Alstom wins 90 million power plant control system order in South Africa

Alstom, a leader in integrated energy management solutions for power plants, has won a contract worth 90 million for the automation of Eskoms latest thermal power plant project, Kusile. Alstom Power will engineer, supply and install its latest ALSPA® Series 6 Distributed Control System (DCS).

The contract, signed on 5 February 2010, follows a similar order in November 2009 for Kusiles sister plant, Medupi and forms part of Eskoms multi-billion rand expansion programme to double South Africas electricity capacity in the coming decades. This programme covers the building of new capacity (like Kusile and Medupi) and optimising existing fleets (such as retrofitting nuclear and coal plants such as Koeberg and Arnot). Alstoms flexible control system will help Eskom maximise its fleets efficiency and stabilize the system by enabling real-time information exchange between baseload and renewable power plants.

Eskom is rising to the challenge of meeting South Africas growing power needs as the country continues to industrialise while simultaneously meeting the energy security challenges of the 21st century. Our integrated power control solutions will allow them to manage their assets more efficiently and with added flexibility, said Laurent Demortier, Senior Vice President of Alstom Powers Energy Management Business.

The ALSPA® Series 6 DCS is designed to ensure consistent and safe control for all parts of a power plant. The system includes the critical controls for turbines, generators and balance of plant (BoP) components. It also provides an advanced control and optimization application module.

Alstom has had a presence in South Africa for 100 years and its turbines generate 80% of the countrys installed capacity. Most recently, the companies have collaborated on an integrated retrofit project to increase the capacity of the Arnot power plant by more than 300 MW, and a retrofit of the Koeberg nuclear facility to increase the power output by over 65 MW, improve the availability and reliability of power supply and also extend the lifetime of the plant.

About Alstom
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, and provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind. The Group employs 80,000 people in 70 countries, and had orders of 24,6 billion in 2008/09.

Press Contacts
Alicia Montoya (Alstom Power) Tel +41 56 556 33 20, alicia.montoya@power.alstom.com

Websites: www.alstom.com, www.power.alstom.com