Molycorp.Inc. (fka MCPIQ)

[~ Blue ~]

MONSTER NEWS: Siemens has 11 BILLION EURO Wind Tribunes order

Sales at Siemens Wind Power alone have increased by around 40 percent each year since 2004, when Siemens acquired Bonus, a Danish manufacturer. At that time, Bonus was building approximately 200 wind turbines per year and posting annual sales of €300 million. Today, Siemens builds some 2,000 turbines each year and generates sales of €5 billion. The order volume currently stands at €11 billion. The industry has entered a consolidation phase and needs to increase productivity and reduce costs.

This also applies to the production of wind power plant nacelles, which account for roughly 60 percent of manufacturing costs. The remainder is more or less equally divided between the tower and the rotor blades.

All in all, Siemens Wind Power is relying on modularization and reduced complexity to reduce costs. For instance, its new three-megawatt and six-megawatt turbines forego the usual combination of a gearbox and asynchronous generator. Instead, they use a directly driven synchronous generator equipped with permanent magnets and a corresponding conversion-to-grid frequency. This gearless direct drive concept eliminates 50 percent of the components normally used in such systems and reduces the unit’s weight by 30 percent.

http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-future/energy-and-efficiency/sustainable-power-generation-efficient-wind-turbine-production.html
---------------------------------------------------------------

Molycorp Chosen to Supply Rare Earths for Use in High-Efficiency Siemens Wind Turbine Generators


Globe Newswire
April 15, 2015: 07:00 AM ET

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., April 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Siemens AG ("Siemens") has selected Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE:MCP) ("Molycorp") to supply rare earth materials over the next 10 years from its Mountain Pass, California facility for incorporation into Siemens' high-efficiency, direct drive wind turbine generators. Molycorp will supply rare earth materials to Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. ("Shin-Etsu"), which will produce the rare earth magnets Siemens intends to utilize in its wind turbines.

Siemens officials noted that key factors in choosing Molycorp were Molycorp's ability to provide greater global diversification and reliability to its supply chain, as well as the environmental and process innovations Molycorp has built into its Mountain Pass rare earth facility. Among those innovations are the facility's ability to recycle water, regenerate the chemical reagents needed in rare earth production, generate power from a high-efficiency natural gas cogeneration power plant, and dispose of mine tailings through an innovative paste tailings system.

Siemens officials said that the magnets to be used in its direct drive wind turbines will contain reduced levels of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs), such as dysprosium. In collaboration with Siemens Wind Power, Molycorp and Shin-Etsu will improve the magnet material to reach zero HREEs, Siemens said. At the same time, Siemens added, supply chain reliability will be increased and costs will be reduced.

"The contract with Shin-Etsu and Molycorp is an important step for us in sourcing magnet materials for our direct drive wind turbines," said Morten Rasmussen, Head of Technology at Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division. "We strive for diversification in the sourcing of these components to improve independency from specific markets."

"We are very pleased to have been selected to supply Siemens and Shin-Etsu with rare earth magnetic materials for this important clean energy supply chain project," said Geoff Bedford, Molycorp's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This agreement underscores Molycorp's commitment to partner with our customers to support their product development efforts and serve as an integrated, long-term provider of reliable rare earth supply."

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/globenewswire/10128853.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------



SIEMENS NEWS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE:

Large wind turbines require 2 TONS of rare earth magnets
.
Rare earth magnets are used in wind turbines. Some large turbines require two TONS of rare earth magnets. These magnets are very strong and make the turbines highly efficient. Rare earth magnets are used in turbines and generators in many alternative energy applications.

http://geology.com/articles/rare-earth-elements/
-------------------------------------------

A 3 megawatt turbine uses roughly 1 metric ton of rare earths.

http://www.molycorp.com/products/rare-earths-many-uses/clean-energy/
------------------------------------------------------------------