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Monday 31 May 2010

Alstom-Ecotecnia focuses on the US, offshore and turbines without gearboxes

Alstom-Ecotècnia has confirmed that it is building a wind turbine plant in the northern state of Texas, marking its entry into the US market. It is also positioning itself to enter the offshore wind sector with a direct drive machine, i.e. without a gearbox.

The news was confirmed by Philippe Cochet, Senior Vice President of Alstom Wind and Hydro, before a select delegation of members of the international press including Renewable Energy Magazine, during a visit to Alstom’s facilities in Paris earlier this month.

Entry into US market
Alstom’s new wind turbine nacelle assembly facility, which is scheduled to be operational in 2011, is being built in Amarillo, Texas. It will have a capacity of 300 MW per annum and will create 275 full-time engineering, production, and technical support jobs. The company has been selected as a candidate for a tax credit of over $2.7 million as part of the US government’s federal rescue measures to stimulate the economy and boost local employment.

During the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Wind Power conference held in Texas this week, Alstom, the French electrical engineering giant that completed its acquisition of Ecotècnia in 2007, discussed the role of the Amarillo facility in supporting the next phase of the company’s entry into the North American wind power market. Alfonso Faubel, Alstom Wind Vice President, said, “Amarillo is the ideal location for Alstom’s wind power manufacturing hub in North America because it is centrally located in an area that is expected to create a substantial number of new wind power projects over the next several years. In addition, Amarillo has invested in the infrastructure needed to transport the sizeable equipment to potential sites all across North America and the resources needed to train its work force to be as productive as possible.”

Alstom’s entry into the US comes off the back of an agreement with the regional government of Bahia in Brazil to establish Alstom-Ecotècnia’s first plant in this South American country. The new plant will also have annual capacity of 300 MW.

ECO 110
During WindPower, Alstom also formally launched its new ECO 110 wind turbine, the 3-MW Class III version of the ECO 100 turbine, designed for low wind speeds. Cochet revealed in Paris that two contracts for the supply of ECO 110 machines to be signed in the near future, and he believes that the machine has plenty of potential for the American market because of its innovative ALSTOM PURE TORQUE design, which delivers higher gearbox reliability, higher operational availability, and lower maintenance costs.

Gearbox-less offshore giants
During the press event in Paris, Cochet also insisted that Alstom-Ecotécnia is on course to supply machines to meet rising demand in the offshore wind market as from 2014. "It will be a large machine, significantly larger than 3 MW,” he said, declining to provide further details, except that it will be a direct-drive machine. It is the first time that Cochet has publicly announced the company’s decision to produce turbines without gearboxes.

Source: Renewable Energy Magazine

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