called danregn vindkraft 1980 1983 bonus energy 1983 2004 type subsidiary industry wind power industry predecessor danregn vindkraft a s bonus energy a s founded 1980 in brande denmark founder peter stubkj r s rensen egon kristensen headquarters hamburg germany brande denmark area served worldwide key people markus tacke ceo 1 products wind turbines number of employees 7 800 september 2011 parent siemens 2004 present website siemens wind power siemens wind power formerly danregn vindkraft a s and bonus energy a s is a wind turbine manufacturer established in 1980 as danregn vindkraft . bonus energy was acquired by siemens of germany in 2004 . the organisation became a separate division of siemens in 2011 with headquarters established in hamburg germany . in 2015 siemens wind had a combined market share of 63 % of european offshore wind turbines 2 nearly 75 % in 2009 by capacity and number . 3 in 2011 siemens wind power had 6.3 % share of the world wind turbine market 4 and was the second largest in 2014 . 5 in 2016 siemens wind and gamesa agreed a 59 41 merger of their wind businesses . contents 1 history 1.1 danregn bonus as 1980 2004 1.2 siemens wind 2004 present 1.2.1 merger with gamesa 2016 1.3 acquisitions and joint ventures 2 operations 3 products 4 research and development 5 see also 6 notes 7 references 8 external links history edit danregn bonus as 1980 2004 edit history of the company started in 1980 when danish irrigation system manufacturer danregn diversified into the windturbine business ; its first wind turbines were machines with rotor diameters of around 10 m 33 ft with generator powers of 20 to 30 kw 27 to 40 hp . 6 7 8 in 1981 the wind activities were separated into newly established company danregn vindkraft a s established by peter stubkj r s rensen and egon kristensen in brande denmark with a capital of 300 000 kroner ; the company s product was a 55 kw 74 hp 15 m 49 ft blade diameter turbine . 6 8 9 10 between 1982 and 1987 the company exported wind turbines to the usa in collaboration with difko as in response to a wind farm building boom promoted by government subsidies ; 6 8 the company changed its name from danregn vindkraft to bonus energy in 1983 an easier name for the english speaking north american market . 7 11 in 1991 eleven 450 kw bonus turbines were installed in the vindeby offshore wind farm denmark the first offshore wind farm in the world . 12 13 the company sourced its first blades from viborg based company k r vind energi . 14 later it sourced blades from lm wind power . in the late 1990s bonus began to develop its own blades beginning production in the early 2000s in aalborg . 15 note 1 siemens wind 2004 present edit bonus as was sold to siemens in 2004 for an undisclosed amount 16 but before the sale the value was assessed to be somewhere between dkk 1.5 usd 240 million and 2.5 billion usd 400 million . 17 the sales and project management headquarters moved to hamburg germany in may 2009 . 18 siemens 2.3 mw wind power turbines at wildorado wind ranch 2010 between 2004 and 2011 siemens grew wind power from 0.5 % to 5 % of the combined siemens turnover with employees growing from 800 to 7 800 of which 5 200 are in denmark 19 and 1 000 in germany . 20 the growth included the expansion of production warehousing and offices at its brande site in 2005 6 ; 21 acquisition in 2006 of a former lm glasfiber wind turbine blade factory in engesvang denmark ; 22 construction of a blade factory in fort madison iowa usa in 2007 ; 21 a hub factory in lgod began production in 2008 ; 23 and a nacelle manufacturing plant was established in hutchinson kansas usa between 2009 and 2010 opening in december 2010 . 24 additionally bonus energy sales and service partner company an windenergie gmbh in bremen germany was acquired in 2005 . 21 25 in mid 2008 the company began testing of development prototypes of direct drive wind turbines ; units based on the geared swt 3.6 107 were installed in 2008 with a permanent magnet generator directly replacing the gearbox and alternator ; 26 note 2 successful tests led to development of a new production design by 2009 . 28 a prototype of the new direct drive design an iec 61400 wind class ia 3mw machine swt 3.0 101 dd was installed near brande denmark in 2009 . 28 29 the 3mw design was launched as a product in april 2010 and significantly reduced complexity half the components 30 and lower nacelle weight than earlier 2.3 mw designs . 31 a 2.3 mw version for lower wind speeds swt 2.3 113 was launched in 2011 . 32 in 2010 siemens wind power acquired 49 % of a2sea an offshore wind farm installation company from dong energy for a price of dkk 860m . 33 34 a factory established in linggang siemens wind power blades shanghai co. ltd. near the yangshan deep water port began production in 2010 . 35 additionally in december 2010 siemens announced it would install a blade factory at an existing unused facility in tillsonburg ontario canada . 36 in early 2011 siemens and abp announced the development of a 210 million turbine assembly plant and dock development at alexandra dock in kingston upon hull uk . 37 38 in 2011 siemens wind power operations were split into a separate division wind power ; with its other renewable energy activities place into a solar & hydro division the divisions headquarters were established in hamburg on 1 october 2011 the european offshore wind headquarters remained in brande denmark . 20 39 40 in may 2011 testing began of a prototype 6mw direct drive design with a 120 to 154 m 394 to 505 ft rotor the design was launched as a product in november 2011 . 41 in 2013 siemens announced a development of its 3.6 mw design the swt 4.0 130 which used a rotor of diamter 130m with 4mw rated power . at the same time the company introduced new product platform codes for its products with g indicating geared drive and d indicating direct drive suffixed by a number indicating an approximate power class . the four initial product ranges were siemens g2 g4 d3 and d6 . 42 in july 2012 the company agreed to supply dong energy with 300 direct drive 75m blade 6 mw swt 6.0 154 turbines for the english offshore market from 2014 . two turbines are to be installed for testing at the gunfleet sands offshore wind farm . 43 the value of the contract was estimated at over 2 billion . 44 45 prototype 6mw machines were installed at the gunfleet sands 2 wind farm in 2013 ; 46 with the first full scale commercial installation of 6mw machines at the 210mw westernmost rough wind farm in 2014 . 47 in september 2012 siemens wind announced the lay off of 615 of a workforce of around 1650 workers in the united states citing reduced demand for wind turbines due to uncertainty concerning future tax break incentives in the usa for wind power . 48 see united states wind energy policy . in march 2014 siemens and associated british ports abp finalised the 2011 mou to build a turbine factory in hull uk green port hull and announced an additional facility near paull east riding of yorkshire east of hull which would manufacture rotor blades for turbines . 49 50 in 2014 the planned factory at paull was abandoned with all production to be concentrated at the alexandra dock site . 51 revised plans for the site submitted april 2015 included only a blade manufacturing factory at the site with no nacelle production . 52 in 2015 siemens upgraded its 6mw offshore design to a rated 7mw power with a larger permanent magnet generator 53 and further to 8 mw in 2016 . 54 the first order for the 7mw design was awarded in october 2015 for 47 turbines in the walney 3 offshore . 55 in early 2015 siemens announced it had reached agreements to build 2gw of wind turbines in egypt and to construct a blade factory in that country as part of a larger power generation agreement . 56 57 the 8 billion 16.4 gw energy development deal was signed in june 2015 including a 1000 worker blade factory in ain soukhna and 12 wind farms 600 turbine 2gw in the gulf of suez and west nile areas of egypt . 58 in august 2015 siemens announced it was to construct a new nacelle manufacturing plant at cuxhaven germany an investment of 200 million . the plant was expected to become operational mid 2017 and employ 1000 people . 59 60 a 100 million blade plant to be built in the tanger automotive city near tanger med port in morocco was announced in early 2016 . 61 62 merger with gamesa 2016 edit on 17 june 2016 siemens and gamesa spain announced they were to merge their wind businesses with the two operations forming 59 siemens wind and 41 % gamesa of the resulting company s shareholding with siemens offering 3.75 per gamesa share . the resultant company was to be headquartered in spain with an offshore operations headquartered in hamburg germany and vejle denmark . siemens was reported to have paid 1 billion 1.13 billion cash for gamesa shares . cost savings between duplicated functions in the two businesses was expected by gamesa to save c. 230 million in the first year of operation . the combined business would be the largest wind turbine manufacturer worldwide by installed capacity c. 69gw exceeding vestas and ge . 63 64 65 third party analysis feng zhou fti consulting suggested that gamesa s strength in china and india and west pacific markets as a strategic asset for siemens . 66 an agreement was reached between areva wind and gamesa on their joint venture adwen whereby areva surrendered contractual obligations with gamesa and siemens gamesa gave areva an option to either sell or acquire the jv ; 65 adwen was said to have been a source of contention during negotiations as siemens was reluctant to fund factories and development of an 8 mw turbine in france . 2 acquisitions and joint ventures edit along with bonus in 2004 siemens acquired an windenergie gmbh in bremen germany in 2005 ; the sales and service partner company of bonus energy . 21 67 in 2010 siemens wind power acquired 49 % of a2sea an offshore wind farm installation company from dong energy for a price of dkk 860m . 33 34 in december 2011 siemens signed a strategic collaboration agreement with shanghai electric for wind power supply in china . 68 operations edit siemens wind has r & d and production facilities in brande denmark . blade production is located in aalborg and engesvang denmark linggang china fort madison iowa usa and tillsonburg ontario canada ; with factories under construction or planned 2016 for kingston upon hull uk tanger automotive city morocco and ain soukhna egypt . other established production sites included nacelle manufacture at hutchinson kansas usa 1.6 gw 69 and hub production at lgod denmark . as of 2016 a new nacelle plant is under development at cuxhaven germany . products edit as of 2016 siemens wind products include 2.3 3.6 and 4.0 mw geared turbines ; and 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.4 6.0 and 7.0 mw direct drive turbines . 70 fibreglass reinforced epoxy blades of siemens swt 2.3 101 wind turbines . the blade size of 49 meters 71 is in comparison to a substation behind them at wolfe island wind farm . research