Siemens to build EUR 100m blade factory in Morocco

German industrial giant Siemens AG (FRA:SIE) will start the construction of a factory for production of wind turbine blades in Tanger in March 2016.

According to information of the Tanger-Tetouan regional investment centre, the German company will invest EUR 100 million (USD 109.7m) in the plant.

The production site will cover the enormous 13 hectares near the Tanger Automobile City, TAC. Once operational, it will have an annual output of 600 blades and is expected to create 670 local jobs.

Start of operations is slated for February 2017.

"We are proud to host a project of this scale, not only in terms of investment volume and job creation but also in terms of acquiring know-how in the field of renewable energy," Omar Chraibi, director of the regional investment centre of Tangier-Tetouan, commented.

The construction of the blade factory in Tanger is part of the arrangements under a large contract for installing 850 MW of wind turbines which Siemens won at a tender, in consortium with Moroccan Nareva, part of the royal investment holding SNI, and Enel Green Power.

The 850 MW tender includes five projects -- the 150 MW Tanger 2 in the northern part of the country, 300 MW at Tiskrad, Laayoune, 200 MW at Jbel Lahdid, Essaouira, 100 MW near Boujdour, and 100 MW at Midelt, some 400 km east of Casablanca. Commissioning of the projects is expected in the 2017-2020 time slot.

Besides supplying blades for the Siemens turbines in these projects the Tanger factory will also make blades for export to projects in Germany, Sweden, Italy and South Africa.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.097)

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