Siemens targets €25bn from environmental technologies by 2011

The scale of the opportunity presented by the government's clean tech-focused economic stimulus funds was underlined this week with the news that Germany-based engineering giant Siemens expects to generate about €6bn (£5.1bn) in global revenue from green stimulus projects.

According to new projections from the company released earlier this week, it is expecting about €15bn in new orders as a result of infrastructure-focused stimulus programmes, with 40 per cent from planned order volume to focus on green technologies, such as wind turbines and rail infrastructure.

Siemens president and chief executive Peter Löscher said that in addition to safe-guarding existing jobs, the stimulus funds should create new green-collar jobs in fields such as renewable energy.

"The various governments are strongly focused on sustainable investments," he said, adding that Siemens would position itself as a major player in emerging green technologies capable of helping governments meet their emission-reduction targets.

The company said that of the €2 trillion in stimulus funding pledged by governments worldwide, about €700bn was earmarked for infrastructure projects, €150bn of which Siemens could potentially address.

The company added that in several of its strongest markets – namely Germany, the US and China – between 15 and 60 per cent of the stimulus funds have been set aside for investment in low-carbon technologies.

The new spending programmes should help meet Siemens' target to increase annual sales of environmental technologies from €19bn in fiscal 2008 to €25bn by 2011.