Siemens doubles its numbers in Oxford County

Tillsonburg plant to hire 150 more

Factory builds blades for wind turbines

For Siemens on Monday it was almost an announcement of the arrival of a double double.

The pair of doubles has nothing to do with coffee, but rather wind turbine contracts as 150 new jobs in Tillsonburg will double the workforce now building the blades for wind power projects. Currently there are 150 employed with Siemens (www.energy.siemens.com or www.siemens.ca) in Tillsonburg.

More will also be hired at a Windsor facility building the towers for wind turbines. The triple bit of good news is that more will also gain employment in Chatham at a factory dealing with the mechanics of the same.

These new jobs are great news for Oxford County (Tillsonburg) and area, but naturally the debate on windmills creating hydro continues.

I – for example – prefer the advancements made in solar heating which we have seen everywhere. The idea is simple – take your house off the hydro grid and actually create power for network supply by installing solar panels. I know of a family where the electricity created by solar panels is utilized in their heated ceramic tiles.

Siemens, by the way, was created only in 1980 in Denmark specifically to be a company concentrating on creating hydro outside of nuclear energy and hydro dams. Siemens has also created off-shore wind farms.

Here is The London Free Press story:

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Windfall — massive contract boosts hiring

By John Miner, The London Free Press

Monday, March 18, 2013 

TILLSONBURG -- The job boost promised for Southwestern Ontario by the wind energy industry moved closer to reality Monday with Siemens announcing it has been awarded its largest Canadian order ever for 124 massive turbines.

“We’re ramping up,” said Jacob Andersen, vice-president, wind power, Siemens Canada. “We’re very excited that we’re moving forward with this. The future in Ontario is positive.”

Andersen said Siemens is hiring for its Tillsonburg turbine blade plant, increasing the workforce from about 150 to 300.

The hiring comes with the awarding of the contract from Samsung Renewable Energy Inc. and Pattern Energy Group LP for the supply and commissioning of 124 wind turbines for the South Kent wind project.

Though the blades are being built in Tillsonburg, towers for the project will be constructed by CS Wind Corporation in Windsor also is expected to add 150 jobs.

Other generator components for the South Kent wind farm will come from the United States and Europe.

Siemens also is establishing a maintenance and distribution centre in Chatham.

The facility will include a training centre focused on developing and maintaining the technical skills required for Siemens service technicians.

Chatham was chosen as the location for the centre based on its proximity to Siemens’ customer base at wind farms in the province as well as its local government support of renewable energies and local investment.

Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope said the facility will employ more than 20 people.

Andersen said Siemens expects to deliver the first blades this summer for the Chatham-Kent wind farm. Start of power production from the wind farm is expected in the spring of 2014.

The Ontario Liberals came under fire last year for the slow pace of hiring for green energy manufacturing plants in London, Windsor, Toronto and Tillsonburg.

Chris Bentley, the energy minister at the time, in turn blamed delays in the realization of hundreds of jobs on opponents using procedural manoeuvres to slow approvals.

On Monday, current Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli congratulated Siemens for winning the contract, saying it will help supply Ontario with clean renewable energy and support good jobs in Southwestern Ontario.

Outspoken green energy critic Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton scoffed at the jobs being added by Siemens and CS Wind.

For every job created by the Green Energy Act four jobs are lost in Ontario because of higher energy bills, he said.

“It has been a complete disaster. We need to end the Green Energy Act as soon as possible,” he said.

“I hear every day from businesses in Southwestern Ontario that life is more difficult and business is more difficult because of energy bills going through the roof.”

  

http://www.lfpress.com/2013/03/18/windfall--massive-contract-boosts-hiring