New Siemens Energy closes doors on coal technology

Newly formed technology company Siemens Energy wants to phase-out any operations to do with coal-fired power production, Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser said at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Siemens AG on Wednesday. He had asked the board to present a “stakeholder-friendly” plan for the phase-out, Kaeser said, but didn’t give a specific timeline.

Siemens had come under fire earlier this year for its participation in the controversial Adani coal mine project in Australia.

Today's meeting also marked the official launch of the new Siemens Energy, a spin-off from the main brand that will focus on producing gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, transformers and compressors – it will also hold a 67 percent stake in Siemens Gamesa Renewables Energy (wind turbines). Shareholders were expected to agree to the spin-off during the meeting.

Siemens AG will continue to hold 35.1 percent of the spin-off and is planning on further reducing its stake within the coming year. Siemens’ energy sector generated revenue of about 29 billion euros in the fiscal year 2019 and employs 91,000 people worldwide. The initial listing of Siemens Energy is scheduled for 28 September 2020. Sources close to the supervisory board warned in April, that profits in the power plant division, which were already small before the pandemic, have now collapsed, undermining Siemens Energy's "stock market story."