ALSTOM-led consortium wins 130 million euro order to supply
hydro power plant in Morocco

ALSTOM, as leader of a consortium comprising Moroccan civil
works contractor SGTM, has been selected by Moroccan utility,
ONE (Office National d' Electricité), for the turnkey
construction of a 460 MW pumped storage power plant. The order
to construct the complete plant, which will be situated at
Afourer in the region of Beni Mellal, is worth over 130 million
euros.

The contract is signed today in Rabat by Mr Driss Benhima,
President of ONE and Mr Pierre Bilger, ALSTOM's Chairman &
CEO, at a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister of Morocco,
Mr Abderrahman El Youssoufi and the Minister of Mining and
Energy, Mr Mustafa Mansouri.

ALSTOM will supply, erect and commission the electrical,
mechanical and hydromechanical equipment for the new plant
including pump-turbines, valves, penstocks, hydrogenerators,
the power plant control system and balance of plant.

SGTM (La Société Générale des Travaux du
Maroc), will be responsible for civil works. SGTM is
specialised in power plant, tunnel and dam construction. EDF
will be responsible for the conceptual design of the plant.

The pumped storage power plant will be connected to an
existing production grid and irrigation systems. It will
comprise two units, each with 2 pump turbines of respectively
60 MW and 170 MW capacity, connected to a 220 kV
switchyard.

The two units will function either in series or in
differential pumping mode, while ensuring sufficient water flow
for irrigation purposes. The use of a variety of operating
modes is a novel application for pumped storage plants.

This new plant, together with the existing power plants at
Afourer, Bin El Ouidane and of Dchar El Oued, will constitute
one of the world's most sophisticated hydropower complexes and
will be Morocco's main hydropower plant. Commissioning is
scheduled to take place in 42 months.

ALSTOM has already installed approximately 800 MW of
hydropower capacity in Morocco, notably at Al Wahda, Matmata,
Afourer, Al Massira and Idriss, as well as 1,500 MW of
conventional power plant.

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ALSTOM is the global specialist in energy and transport
infrastructure. The company serves the energy market through
its activities in the fields of power generation, power
transmission and distribution, power conversion and electrical
contracting and the transport market through its activities in
rail and marine.

Following the full integration of the power generation
activities, ALSTOM today has annual sales in excess of 20
billion euros and employs approximately 140,000 people in over
70 countries.

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