This new plant is an electric systems center designed to tackle the technologies of the future. It is equipped with two test benches for testing and validating systems with capacity of up to 10 MW, up from the previous capacity ceiling of 2 MW. The new systems will be applicable in the wind and photovoltaic power industries as well as in other high-potential segments such as energy storage.
Stretching some 8,400 square metres, virtually half of the facility is taken up by the test benches; the other area houses the manufacturing lines devoted to the production of power electronics for the wind power, photovoltaic and energy storage segments. Last year, the company produced systems with capacity of around 2.5 GW for the wind and photovoltaic segments.
The opening ceremony was attended by Enrique Pedrosa, CEO of Siemens Gamesa's Onshore Division in Southern Europe and Africa, Iñaki Murgiondo, Industrial Director and Juan Barandiaran, CEO of the company's subsidiary Gamesa Electric.
During his inaugural speech, Enrique Pedrosa underlined “the significant effort being made by the company on the technological and innovation areas, having just unveiled one of Europe's most cutting-edge facilities. Not only will it enable us to meet the industry's current demands, it will prepare us for future developments thanks to the ability to test systems of up to 10 MW.”
The company has invested over €3 million ($3.5 million) in the plant which employs 183 people.
