Alstom signs a 160 million contract with PGE to
modernise the Bechatów power plant in Poland

It is an essential project
both for PGE Bechatów Power Plant S.A. and for the
entire Polish Energy Group. It will allow for a considerable
modernisation of infrastructure in Unit 6, which will not only
increase its power output and efficiency, but will also extend
lifetime. In addition, a very important point is that the
emissions of NOx and CO2 will be limited, said Krzysztof
Domagaa, President of PGE Bechatów Power Plant
S.A.

The retrofit will allow the unit
to work within the frame of the new regulations (Directive
2001/80/EC), with a 50% reduction of NOx emissions and a
reduction in CO2 emissions by over 400,000 tonnes/year, while
ensuring a 20 MW increase in the unit's power output and boosting
the unit's efficiency to over 41%. Furthermore, the modernisation
will improve availability and reliability, as well as extending
the units lifetime by 20 years.

The scope of the modernisation
covers the reconstruction of the boiler and its auxiliary
equipment, replacement of high pressure and intermediate-pressure
part of the turbine, increasing power output of the generator and
installation of new high-pressure heaters.

This is the first major
integrated retrofit project in Poland and we are very pleased to
be able to work on this unique opportunity, said Philippe
Joubert, President of Alstom Power. This project will
benefit from Alstoms expert knowledge of turbine and
boiler technology, our proven track record in integrated retrofit
projects, as well as our position as leaders in clean power
production.

In 1997-2004, Alstom carried out
contracts regarding the modernisation of the low pressure parts
in 12 turbines at Bechatów, a first step in the
upgrading of power capacity. Since then, PGE has continued its
strategy of modernising units 3-12 in order to meet emission
requirements imposed by the EU directives and in order to extend
the lifetime of the units. Alstom was awarded a contract to
provide a turnkey, 858 MW new supercritical unit to the plant. On
8 December 2008, PGE and Alstom signed a memorandum of
understanding for the development and implementation of carbon
capture and storage technology at Unit 12 of the
Bechatów Power Plant 9. This pioneering project,
developed in collaboration with the Dow Chemical company, puts
these companies at the forefront of carbon capture and clean
power technologies. At present, Alstom is executing retrofit
projects of HP and IP parts in steam turbines operated at Units 4
and 5 (to be finalised in 2009 and 2010-11 respectively).

Press Contact

Philippe Kasse, Stéphane Farhi (Corporate) - Tel
+33 1 41 49 29 82 /33 08 

press@chq.alstom.com


Sussane Shields (Power), Dorota Januszkiewicz (Poland) - Tel +33
1 41 49 27 22 / +48 55 239 22 22

Investor Relations
      

Emmanuelle Châtelain - Tel + 33 1 41 49 37 38 

investor.relations@chq.alstom.com