operator, the Stadtwerke Düsseldorf public utility company, on January 22, 2016. The power plant has broken three world records: in the acceptance test a maximum electrical net output of 603.8 megawatts (MW) was achieved and the net energy conversion efficiency was around 61.5 percent. In addition, "Fortuna" can also deliver up to around 300 MW for the district heating system of the city of Düsseldorf – a further international peak value for a power plant equipped with only one gas and steam turbine. This increases the overall efficiency of natural gas as a fuel to 85 percent. The heart of the "Fortuna" CCGT power plant is the extremely powerful SGT5-8000H gas turbine from Siemens. Highly efficient and flexible CCGT power plants ideally complement renewable energy sources such as the wind and the sun, which are subject to fluctuations in their power outputs.