Siemens Energy
Profile
Siemens Energy, a former subsidiary of engineering giant Siemens, makes products like compressors, generators and turbines for the power industry. The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany estimates that the products sold by Siemens Energy during the 2022 fiscal year will release a total of 1.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases, almost twice Germany’s annual emissions. For example, Siemens Energy is supplying turbines to Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction for a planned coal-fired power plant on the island of Java, Indonesia.
One of Siemens Energy's biggest subsidiaries is Siemens Gamesa, a major wind turbine maker that it took over in 2023. Siemens Gamesa has several contracts to supply onshore wind farms in the desert of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was illegally annexed by Morocco in 1975. It is also a major supplier of turbines for the dozens of big wind farms in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, such as the 70 megawatt Bii Nee Stipa II that was built in 2012, which have been criticized for their impact on (Zapotecs) and the Ikoojt (Huave) Indigenous communities who say that the wind farms have cut off access to their farmlands, sacred shrines, and medicinal herbs and plants.
Power transmission and distribution, generators, turbines, compressors.
Siemens Energy was profiled as part of the report "Green" Multinationals Exposed: How the Energy Transition is Being Hijacked by Corporate Interests.
Violations
| TOP 5 OFFENSE GROUPS (GROUPS DEFINED) | PENALTY TOTAL | NUMBER OF RECORDS |
|---|---|---|
| environment-related offenses | $818,128 | 5 |
| financial offenses | $171,305 | 1 |
| employment-related offenses | $169,355 | 7 |
| safety-related offenses | $132,035 | 12 |
(November 12, 2023)
Stories
- The dirty truth about the EU’s hydrogen push by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) (2023)
- Report: Russia's nuclear partners: Framatome, Siemens Energy and Rosatom by Greenpeace Germany (2023)
- Greenwashing Occupation: How Morocco’s renewable energy projects in occupied Western Sahara prolong the conflict over the last colony in Africa by Western Sahara Resource Watch (2021)
- Renewable energy (in)justice in Latin America by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (2021)
- Human Rights in Wind Turbine Supply Chains Update 2019 by Action Aid & Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) (2019)
- The conflict over wind energy in Mexico: Participation, discourses and the unequal shaping of natural conditions in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec by Rosa Lehmann (2019)
- The EU and the Corporate Impunity Nexus by Multinationals Observatory (2018)
- The ELA union in Nafarroa: one hundred years of transformation and struggle (1911-2011) by Ivan Gimenez (2012)
- Steps on the way to the solidarity economy by the Association for the Promotion of the Solidarity Economy (2011)
Activism
Germany: Workers at Siemens Energy in Zwönitz are on strike
Blick | January 14, 2023
The management of Siemens Energy in Zwönitz was asked to negotiate as early as June last year, but months later they are still refusing to engage in constructive negotiations, even though there have been three talks with company representatives since then. (There have been regular strikes by workers of the IG Metall union in Germany to demand wage negotiations.)
B4Ukraine Coalition writes letter to Siemens Energy regarding company's business in Russia
B4Ukraine Coalition | January 4, 2023
We request an urgent dialogue regarding potential inconsistencies between Siemens Energy AG’s stated policies on Russian aggression and human rights more broadly and the company’s ongoing business operations and relationships in Russia that may contribute to, or be linked with, human rights harms.
Spain: The Siemens Gamesa workforce is protesting in Sarriguren to demand "employment guarantees"
Navarra.com | November 15, 2022
In a press release, the ELA union warns that while the company is conducting layoffs that will end next year, it has also announced that when Siemens Energy takes over Siemens Gamesa "additional adjustments and changes in the working conditions of male and female employees" will be made.
Spain: Saharawis denounce Siemens Gamesa at AGM
Western Sahara Resource Watch | March 25, 2022
The Spanish company is installing energy infrastructure for the Moroccan government in occupied Western Sahara. In 2021, the biggest project to date began, with the controversial Boujdour farm, in partnership with the Moroccan king's personal company.
Germany: Employees protest against job cuts at Siemens Energy
Finanznachrichten | August 31, 2021
The threatened job cuts at the Siemens Energy gas turbine plant in Berlin are leading to protests again. Siemens Energy wants to cut 750 of the 3,500 jobs.
Siemens Energy: Against climate protection and human rights
Energie Zukunft | February 10, 2021
At the virtual annual general meeting, Siemens Energy now has to face uncomfortable questions about Siemens Energy's poor climate and human rights record from the Association of Ethical Shareholders.
Germany: Siemens Gamesa employees strike
Søren Springborg & Mathias Ørsborg Johansen | EnergyWatch | January 24, 2018
All employees at Siemens Gamesa's factory in Cuxhaven, Germany have initiated strikes Wednesday, according EnergyWatch's information.
Siemens Gamesa in Denmark hit by major strike
Søren Springborg | EnergyWatch | June 8, 2017
Discontent over the layoff of a union delegate has prompted strikes Wednesday and Thursday among Danish employees of wind turbine major Siemens Gamesa.
International:
- ActionAid
- B4Ukraine Coalition
- Corporate Europe Observatory
- EcoPeace Middle East
- IndustriALL Union
- Multinational Observatory in Latin America (OMAL)
- WeSmellGas
- Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW)
Spain:
- Basque Workers Solidarity (ELA)
- Committee of Patriotic Workers (LAB)
- General Union of Workers (UGT)
- Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (CCOO)
- Workers' Trade Union (USO)
Germany:
Other:
- Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) - Netherlands
- Ecodefense Russia
- Market Forces - Australia
- Multinationals Observatory (ODM) - France
- Peace Brigades International (PBI) Mexico
- Solutions for Our Climate - South Korea
- Unite the Union - United Kingdom
& Lawsuits
Criticism of Dealings with Rosatom: Siemens Energy Remains Loyal to the Russian Nuclear Corporation
Daniel Henry | Clippers | July 22, 2023
Despite the Ukraine war, Siemens Energy continues to maintain business relations with Russia’s state-owned company Rosatom. Participation in a nuclear power plant project in Hungary in particular drew criticism.
Siemens Energy: Climate-damaging business despite sustainable rhetoric
Urgewald | February 23, 2022
Another critical project involving Siemens Energy is two gas power plants and an LNG import terminal at Campos dos Goytacazes in the north of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (Gás Natural Açu, GNA). The involvement raises questions about the implementation of human rights due diligence at Siemens Energy. Hundreds of families who were dispossessed for the construction of the port are said to have not received any compensation to date.
Iraqi Lawmakers Call for Probe Into GE, Siemens Electricity Contracts
Benoit Faucon & Ghassan Adnan | The Wall Street Journal | August 20, 2021
The lawmakers have also called for probes into contracts with Siemens Energy AG, a spinoff of German conglomerate Siemens AG, and local rivals. GE has entered into at least $6 billion of electricity contracts in Iraq in recent years, while orders from Siemens have approached 1 billion euros, equivalent to around $1.2 billion.
Western Sahara: Siemens, Enel blacklisted by asset manager over international law concerns
Western Sahara Resource Watch | January 14, 2021
Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy and Enel Spa have been excluded by Norway's largest private asset manager for contributing to violations of international law in occupied Western Sahara.
Ukraine: Siemens turbines turn up in Crimea despite sanctions
Maz Plechinger | EnergyWatch | July 10, 2017
The German conglomerate has been drawn into an international geopolitical conflict involving EU sanctions and election promises from Putin. Siemens denies the allegations but has announced an investigation.
Environmental Impacts
Siemens Energy is expanding its business with fossil gas and wind farms in occupied Western Sahara, with fatal consequences for climate protection and human rights
Association of Ethical Shareholders | February 6, 2023
The products sold by Siemens Energy in the last fiscal year will generate over 1.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases. That is almost twice the annual emissions of the whole of Germany.
Nearly all COP27 sponsors are either major polluters or enablers of fossil fuel industry
Corporate Accountability | November 17, 2022
Siemens Energy, a Siemens spin off, builds gas-fired power plants globally and vital parts for them. It’s currently in construction of an 840MW plant in the UK for last year’s COP26 sponsor, SSE.
Germany: Oil spill on the Ruhr river: Siemens Energy had to pay for fire brigade operations
Annette Lehmann | WAZ | August 25, 2022
The oil spill in the Ruhr from Mülheim to Duisburg was not a criminal offense. Siemens Energy had to pay for the fire brigade operation - and was threatened with a fine.
'The Sacrifice Zone': Myanmar bears cost of green energy
Dake Kang, Victoria Milko & Lori Hinnant | AP News | August 9, 2022
Their cost is environmental destruction, the theft of land from villagers and the funneling of money to brutal militias, including at least one linked to Myanmar’s secretive military government. As demand soars for rare earths along with green energy, the abuses are likely to grow.
New company, outdated business model: Siemens Energy fails on climate and human rights
Urgewald | February 9, 2021
Siemens Energy intends to deliver six gas turbines and four centrifugal compressors for an LNG project run by the oil company Total in the Mozambican province Cabo Delgado, a conflict region. Exploitation of the region’s enormous natural gas resources could have the equivalent of 12 Gigatonnes of CO2 emissions as a result – approximately seven times France’s yearly greenhouse gas emissions.
Investigation indicates FSC-certified company intentionally used fire to clear Indonesian forests for palm oil
Greenpeace International | November 12, 2020
A groundbreaking investigation by Greenpeace International and Forensic Architecture indicates that Korindo – an Indonesian-Korean plantation and energy conglomerate whose customers include multinationals like Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy – intentionally used fires as part of the process of clearing vast areas of forest in remote areas of the Indonesia province of Papua.
Siemens Energy: Spinning-off the Climate Crisis
Urgewald | August 31, 2020
With its upcoming listing on the Frankfurt stock exchange in late September, the Siemens Energy spin-off will add risky fossil assets to its future investors‘ portfolios. As NGO experts from Israel, Indonesia and Germany have highlighted during a digital press conference today, one day before Siemens Energy’s Capital Market Day, the company will rely heavily on climate-damaging activities like gas- and coal-fired power plants.
Siemens Energy faces international criticism for supplying new Indonesian coal-fired plant
Edgar Meza | Clean Energy Wire | July 27, 2020
Siemens Energy has signed a supply contract with South Korean plant manufacturer Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction for a planned coal-fired power plant on the Indonesian island of Java, a move already drawing criticism and unwanted comparisons to the company’s involvement in Australia’s controversial Adani coal mine project, Christian Schaudwet writes in Der Tagesspiegel.
& Relations
United Kingdom: Energy company fined after worker suffers multiple injuries in fall
Miran Rahman | The Business Desk | March 19, 2021
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy had provided a ladder to access to the web but they had not provided any fall protection either side of the ladder.
Siemens Gamesa closes its Spanish factories to take them to Portugal and employ cheaper labor there
Revista RD Energia | January 19, 2021
This is according to the UGT union, which has asked the wind turbine manufacturer to take back the layoff proposal that affects 266 workers directly and 300 workers indirectly at the Somozas (Galicia) and Cuenca blade factories.
United Kingdom: Union slams Siemens Gamesa as Hull offshore wind plant restarts after coronavirus check
Andrew Lee | Recharge News | April 1, 2020
Siemens Gamesa will restart operations at its Hull offshore wind facility today amid trade union anger and questions over whether the factory counts as an “essential industry” in the coronavirus pandemic.
Financials
Click here for the latest list.
Political Influence
Open Secrets - Tracks corporate lobbying of US politicians.
OpenSecrets.org Profile of Siemens Energy
Hydrogen lobby spends over €75 million a year driving the EU hydrogen hype
Corporate Europe Observatory | October 2, 2023
A new study of the top 100 highest-spenders on EU lobbying based on LobbyFacts data shows that Big Hydrogen spends over €75.75 million a year on lobbying the EU institutions. This is significantly more than Big Finance (€38.75 million).
Germany: Siemens Energy could sell part of its business to Siemens
Süddeutsche Zeitung | October 31, 2023
Siemens Energy could sell its former parent Siemens shares in the joint India business.
Germany: Ifo Institute for Economic Research President criticizes possible state aid for Siemens Energy
Süddeutsche Zeitung | October 27, 2023
According to Fuest, the support means a transfer of tax money to the creditors and shareholders of Siemens Energy, who should actually be liable. "It is the task of the creditors and shareholders to restructure the company and waive claims."
Procurement
CorpWatch is still gathering procurement data on Siemens Energy at this time.