razil's power sector is driving major growth for corporations that specialize in serving its various segments.
   Siemens, which has had a presence in Brazil for more than a century, has a global investment strategy that figures heavily in Brazil and South America, where it is solidifying its strong position in the power sector.
   The Germany-based conglomerate is expanding its power equipment production capacity and concentrating its power production activities in Jundai, outside Sao Paulo. Siemens is investing more than $106 million in the project, which will be positioned as a global export and technology platform. The huge complex encompasses 52,000 sq. m. (560,000 sq. ft.) of space and employs 1,400.
   The site, now Siemens' third largest transformer plant, is the largest equipment production facility in South America and the biggest transformer test field in Latin America. The project's significance drew the attendance of Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, at its inauguration in May.
   "The Jundai site is strategically positioned and focuses on logistics competitiveness," says Adilson Primo, president of the Siemens Group in Brazil and Mercosur nations. "It is near the main highways in the state of Sao Paulo, being only 50 kilometers [31 miles] distant from the megacity of Sao Paulo, and roughly 150 kilometers [93 miles] from the largest sea port in Latin America [Santos, Brazil]."
   Siemens' South American production plants are concentrated in Brazil, with about 70 percent of production serving that market and the remainder exported. About 40 percent of transformers go to the international market, primarily to North America, Chile, Argentina and other Latin American countries.
   "The power market is growing throughout the world, particularly in the U.S., China and India," says Primo, who serves as the first vice president of the Brazilian Association of Infrastructure & Basic Industry. "Mercosur holds significant long-term development potential, especially regarding biomass cogeneration perspectives and larger generation projects such as the Madeira and Belo Monte hydro power plants. With regard to the power transmission and distribution sector, there may be significant projects in Latin American countries and regional power grid interconnections. The Power Transportation unit foresees great opportunities in large railway infrastructure projects. Siemens' global expertise is definitely prepared for local Mercosur challenges in the power and transportation sectors."
   Primo says Brazil's energy consumption is expected to grow about 5 percent annually. He says the country's per capita consumption level is only about 2.2 MW per year compared to about 12.5 MW in the U.S. and 6.4 MW in the EU.
   Brazil's oil and gas industry is benefiting Siemens, too. Siemens Power Generation has been awarded two contracts from Brazil for a total of 17 compressor trains, each consisting of a compressor and a mechanical-drive gas turbine. Customers are oil and gas giant Petrobras and the Brazilian company Transportadora Gasene. The compressors and their mechanical gas turbines are to be installed in a gas treatment plant in the state of Espirito Santo and in three pipeline stations along the Brazilian coast. The compressor trains will be preassembled in Siemens' facility in Houston.
   The Jundai expansion also includes a new industrial steam turbine plant that is producing industrial thermal co-generation turbines for the pulp and paper, metallurgy and mining, sugar and ethanol segments.
   Brazil's rapidly growing ethanol industry will supply the feedstock, made from sugar cane, for a planned joint venture facility that will manufacture polyethylene. Dow Chemical and Crystalsev, one of Brazil's largest ethanol manufacturers, will design and build the first integrated facility of its scale in the world with production due to start in 2011.    EDS is another firm on the move in Latin America. The Dallas-based IT company, which already has nearly 13,000 employees in Latin America, has opened its newest global service center in Cordoba, Argentina. Cordoba is located at the northern tip of a triangle between Santiago, Chile, and Buenos Aires. It is Argentina's second largest city, with a population of about 1.3 million.
   The center's current capacity is 400 seats, with a second phase to add 400 more. Long-range plans call for the facility to grow to a campus-like configuration with capacity for 2,500 employees. EDS also has GSCs in China, Hungary and India, with plans for others in low-cost locations.
   Dell opened its second factory in Brazil in May, in Hortlandia, about 70 miles (113 km.) northwest of Sao Paulo. The plant will manufacture laptop and desktop computers, as well as other equipment. /
   The Hortolandia facility puts Dell close to 70 percent of its South American customer base, reducing shipping times and costs, said Raymundo Peixoto, Dell Brazil's country manager. It is also close to Brazil's largest cargo airport, located in Viracopos.
   He says the project is part of Dell's plans to extend its presence in the Brazilian business market, where it is the leading company.