Siemens Executive Wants Low-Cost Strategy For Wind Plants - Report

German engineering conglomerate Siemens AG (SIE.XE) plans to use common platform and production strategies and the introduction of components to lower costs in the wind plant business, the head of the wind power unit tells German weekly WirtschaftsWoche in an interview.

"We need to be in a leading position with regards to quality and to costs," said Felix Ferlemann, chief executive of Siemens Wind Power. However, despite deteriorating prices and increasing competition by new players in the Far East, Ferlemann doesn't expect the German wind energy industry to suffer a similar fate as solar energy companies in Germany, most of which are struggling to compete.

Mounting costs at its energy division have forced the European industrial giant to clip its forecast for the year recently. Due to extra costs for projects mainly related to connecting North Sea wind farms to the German power grid, Siemens lowered its profit forecast for the current year at the end of April.

Separately, the chief executive of Allianz SE's (ALV.XE) Allianz Climate Solutions unit said the industry needs a secure political framework to ensure the necessary investments into offshore wind parks.

"The federal government needs to create incentives for the construction of energy storage facilities and the grid network," Armin Sandhoevel told WirtschaftsWoche.

Magazine website: http://www.wiwo.de

-Frankfurt Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires, 49 69 29725 500;

[e-mail]