RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG plans to expand a North Carolina unit that makes equipment for electric utility plants, adding hundreds of jobs.
The company plans to invest $135 million and create 825 engineering and manufacturing jobs in Charlotte in five years, according to a project description approved by a state incentives committee on Thursday.
Some of the jobs will be moved from Siemens's gas turbine manufacturing plant in Hamilton, Ontario, a spokeswoman for the state Commerce Department said.
In return, the state has promised Munich-based Siemens up to $22.75 million in tax breaks and grants. County and city governments have promised millions more.
Siemens already employs about 780 in Charlotte, where one of the company's largest U.S. plantsmanufactures and rebuilds gas turbines. The company said last spring it would add more than 200 jobs in the city to increase the energy division's offerings of climate protecting technology for power plants. The plans included building a 75,000-square-foot office next to its manufacturing facility there.
The U.S. is one of Siemens' largest markets. The company said Siemens-built power plants supply one-third of North America's electricity.
