Siemens got into the wind business only in 2004, when it acquired a maker of wind turbines in Brande, Denmark, which remains the headquarters of the wind unit. In 2009, Siemens acquired Solel, an Israeli company that makes components for plants that use concentrated heat from the sun to generate power. And last February, Siemens acquired a minority stake in Marine Current Turbines, a British company that makes equipment for generating electricity from ocean tides.
Siemens’ renewable energy division, consisting mostly of the wind power business, recorded a bigger sales increase than any other unit in the quarter ended Sept. 30, rising 48 percent, to 977 million euros ($1.3 billion). New orders rose 85 percent, to 1.45 billion euros, also a company best. The unit’s profit of EUR 368 million made up 5 percent of Siemens’ total.

The company’s goal is to become one of the top three suppliers of wind power equipment in the world, up from eighth or ninth now. Vestas Wind Systems, a Danish company that focuses solely on wind power, is the market leader.
To have any chance, however, requires a foothold in China, the world’s largest market for wind power, and one of the most difficult to enter because of government policies that favor local companies. In November, Siemens opened a factory in Shanghai, a city chosen in part because it is on the water and a good place from which to ship equipment for offshore wind parks, a niche in which Siemens is the No. 1 equipment supplier.

The Asian market is the largest and fastest growing for wind power, accounting for an estimated 44 percent of global capacity, according to IHS Emerging Energy Research. Europe is second, with 34 percent of global capacity and North America third with 19 percent.

Siemens is also planning factories in the emerging markets of India and Russia as well as in Britain where, despite an austerity budget, the government is strongly backing the development of offshore wind projects.
Like GE, the market leader in wind power in the United States, Siemens may have an advantage against upstarts because it has long supplied equipment for conventional power plants and transmission facilities run by big utility companies. Siemens also has a long history in countries like Russia and China, where the company sold telegraph equipment as early as 1872.

But Siemens will also have to contend with ascendant Chinese companies like Sinovel, Goldwind and Dongfang, which are moving rapidly overseas. The Chinese companies offer lower prices and attractive financing, and could force down prices and profit margins, said James Stettler, an analyst for UniCredit in London.