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Press Release15 July 2019Siemens AGMunich
Siemens, Free State of Saxony and Fraunhofer sign future pact for Görlitz
Siemens, Free State of Saxony and Fraunhofer sign future pact for Görlitz
Joe Kaeser (President and CEO of Siemens AG) in Goerlitz: “We’re fulfilling our promise to play an active role in shaping structural change in Lusatia.”
Siemens, Free State of Saxony and Fraunhofer sign future pact for Görlitz
Siemens, the Free State of Saxony and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft signed a memorandum of understanding today in Goerlitz, Germany. L-R: Armin Schnettler (Head of Energy Research, Siemens AG); Joe Kaeser (President and CEO of Siemens AG); Michael Kretschmer (Minister President of Saxony); Ronald Schmidt (Head of Siemens‘ Goerlitz Factory); Reimund Neugebauer (President of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft)
Siemens, Free State of Saxony and Fraunhofer sign future pact for Görlitz
Signing the agreement. L-R: standing: Joe Kaeser (President and CEO of Siemens AG); Ronald Schmidt (Head of Siemens‘ Goerlitz Factory). L-R sitting: Armin Schnettler (Head of Energy Research, Siemens AG); Michael Kretschmer (Minister President of Saxony), Reimund Neugebauer (President of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft)
On this
campus, Siemens and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will also establish a hydrogen
research laboratory to study the production, storage and use of hydrogen.
Görlitz is thus to be developed into a competence center for hydrogen
technologies over the long term. In the first step, the partners intend to
provide a total of around €30 million to expand the activities at this location.
About 100 jobs for highly qualified employees are to be created there in the
next five years.
“Today is a
good day for Görlitz and Lusatia,” emphasized Saxony’s Minister President Michael
Kretschmer. “The agreement with Siemens and Fraunhofer is a milestone for developing
the Siemens location in Görlitz as well as enhancing the region of Lusatia’s
role as an innovation hub in a way that strengthens viability for the future. Establishing
an innovation campus as well as the research and development activities for climate-friendly
and digital industrial processes creates new high-skill jobs. Together with
Fraunhofer and our region’s universities and companies, we are also developing
a research platform for innovative technologies for storage and for using hydrogen
in the energy transition. Siemens, as a company listed on the DAX stock index,
and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft are joining us in placing their trust in Görlitz
and the people of Lusatia. I’m confident that this will lead to a long-term
strengthening of Lusatia’s role as one of Germany’s hubs for research and industry
– from developmental work to the construction of plants.”
“With this pact for the future, we’re fulfilling our promise to play an active
role in shaping structural change in Lusatia,” said Joe Kaeser, President and
CEO of Siemens AG. “That’s why – in addition to the worldwide headquarters for
industrial steam turbines – we want to build an innovation campus here at our
Görlitz location. On this campus, products and solutions based on hydrogen
technology are to be developed in cooperation with partners and startups. In
this way, we’re creating an ecosystem for what will be one of the most attractive
future-oriented fields over the long term when it comes to measures for
combatting climate change – and thus also when it comes to ensuring Germany’s
competitiveness in industries of the future
“Phasing out
coal-fired power generation has triggered transformation processes that are deeply
impacting Saxony as a region that has an energy-based economy. Nevertheless,
the Free State’s research and technology landscape features good relationships
with players in this field. In addition, the region benefits from a
well-established local industrial sector and a culture of innovation. These
advantages offer excellent prerequisites for creating structures that will both
strengthen the region and further enhance Germany’s position as an engineering
powerhouse within the international competitive environment,” explained Prof.
Reimund Neugebauer, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. “Setting up a
joint platform for conducting hydrogen research and developing new hydrogen
technologies together with Siemens and with the support of the Free State of
Saxony puts us on track for the future. This cooperation provides a vital
foundation for this region’s plant-engineering sector and brings industrial
research together with the scientific community in a strategic partnership.”
In addition to the innovation campus, Siemens will further expand its research and development activities at the Görlitz site in the area of decarbonized industrial processes. There, Siemens researchers will be exploring how hydrogen technologies can reduce CO2 emissions in energy-intensive industries and will be developing new climate-friendly solutions such as storage technologies. As a contribution toward implementing Germany’s Climate Protection Plan 2050 and achieving the structural transformation of the Lusatia region, Siemens intends to convert its site into a carbon-neutral factory by 2025. To attain this goal, the process heat for operating the steam-turbine test facilities, for instance, is to be generated in a sustainable way, and overall energy consumption is to be reduced.
Siemens currently has about 800 employees at its industrial steam turbine plant in Görlitz – making the company one of the region’s largest industrial employers.
For this press release
Siemens AG
(Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence,
innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years. The company is active
around the globe, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the
largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of
efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions
as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. With its publicly listed subsidiary
Siemens Healthineers AG, the company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment – such as
computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems – and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as
well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2018, which ended on September 30, 2018, Siemens generated revenue of
€83.0 billion and net income of €6.1 billion. At the end of September 2018, the company had around
379,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available on the Internet at
www.siemens.com
.
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
is the leading organization for applied research in Europe. Its research
activities are conducted by 72 institutes and research units at locations
throughout Germany. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft employs a staff of more than
26,600, who work with an annual research budget totaling 2.6 billion euros. Of
this sum, 2.2 billion euros is generated through contract research. Around 70
percent of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s contract research revenue is derived from
contracts with industry and from publicly financed research projects.
International collaborations with excellent research partners and innovative
companies around the world ensure direct access to regions of the greatest
importance to present and future scientific progress and economic development.
Contact
Florian Martini
Siemens AG
Werner-von-Siemens-Straße 1
80333 München
Germany
80333 München
Germany
+49 (89) 636 33446