Alstom outlines plans for US wind turbine assembly facility

Alstom Wind executives said the centerpiece of that strategy will be the opening of a wind turbine assembly facility that will create 275 full-time engineering, production, and technical support jobs in Amarillo, Texas.

Alfonso Faubel, Alstom Wind vice president from their Global Wind headquarters located in Barcelona, Spain, said, "Alstom is delighted to bring utilities and developers in North America the efficiency, reliability, and cost-saving advantages that our wind power technology can deliver. The North American wind power market - already one of the strongest in the world - is projected to continue to grow as legislators, regulators, NGOs, and the public seek the benefits that clean, renewable wind power is perfectly suited to deliver."

John White, managing director of the Wind Alliance, said, "We are looking forward to a strong collaboration with Alstom and believe their presence in the North American market will add value to the power sector and consumers throughout the wind corridor and throughout the nation as transmission infrastructure is further enhanced."

To support its product offerings, Alstom has decided to construct an 115,000 sq ft wind turbine assembly facility in Amarillo, Texas. The Amarillo facility will assemble the "nacelles" - i.e., the generator, gearbox, and control systems that make up a wind turbine. The nacelles will be transported from Amarillo to sites where they will be installed together with blades and towers to create the complete wind turbine generators. Alstom will offer its North American customers a product that includes any combination of the complete unit and the engineering, design, construction, and maintenance of the facility.

In particular, Alstom's offering includes the ECO 80/86 wind turbine platform (1.67 MW) and the ECO 100/110 wind turbine platform (3 MW) to accommodate the differing wind regimes across North America. All of Alstom's wind power offerings feature the ALSTOM PURE TORQUE™ design. ALSTOM PURE TORQUE™ is a unique rotor support concept protecting the gearbox and other drive train components from deflection loads, delivering higher gearbox reliability, higher operational availability, and lower maintenance costs.

Andy Geissbuehler, vice president and general manager of Alstom Wind North America, said, " Amarillo is a compelling location for our wind turbine assembly facility in North America because it is centrally located with excellent access to future wind power projects. In addition, Amarillo has demonstrated impressive foresight by investing in the real estate and infrastructure that ideally suits our operational needs. Most importantly, close partnership with the local community, a strong workforce and resources for training will be fundamental to our joint success." 

Companies active in this exciting area of the heavy lift and OOG market, will be interested to read that our industry focus item in the July / August edition of HLPFI will be on Power Generation - Renewable Energies. For more information about editorial or advertising opportunities please contact ian@heavyliftpfi.com