Siemens puts its money behind solar

30 March 2009

Siemens Energy will acquire a 28 per cent stake in Italian headquartered Archimede Solar Energy (ASE) to push further into the solar energy market. Siemens hopes to combine its expertise in steam turbine-generators for solar thermal power plants with ASE’s production capabilities. ASE produces solar receivers that operate with molten salt as the heat transfer fluid.

Siemens will buy 28 per cent stake in ASE

Siemens hopes that by working with ASE it will enhance the efficiency of both companies plants and reduce the production costs for solar power. The two companies did not disclose the purchase price of the shares.

‘By acquiring a stake in Archimede Solar Energy Siemens is underlining its intention to become the leading provider of solutions for solar thermal power plants,’ said René Umlauft, CEO of the Siemens Renewable Energy Division. ‘In the upcoming years the market for solar thermal power plants will grow at a rapid pace and the interest of our traditional customers in the energy sector in this promising future-oriented technology will increase significantly.’ The market for solar thermal power plants will, according to Siemens estimates, show double-digit growth rates per year to reach a volume of over ten billion euros by 2015.

Archimede Solar Energy is a subsidiary of the industrial group Angelantoni Industrie, S.p.A. and is headquartered in Massa Martana in Umbria. Siemens says it will provide capital for fast expansion of production capacities, with the possibility to acquire a majority stake in the solar company in the mid-term.

Gianluigi Angelantoni, president of Archimede Solar Energy, said: ‘We chose Siemens Energy as our Partner to enable us to better match the tremendous growth we are expecting in the solar thermal power sector worldwide.

‘Construction of a new factory for the production of solar receivers, which is scheduled to be up and running in 2010, will begin before the end of this year.’