CLASS OF 2015
WORLD-GENERATION FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 V.27 #1
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RICH VOORBERG
Rich Voorberg serves as Executive Vice
President of Distributed Generation and
Compressors for Siemens’ Power
Generation Services. Voorberg is based in
Orlando, Florida, and his principal region of
operation is the United States and Canada.
His group is playing a pivotal role in
Siemens on account of Siemens’ recent
acquisition of the Rolls-Royce energy port-
folio and the pending acquisition of
Houston-based Dresser-Rand Group, a
major supplier to the oil and gas industry.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario to parents of
Dutch extraction, Voorberg began at
Westinghouse, the division for which
Voorberg worked later being sold to
Siemens. He started in field service and
traveled the world maintaining and repair-
ing turbines and compressors, a “great
learning experience,” he recalls, “like run-
ning your own business and sometimes
from very remote places.”
GLOBETROTTING EXPERIENCE
In the 1990s, Voorberg’s globetrotting
continued as his experience working in the
field provided him with a wealth of knowl-
edge and expertise that would lead him to
new and exciting opportunities at Siemens.
Voorberg managed turbine assembly at a
Siemens plant in the late 1990s that quickly
ramped up production and tripled the num-
ber of gas turbines a year.
Later, from offices in Germany, he man-
aged a biomass construction project in
Scotland, leading a diverse project team
with members from a number of European
countries including Finland, Sweden, Great
Britain, Germany and Scotland. He later
had an opportunity to lead a team that
designed and constructed a new gas tur-
bine manufacturing center next to the exist-
ing Siemens factory in Charlotte and then
managed a network of repair shops servic-
ing the substantial fleet of Siemens gas and
steam turbines and generators.
Now in Orlando, Voorberg’s current
role is leading Siemens’ operations in
North America for the power generation
services division’s distributed generation
and compressors business unit.
His responsibilities extend from gas tur-
bines up to 70MW to steam turbines up to
250MW. “We now have a very strong foot-
print in North America,” he says. “We are
poised and ready to grow our business,
grow our capabilities, and improve our ser-
vice operations at every level.”
ROLLS-ROYCE INKED
Voorberg says that the recent acquisi-
tion of the Rolls-Royce energy division and
the pending acquisition of Dresser-Rand
will significantly strengthen Siemens’ posi-
tion in the oil and gas industry, particularly
in the United States, and in distributed gen-
eration.
Rolls-Royce specialized in manufactur-
ing and servicing aero derivative turbines.
These smaller turbines, from 5 to 65 MW,
have a number of advantages that
Voorberg’s group finds appealing and that
fit nicely with Siemens’ established portfolio
of power generation products and services.
In particular, they operate in the growing
market for distributed generation, an area
where Siemens sees great promise in North
America. Voorberg says these units can fire
up and begin producing up to 65 MW in as
little as 10 minutes.
In New York City area, for example,
these units are taking advantage of peaking
opportunities in the market, able to stop and
start three or four times a day for optimal
efficiency. Aero derivative turbines can run
on either natural gas or liquid fuel, normally
using the latter as a backup. Voorberg
points out that the aero derivative turbines
could become popular in the American
West, where reliance is growing on wind
and solar power. “When the wind subsides
or the sun fades,” he says, “these kinds of
turbines can step in quickly to keep the
power up.”
Also indicating Siemens’ focus on
expanding its footprint in oil and gas,
Voorberg points out that Lisa Davis is now
heading Siemens’ energy business out of
Houston, the first member of Siemens’
Managing Board to operate outside of
Germany and an experienced oil and gas
industry executive. “This shows a real com-
mitment by Siemens to the American oil
and gas and distributed generation mar-
kets,” he asserts.
EMPHASIS ON REGIONALIZATION
Voorberg points to other and developing
advantages of his service group in Canada
and the United States. “We have 25 district
offices in the region,” he says, “with approx-
imately 3,000 engineers and technicians.
This emphasis on regionalization allows us
to quickly and efficiently respond to issues,
and, if necessary, put someone on a custom-
er’s site within hours, if not less. Our people
are living and working where our customers
live and work and therefore can have a clear
understanding of the business environ-
ments in which our customers operate. This
close collaboration with our customers,” he
goes on to say, “is the key to helping them
keep their assets performing optimally for
many years to come.”
Voorberg points out another customer-
focused advantage within Siemens’ distrib-
uted generation services portfolio: Siemens’
remote monitoring and diagnostics services.
“With remote diagnostics,” says Voorberg,
“not only can we see and react to issues pro-
actively, but we can also watch for trends
based on an individual turbine’s perfor-
mance as well as from Siemens’ entire fleet
for that particular turbine model obtained
under various operating conditions.
For example, by closely analyzing the
data from our diagnostics center, we can
inform a customer of a potential issue
before it becomes a major one. Then, work-
ing closely with them, we can provide the
Executive Vice President
Siemens Power Generation Services
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