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Opening of the Hydro Centre of Excellence
Tasmania confirmed that it is attracting investment and engineering jobs when Premier Lara Giddings officially opened the Alstom Cambridge Workshop, which is a Hydro Centre of Excellence, near Hobart this morning.
The $11 million Alstom facility is a key component of Tasmania’s hydro, transmission and other industrial infrastructure. It provides engineering services to local and mainland energy generators and delivers a range of services that keep Tasmania’s energy sector running.
Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings congratulated Alstom on more than 100 years of significant contribution to the economic and social sustainability of Tasmania.
“Alstom has had a long association with Tasmania dating back to the installation of three generators at the Moorina power station in 1907. With this new investment in the Cambridge workshop, Alstom will continue to play a role in our state’s economic future.
“Tasmania was chosen as the location for this investment against tough competition from interstate and overseas, which is proof that our business conditions are competitive.
“These new facilities are of a world-class standard, which is an absolute testament to the local companies and tradesmen involved in their construction.”
The Alstom Cambridge workshop now employs over 80 highly skilled local personnel. Moving forward, Alstom will continue to develop and expand the local workforce in the following areas of expertise, mechanical and electrical fitting, steel fabrication, engineering, project management and drafting.
According to Chris Raine, CEO of Alstom Australia, skill development is part of the culture at Alstom Tasmania. “Alstom’s activities in Tasmania are about more than the building and machinery – we have an excellent local team who bring Alstom’s world-class expertise to Tasmania.
“Since the mid nineties we have partnered with local Tasmanian apprentice training organisations to develop dozens of apprentices. Many have been retained as full-time employees and we are now overseeing nine apprentices in our local operations.
The Cambridge facility replaces Alstom’s successful Moonah workshop, and continues to service some of Australia’s largest hydro and thermal electricity suppliers including Hydro Tasmania, Aurora Energy, Nyrstar, AGL, Stanwell, Eraring and Snowy Hydro.
The new Cambridge facility has been designed with efficiency, effectiveness and safety in mind. The 4,400sqm floor space has increased crane capacity to cope with the expected growth, increased office space and a floor layout that can be adapted according to job requirements.
The workshop was constructed by Tasmania’s Derwent Park Developments, providing contract employment for more than 50 builders, sub-contractors and suppliers.
The Cambridge facility will provide 24-hour customer support for a comprehensive range of reliability and engineering services from light and heavy fabrication, machining to on-site services. Alstom’s Tasmanian operations are certified to International Standards Organisation quality assurance levels.
“The design of the workshop emphasises safety,” Mr Raine said. “The Alstom team at Moonah recorded five years without a lost time injury, and the new design at Cambridge will help us to keep this excellent record well into the future.
“The new workshop was also built to minimise environmental impact. Water management is stringent. We recover water from the roof then store it in two 22,000 litre tanks to use in steam cleaning and wash bay activities.
“The Cambridge workshop continues Alstom’s long relationship with the State of Tasmania. It establishes a platform that will see the state grow as a major player in local and interstate energy markets and bring new business and employment opportunities to Tasmania,” Mr Raine said.