La notizia era nell’aria, e da molto tempo.
2017-11-19. Siemens plans ‘painful’ revamp of power business
«The German engineering giant has revealed the scale of difficulties faced by its power and gas unit, where profits fell 40 percent in Q4. Up to 6,000 job losses have been announced at its wind turbine business.
German conglomerate Siemens saw a 10 percent drop in industrial profit in its fiscal fourth quarter due to its power and wind turbine businesses struggling with price pressure and overcapacity, the company admitted on Thursday.
Industrial profit, which excludes earnings from its financial and corporate activities, fell to €2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in the quarter to September, against expectations of about €2.49 billion.
Profit from Siemens Power and Gas, dropped 40 percent to €303 million, forcing the firm’s CEO Jo Kaeser to admit to a “painful” restructuring of the unit.»
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Siemens lawsuit over gas turbines in Crimea goes to court
Siemens to cut 6,900 jobs amid union resistance
«Labor unions have reacted angrily to layoff plans unveiled by the management of the German conglomerate, which aims to cut costs in its energy business to adjust to the disruption sweeping through the industry.
Following closed-door talks with workers on Thursday, the Munich-based industrial group announced that it was planning to cut 6,900 jobs globally as part of a larger restructuring of its power division. About half of the announced job cuts would be in Germany, where the company said it planned to shut down facilities in the cities of Görlitz and Leipzig. A third production site in the town of Erfurt could be sold off, it added.»
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20178-04-26. Can Russia build turbines as well as Germany’s Siemens?
«Russian businesses have been tasked with developing and building gas turbines in order to make up for lost imports. German engineers assess whether that is a realistic goal.
Big turbines are an important political issue in Russia these days. Last year, the secret delivery of Siemens-made gas turbines to Crimea by the Russian state-owned company Rostec caused an international scandal. The move was a violation of sanctions applied to Russia for its 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula – for international sanctions also include the energy technology sector. ….
The global market for large-scale turbines is currently in the hands of four major producers: The American company General Electric (GE), Germany’s Siemens, the Japanese company, Mitsubishi Hitachi and Italy’s Ansaldo Energia, which took over part of the French company Alstom’s turbine production.
Every attempt to enter the market over the last twenty years has failed. Only Mitsubishi has been able to make the transition from producing medium-sized turbines to the production of large-scale turbines. And it was only able to do so with great effort and a lot of financial help from the Japanese government».
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«Demand has gone down to about 100 units per year. Annual production capacity is around 400 turbines per year»
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General Electric, Siemens, Mitsubishi Hitachi ed Ansaldo Energia hanno impianti in essere per produrre quattrocento turbine a gas di alta potenza ogni anno, ma la domanda mondiale non supera le cento unità. Ma russi e cinesi stanno rendendosi autonomi, sia per gli impianti domestici, sia per quelli che esportano.
Si determina di conseguenza la necessità di ridurre gli impianti e di cercare di rimanere sul mercato almeno per non perdere il know-how.
In questo agone dove la concorrenza si batte a fil di spada, e quasi sempre con mezzi anche innominabili, la decisione politica di non consentire la vendita delle turbine a determinati stati che le comprerebbero volentieri porta inevitabilmente a situazioni vicine al fallimento.
Cina. Centrali elettriche nucleari. 37 reattori attivi, 60 in costruzione, 179 programmati.
Nigeria. Nuove centrali nucleari.
«La produzione di carbone cinese copre il 40% della produzione mondiale»
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La scelta del combustibile con cui alimentare una nuova centrale elettrica è scelta non facile, perché implica il poter fare previsione su di un arco di tempo almeno decennale, quanto meno per i due lustri che servono alla progettazione prima ed alla costruzione dopo. Di conserva, si deve valutare l’esigenza energetica futura, sia per non sottostimare sia per non sovrastimare la produzione necessaria. A ciò si aggiungano i problemi legati al trasporto dell’energia prodotta.
Energia. Il problema degli elettrodotti a lunga distanza. Le dissipazioni.
Tranne che in zone densamente popolate ed industrializzate, i mega impianti sono più onerosi di tanti piccole centrali elettriche, proprio per ridurre l’energia dissipata e ridurre la vulnerabilità del sistema.
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Da questo punto di vista il settore produttivo energetico dal gas è in crisi da iperproduzione, almeno nel mondo occidentale.
Ma il problema non è solo di concorrenza a livello mondiale o di crisi di settore. Il problema è politico.
La Germania, e l’Unione Europea di conserva, proibisce alle sue aziende di commerciare ed esportare verso paesi che non si riconoscono in ciò che la dirigenza europea considera essere i propri valori.
E questa Unione Europea sbatté il grugno contro la Silk Road. Frattura scomposta.
Belt and Road. La Cina rigetta il rapporto C4ADS. Gli Usa fuori dagli appalti: sono liberal.
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Ci si pensi bene. Molto bene.
L’occidente sta escludendosi dai mercati mondiali per motivi ideologici.
Solo con il rigetto ideologico del progetto Silk and Road le sue ditte si sono precluse dall’accedere ad un progetto di oltre mille miliardi.
Illudersi che il resto del mondo pianga rammaricato sarebbe più questione da psichiatra che da economisti.
Ma sarebbe invero grande allucinazione pensare di poter mantenere i posti di lavoro dipendenti da una produzione resa impossibile per ideologie politiche.
Sia ben chiaro: le politiche economiche nazionali si decidono nel momento di mettere le schede nelle urne.
→ Deutsche Welle. 2018-05-07. Siemens closes power and gas sites to curb cost
German engineering giant Siemens has said it would need to shut down its power and gas sites worldwide for a whole week soon as it aims to bring down rising costs amid an “unprecedented market downswing.”
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German industry heavyweight Siemens announced Monday it would close its power and gas sites around the globe for a week.
The drastic move came as global demand for the company’s huge gas turbines kept plummeting in the face of stronger competition from renewable energy, prompting Siemens to embark on a cost-cutting drive after announcing nearly 7,000 job cuts last year.
“Against the background of an ongoing unprecedented downswing in the market for power generation equipment, the power and gas division (PG) is planning temporary shutdowns,” the firm said in a statement.
It added that the stoppages would affect “all PG locations worldwide within the current quarter” and last for seven days.
Changing energy landscape
Siemens explained the move was part of wider efforts to slash costs at the beleaguered division employing 47,000 people globally and accounting for 18 percent of the company’s overall revenues.
Further measures included the reduction of travel expenses as well as the reduction of costs for sponsoring or participation in trade shows and capital investments.
Back in January, Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said he was convinced that there would continue to be a global market for gas turbines, but admitted it would be smaller, with the focus shifting away from Europe.
German trade unions have been angry about the company’s planned job cuts given the firm’s robust overall financial health. But executives have insisted the layoffs are necessary to respond to the changing energy landscape.
Fonte: qui
