2011 highlights: Alstom's milestones in power generation

The wind turbine blade geometry has already been validated in LM Wind Power's wind tunnel, which is customised for aerodynamic testing copyright © 2011 LM Wind Power

February 2011: The world's largest wind turbine blade  

Record blade pushes the limits to bring down the Cost of Energy of offshore wind: we've entered a strategic partnership with LM Wind Power, a leading wind turbine blade supplier, to develop the world’s longest wind turbine blade ever produced.

The new blade is a unique development designed specifically for our new generation 6-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine. Read more 

March 2011: Position in solar power strengthened 

We've invested $75m in BrightSource Energy, Inc. This further reinforces our partnership with BrightSource, following our initial investment in the company in May 2010 and the partnership agreement signed in August 2010 to provide fully integrated solar thermal power plants. Read more 

Manjung coal-fired power station in Malaysia copyright © 2011 Alstom

April 2011: Powering South East Asia's single largest unit 

We've signed a contract, as a consortium leader, with TNB Janamanjung Sdn Bhd to provide key power generation equipment to South East Asia’s first 1,000 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant Manjung, Malaysia.

The unit will be the single largest one in South East Asia and will produce enough electricity to power nearly 2 million households in Malaysia. Read more 

May 2011: Successful commercial startup of Ling Ao Unit 4 in China 

Successful commercial startup of Ling Ao Unit 4 in China - one week ahead of schedule-, confirming the performance of Unit 3 and hence the ARABELLE 1000 platform (80 MW more than Units 1 and 2 with the same thermal power reactor output). The performance tests of Units 3 and 4 performed by CNPEC proved that the actual output was better than the guaranteed figure by a significant margin.

The Next Generation Alstom GT26 Alstom

June 2011: Next generation GT26 gas turbine and  KA26 combined cycle power plant  

We've launched the next generation gas turbines and combined cycle power plants: GT26/KA26 (50Hz markets) and GT24/KA24 (60 Hz markets), to offer significantly lower cost of electricity by way of improved performance and operational flexibility to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's dynamic power markets. Read more 

Alstom ECO 86 wind turbines in place at the Adams wind farm. copyright © 2011 Alstom

June 2011: 100,000 households to be powered with wind energy in Brazil 

We've signed a contract to build and service three wind farms in Brazil for Brasventos S.A.. The wind farms will have a forecasted production of 580,000 MWh per year, enough to power more than 100,000 households and save more than 300,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

The scope of the order includes the supply, installation and commissioning and long-term servicing of  ECO 86 wind turbines.

The wind farms will be equipped with our SCADA system enabling local and remote access to wind turbine data for optimised operation and maintenance. The wind turbine generators will be manufactured in our new manufacturing plant in Bahia, Brazil. Read more
 

June 2011: Expanding our renewable energy portfolio 

We've broadened our involvement in marine energy by acquiring a 40% equity share in AWS Ocean Energy. The move complements our existing activities, Ocean Energy business in Nantes, France, where we are developing our 1 MW commercial-scale tidal turbine prototype, the Beluga 9. Read more 

June 2011: India’s first variable speed pumped storage hydro power plant 

We lead a consortium to install a 1,000 MW variable speed pumped storage hydro power plant on the river Bhagirathi in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It will be India’s first pumped storage power plant to use variable speed technology. Read more 

3D rendering of an offshore wind farm with Haliade 150 wind turbines Alstom

July 2011: 3,000 MW of offshore wind power to be built in France 

We are pooling our expertise and investment capacity within a consortium created to respond to the “offshore wind energy” call for tenders launched on July 11 by the French government.

This partnership illustrates a shared commitment to create, in a team spirit, projects of excellence that are: technologically innovative, financially and technically sound, mastered and ambitious for France’s industrial plan. Read more 

September 2011: Thermal solar plant in Nevada, USA 

We've signed a contract with US firm Cobra Thermosolar Plants Inc. to supply a 125 MW steam turbine and a generator for a thermal solar plant in Tonopah, Nevada, USA using tower technology. This order confirms our expertise in manufacturing steam turbine to be operated in solar plants. Read more 

September 2011: A run-of-river hydro power plant in Brazil 

We lead a consortium that has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to provide power equipment for the new 373.4 MW Santo Antonio do Jari hydroelectric plant to be built on the river Jari in Brazil’s Amazonian region. Our Kaplan hydro power turbines will be specifically designed to meet the challenging operating conditions of the river. Read more 

ECO 122 Wind copyright © 2011 Alstom

September 2011: A new 2.7 MW wind turbine for low wind sites 

We announced the launch of the ECO 122 – a 2.7MW onshore wind turbine that combines high power and high capacity factor1  to boost energy yield in low wind regions worldwide. The ECO 122’s leading efficiency and high yield set a new benchmark for low wind sites.

At a wind speed of 7.5 m/s the turbine delivers a net wind farm capacity factor of up to 42%, equivalent to 3,600 full-load hours each year. Its 122-metre rotor diameter and swept area of 11,700 m2 – the largest in the 2 MW to 3 MW turbine segment – maximise the harvest of energy and the return on investment to create new business opportunities for customers from low wind sites. Read more 

Belchatow General view HR copyright © 2011 Alstom

 October 2011: Takeover of the completed Belchatów power plant by the customer 

On 14 October, we were rewarded with the arrival from the client of the Provisional Acceptance Certificate.

Backdated to the conclusion of the reliability run on 30 September, the PAC formalises the takeover of the plant by the customer, PGE Elektrownia Belchatów, and the commencement of commercial operations.

Bełchatów near Łódź, central Poland is Europe's largest thermal power plant, with 12 x 370 MW units currently in operation. Alstom's Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contract with client PGE Elektrownia Bełchatów is for a 13th unit, 1 x 858 MW lignite-fuelled supercritical, bringing total output of the plant to over 5,2 GW. The unit features STF100 steam turbine, GIGATOP 2-pole turbogenerator and ALSPA control system.

November 2011: Feasibility study agreement signed for CCS project 

On 7 November 2011, we've signed with China Datang Corporation (Datang) the feasibility study agreement for CCS Demo Project in Daqing, Heilongjiang province. We will carry out the study for the 350 MW oxy-combustion CCS demonstration project located in Daqing, using our know-how and expertise in oxy-firing technology.

Scheduled for operation in 2015, the Daqing CCS demonstration project is the first large scale CCS demonstration project in Asia, capable of capturing above 1,000,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually. The Daqing CCS demonstration plant will be the first large-scale demo project to adopt the oxy-combustion technology, enriching the CCS technology mix in China. Read more
 

November 2011: Opening of a new auxiliary components facility in India 

On 28 November we officially opened a new production line in Shahabad, India. The facility will manufacture the latest marques of heating transfer surfaces or elements for air preheaters. To save time a manufacturing line was shipped over from its original location at the auxiliary components parent facility in Wellsville, the United States, and refurbished in situ.

This enabled the heating element shop to be set up in less than a year. The establishment of a fully automated, computer- controlled element line at the Shahabad facility means that more customers will have access to the company's advanced technology, and give us a manufacturing foothold in the region. Read more