Alstom intends to set up a wind tower factory in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Alstom has signed a letter of intent with the Government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the South of Brazil, to set up its first factory dedicated to the production of towers for wind turbines in Latin America. The ceremony was attended by Mauro Knijnik, Secretary of Development and Promotion of Investment of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Marcos Costa, Country President of Alstom Brazil, and Pierre-François Chenevier, General Manager of Alstom Wind business in Latin America.

The plant will be installed in Canoas beside Alstom’s Grid unit, active in the city for 50 years and overseeing the company’s power transmission business in Brazil. The new site will have an installed capacity of 120 towers per year, which represents around 350 MW. The initial investment is 12 million euros. The plant should start operations in the first half of 2013. With 11.000 m² of built-up area, the installation will employ 90 people, 80% of which local; and around 250 additional indirect jobs could be created.

“The factory has already received orders to supply the Brazilian market. For example, the towers necessary to complete the contract for the Corredor do Senandes wind complex, signed with Odebrecht Energia this year, will be manufactured in this new facility. The unit, leveraging its strategic geographic position, will also export to other Latin American countries”, says Marcos Costa, Country President of Alstom Brazil.“The installation of this facility in Canoas offer a great potential of synergies in the wind power generation industry in Rio Grande do Sul,” says Fernando Chein, Generation Director of Odebrecht Energia. “It will certainly make a difference, logistics wise, for the installation of the first wind project of Odebrecht Energia, the Corredor do Senandes complex, located in the city of Rio Grande, with 108 MW of installed capacity”.

The new Canoas factory will be the second manufacturing unit for the wind power generation infrastructure business of Alstom in Latin America. In November 2011, the company opened its first wind turbine plant in Camaçari, State of Bahia, with the capacity to manufacture 600 MW of wind turbines per year.

“The setting up of a second manufacturing unit further enhances Alstom’s commitment to the development of the Brazilian power generation infrastructure”, states Alfonso Faubel, Alstom’s global senior vice-president for Wind.

Alstom has more than 2300 turbines currently installed or under construction across more than 130 wind farms worldwide, representing a total capacity of over 3,200 MW. The company designs, manufactures, installs and operates onshore and offshore wind turbines ranging from 1.67MW to 6MW, providing solutions for the most challenging geographical locations and weather conditions.

Alstom has already won five contracts in the Brazilian wind market, totaling more than 900 million euros, for the supply of wind turbines for Desenvix, Brasventos, Odebrecht Energia, Casa dos Ventos and more recently Queiroz Galvão wind farm complexes.