Products and Customers

Renewable energy is the fastest-growing area of business at Bosch. It also includes the products of Bosch Thermotechnology for utilizing geothermal and solar thermal energy. Last year, our sales in the wind power sector rose by a quarter to around 160 million euros. In Germany, we are planning to build a further production facility for large wind-turbine gear units at our Nuremberg location, thus augmenting the existing production in Witten. The first large gear units are scheduled for delivery at the start of 2009. In Nanjing, China, we will start to build a manufacturing facility for solar collectors at the end of 2008. It will produce for the local market.

Energy is also one of the key issues of the future for our Bosch Rexroth subsidiary. The Wind Power business unit delivers solutions for generating renewable energy.

As a supplier for gear and drive technology, we have played a part in shaping the technological progress of wind turbines right from the outset. The power of these rotors has increased from a mere 100 kilowatts to a full five megawatts today. In 2006, the power of the new wind turbines being installed each year worldwide matched that of more than ten 1.4-megawatt nuclear power stations. This figure will more than triple in the next ten years. The markets in Australia, China, India, and the U.S. are exceptionally dynamic. Many governments are subsidizing wind power in order to cut emissions and reduce dependence on crude oil.