CLASS OF 2016
WORLD-GENERATION FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016
4
Jim Brannen heads up Siemens oil and
gas operations in the Americas and comes
to that market with an expanded portfolio.
A couple of years after he joined the
company in 2012, Siemens grew its portfolio
in the sector with two major acquisitions.
In December 2014, Siemens acquired
the energy gas turbine and compressor
business of Rolls-Royce Energy for about
$1.3 billion. Then in the summer of 2015,
Siemens joined forces with one of the best
known names in the oil patch, Dresser-
Rand, in a $7.8 billion merger. “Those
acquisitions position Siemens to be a
more dynamic force in both the oil and
gas sector and the growing distributed
generation market in the Americas,”
Brannen said.
ROLLS-ROYCE
The addition of Rolls-Royce Energy’s
aero-derivative gas turbines fills a gap in
Siemens’ portfolio by giving it an array of
turbines in the 30-MW to 66-MW range. That
means Siemens now has turbines with capac-
ities from 4 MW all the way up to 400 MW.
Rolls-Royce Energy brought to
Siemens its industrial RB211, which is
derived from aeroderivative engines and is
used as the power plant in several large
airliners. In land-based applications, more
than 650 RB211 turbines have been sold
worldwide, and they have accumulated
over 32 million operating hours.
The turbine is widely used in both
offshore power generation and mechanical
drive applications.
The other end of that gap is filled by
Rolls-Royce Energy’s Trent gas turbine.
The Industrial Trent 60 is also well-suited
for onshore and offshore mechanical
drive applications, and is particularly
well-suited for applications that require
variable speed capabilities such as natu-
ral gas liquefaction, gas transportation
and gas injection for oil recovery. A heat
recovery steam generator can be added
to the Trent turbine to increase its output
and efficiency.
The Industrial Trent engine also has a
high availability rate and, if something
goes wrong in the field, it is possible to do
a field turnaround, Brannen said. “Prior to
the Rolls-Royce Energy acquisition,
Siemens had larger frame generators,
north of 100 MW for utility applications,
and lighter industrial generators, but
nothing in that mid-range,” he said.
DRESSER-RAND
The Dresser-Rand acquisition expands
Siemens’ footprint in the compression and
reciprocating engine markets where
Siemens previously did not have a pres-
ence; the merger also creates one of the
industry’s largest service fleets.
“It allows Siemens to deliver solutions
in unconventional gas extraction,
enhanced oil recovery and CO2 injection
markets, as well as downstream in oil and
petrochemical refinery markets.”
One of the most important benefits of
the Dresser-Rand merger is the worldwide
brand recognition Dresser-Rand has in the
market for the compression of natural gas
for pipeline delivery. That opens doors for
the rest of the Siemens portfolio, Brannen
said. “You can go in the door with
Dresser-Rand compressors and that gives
you an opportunity to introduce a range of
Siemens electrical products, such as auto-
mation, transformers and switchgear.”
On the power side, the compact foot-
print and high efficiency of its new mid-
range turbines give Siemens an array of
options for inside-the-fence and non-tradi-
tional power applications.
DISTRIBUTED GENERATION
With high interest in distributed gen-
eration in recent years, the two acquisi-
tions position Siemens to play a role in the
transformation of the utility grid as it
becomes more decentralized, whether
with applications in remote oil fields, uses
for pipeline compressors or in the growth
of microgrids at universities, hospitals and
industrial centers.
Dresser-Rand is already positioned in
those markets, offering turbines for com-
bined heat and power systems, biogas-
fueled gen-sets, hybrid systems that can
combine solar photovoltaic and engine-
based gen-sets, biomass and waste-to-
energy steam turbine generators, and
engines for compressed air energy storage.
The potential presented by some of
those opportunities was demonstrated in
February when the Dresser-Rand business
signed an agreement to be the exclusive
supplier of gas engines for Kohler Power
Systems’ standby, prime and continuous
power large gas generator program. The
agreement marks Dresser-Rand’s entry
into the standby generator set market.
The acquisitions also are well timed to
take advantage of the ongoing changes
that are bringing more renewables and
distributed resources to the electric grid
and increasing demand for back-up and
standby power resources.
States such as California and New
York, for instance, have embarked on poli-
cies that encourage distributed resources
such as rooftop solar panels, microgrids
and energy storage systems.
The timing in the oil and gas sector is
not as advantageous, but Brannen says
“Siemens has the best portfolio to increase
productivity and improve our customers’
value for capital expenditure.” Brannen is
“confident we will see a turnaround in oil
prices, and we will be well-positioned
when it happens.”
Jim Brannen is the Hub Head of the
Americas Region for Siemens Oil & Gas
and is responsible for key account manage-
ment. He began this role in October 2014
when Siemens Oil & Gas was formed.
JIM BRANNEN
Regional Manager
Siemens
