Siemens and Winergy open ‘green’ wind turbine manufacturing facility

Wind turbine manufacturing at new Siemens/Winergy plant in Elgin, IL.

Winergy Drive Systems Corp. and Siemens Drive Technologies have opened a second plant in Elgin, IL, to meet the growing demand for alternative and renewable energy sources. The new plant currently stands at 170,000 square feet, but can be expanded up to 330,000 square feet. Winergy is said to be the largest producer of wind turbine gear drives in the United States.

The company’s first plant in Elgin will be maintained to manufacture the gears and components that will be assembled and tested in the new plant. It will also house the services and repairs business.

The new plant is expected to create approximately 300 new jobs in production and 55 new office jobs over the next three to four years—which is more than double the current number of employees in the original Elgin plant for mechanical drives.

One of the first in Illinois to receive environmental LEED certification, the new plant was built using recycled steel and designed with Siemens energy efficient lighting and heating and cooling systems, which are expected to save $500,000 annually in energy costs and reduce annual water use by 250,000 gallons. Siemens invested more than $20 million to build the infrastructure needed to equip the new plant for production.

The state of Illinois and the city of Elgin provided a number of incentives to Siemens to help secure the investment, including a Wind Energy Development Grant and Employer Training Investment Program job training funds.

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