Siemens Energy today inaugurated a service center and a training academy in Egypt. The service center is the first of its kind in the region, combining a repair center, a tooling center and a spare-parts warehouse under one roof.
The premises of the service center also encompasses the Egyptian German Technical Academy (EGT Academy) as state-of-the-art training hub for the vocational training in the region. Specifically, the Academy represents a strategic alliance between Siemens and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)-on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Academy offers an innovative public private partnership model which supports occupational training to engineers and technicians in all industries and offers them the opportunity to develop their skills in a variety of topics, including workplace safety and automation. In addition to the support to the vocational training and education in Egypt, the Academy positions itself as a unique service provider offering demand-driven training needs to local industry.
The facilities, which are located in the Ain Sokhna at the Suez Canal Economic Development Zone, were inaugurated by Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy AG, and Karim Amin, Executive Vice President of Generation at Siemens Energy. Both were joined by the German Ambassador in Egypt, Cyrill Nunn; Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr. Mohamed Shaker; Chairman of Suez Canal Development Zone, Yehia Zaki, and other senior executives from Siemens Energy.
“This Service center is marking a significant step in our commitment towards Egypt and the region, with this facility we aim to provide advanced maintenance and repair technologies for the power generation industry in Egypt and its neighboring countries. The strategic location in Ain Sokhna, including the excellent facilities in the Suez Canal Development Zone, and the bright Egyptian youth trained in the inhouse academy will turn this Center into a real Hub for the entire region”, said Karim Amin. “It is a fantastic opportunity to combine real-life applications in the power generation industry with state-of-the-art technical training to inspire the next generation of Egyptian professionals and drive further expansion from this hub into the Middle East and Africa.”
At the inauguration, Siemens Energy signed an Agreement of Intent with the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and the Egyptian Maintenance Company establishing a joint venture at the service center that will enable remote support for power plant outages. The joint venture repair center is digitally connected and will, in the future, house Digital Expert and Power Diagnostics centers to provide support and maintenance for distributed control systems, gas and steam turbines, and generators.
The service center will increase localization in Egypt’s energy supply chain and support the local economy. Siemens Energy will provide services for energy rotating equipment, including gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, and compressors. Equipped with the latest technology, the center can repair and overhaul equipment that would have otherwise been sent overseas, reducing service time and eliminating shipping costs. The facility’s Generation Optimization Center will offer 24/7 local and global emergency response, with a dedicated technical support line.