A week after the German government announced its bailout, Siemens Energy revealed plans to hold a Tuesday meeting to reassess costs tied to environmental factors, targeting a 400 million euro reduction for its Spanish wind subsidiary Siemens Gamesa. Jochen Eickholt, the CEO of this unit, spoke during the company’s Capital Market Day and outlined the intentions behind the cost adjustments. This comes amid manufacturing issues in the land-based turbine series and a broader slowdown in the wind market, with a year-to-date impact totaling 4.588 million euros.
Company estimates indicate roughly 2,900 turbines across the 4.X and 5.X platforms have been affected. These models are produced in facilities located in Turkey, Spain, and Portugal, including sites in Soria and Aveiro, according to Eickholt. He nevertheless declined to name specific factories, arguing that the root causes were more multifaceted. He pointed to a range of contributing factors within the supply chain, including materials, components, and the manufacturing process as pivotal. He noted that focusing narrowly on any single area would be misleading, adding that production difficulties for the 4.X model have included challenges traced to China and even suppliers from Mexico, as he explained.
The anticipated 400 million euro savings are intended to streamline the organization and optimize total costs. After forecasting further losses in the upcoming two years, the wind energy subsidiary aims to break even in 2026, though detailed plans were not disclosed. A question remains about the exact nature of the outage measures. At the prior results presentation, Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch stated that there are no plans to shrink the workforce in Spain, only a reorganizing effort to drive greater efficiency.
Siemens Energy acquired the entire Spanish Gamesa earlier in the year, but full integration has not yet occurred. Bruch explained that the aim is to begin realizing benefits from a unified operating approach in 2024, moving toward the creation of a single, synergistic company that leverages the strengths of both entities from day one, as reported by company leadership. This integration is expected to enhance operational cohesion and strategic alignment across the group’s wind-power interests, according to corporate commentary.
The German firm also signaled a renewed emphasis on onshore wind operations as the main platform for resuming robust sales following the resolution of quality concerns in the European market. Eickholt noted that there could be a shift away from certain regions as the company refines its strategic footprint. In offshore wind, plans call for a larger, more capable organizational structure to meet rising demand and achieve lower costs. The overarching objective remains to improve profitability on new orders, while navigating pricing dynamics and other market challenges, as outlined by leadership and echoed in subsequent market analyses.