Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on January 22, 2025
By Divya Chowdhury and Christoph Steitz
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Siemens Energy expects a "massive tailwind" from Donald Trump's power strategy after the new U.S. president announced up to $500 billion in private sector investment to fund infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
Shares in Siemens Energy, which makes everything from gas and wind turbines to power network equipment and transmission technology, rose nearly 10% to a record high on Wednesday after Joe Kaeser, who chairs its supervisory board, said it was "in the sweet spot" to benefit.
The group's stock pared gains after its main rival, GE Vernova, released lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales. Nevertheless, it was still trading up 6.7% at 1144 GMT.
"Customers are coming and saying, can you help me? I need gas turbines, I need steam turbines. I need that current connectivity in '29. Can you help me? ... So that's a remarkable time. And Siemens Energy takes advantage of that," he said.
Kaeser said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that the rise in demand for data centres, which are key to AI technology, as well as the reliable energy capacity needed to power them, had "brought a boom to all energy companies, which is second to none".
Trump, who took office this week, announced the investment of up to $500 billion late on Tuesday, fuelling hopes that energy network equipment providers will benefit from a boom in the power-hungry AI sector.
The new U.S. president also declared a national energy emergency, intended to provide him with the authority to reduce environmental restrictions on energy infrastructure and projects and ease permitting for new transmission and pipeline infrastructure.
"I think the new administration has made it very clear that this is the new energy age," Kaeser said, adding this would play into Siemens Energy's hands and that the next 5-10 years would be a very good time to be in the U.S. market.
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(Reporting by Divya Chowdhury and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Matthias Williams, Mark Potter and Alexander Smith)
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