Alstom celebrates a century of steam turbine technology

On 20th September Alstom celebrated 100 years of steam turbines in its turbine production facility in Birr, Switzerland. Approximately 50 special guests travelled from all corners of the globe to enjoy a day filled with discussions on the pioneers of steam turbines and the development of steam turbine technology to date. The event concluded with a tour of the enormous Alstom facility, which has an approximate area of 50 000 m2 (and is one of Switzerlands largest buildings in terms of surface area).

Alstom has the worlds largest steam turbine product portfolio. Today 20 % of the worlds installed steam turbine capacity depends on Alstom technology and services. Steam turbines have and will continue to play a very important role in reliable electricity supply. They also continue to be the single biggest contributor to global power production with more than 55% of the global installed capacity base. Forecasts show that the global market for new steam turbines will continue to be stable and steam turbines powering more than 100 GW, are estimated to be ordered each year. These turbines are used in various types of power plants including high efficiency fossil fuel power plants and new increased efficiency nuclear power plants. They will also be used in the rapid growth market segment of renewable energy, which includes solar power, geothermal power and biomass fuel.

Steam turbines installed in facilities which run on combustible bio-fuel from forestry, wood processing, agriculture or municipal waste provide dependable power at competitive rates. The facilities can offer reduced levels of CO2 or even CO2 neutral power production depending on the type on the type of fuel. Modern combustion technology and state of the art flue gas treatment help eliminate emissions of air pollutants such as NOx, SOx and solid particulates.

Peter Jonsson MD Alstom Power Sweden AB, Göran Persson vice MD Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB, Bill Armstrong VP Alstom Generator Business, Nils Lannefors Regional Sales Director Alstom Power Nordic & Baltic Countries standing in front of the new generator rotor for Forsmark 3 under production in Alstom’s facilities in Birr, Switzerland.