Alstom builds four new factories for wind turbine production

Alstom confirms four new factories to be built in Cherbourg and Saint-Nazaire to produce Haliade 150 turbines for a consortium led by EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDF EN). The consortium has won 3 projects in the tender launched by the French government to install offshore wind turbines generating 3 GW of wind power off the coast of France.

With its Haliade 150, Alstom is the exclusive supplier to the consortium led by EDF EN, which includes Danish energy specialist Dong Energy, world leader in offshore wind farms, along with the developers Nass & Wind and WPD Offshore. The successful bid includes three projects submitted for the Saint-Nazaire, Courseulles-sur-Mer and Fécamp sites, which include a total of approximately 240 turbines.

Orders will run on a site-by-site basis starting in 2014, following completion of feasibility and impact studies for each project. For Alstom, this project represents a total order amount of over 2 billion, which will be booked over a period of several years.Alstom will create 1,000 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect jobs by setting up four factories and investing 100 million in France's offshore wind industry. The industrial plan represents the first stage in a campaign to create a national industry that sets the standard in offshore wind power.

This investment will help meet the needs of the French market and the booming European market.Plan implementation will begin in 2013 with the start of recruitment and installation of the first factories in Saint-Nazaire and Cherbourg. Production is due to start in 2014. Alstom has already contacted several hundred local firms to identify and organise subcontracting operations, bringing the total number of permanent jobs resulting from the project to 5,000. 

"Alstom can confirm its industrial plan following the announcement of the results of the call for tenders. This represents the first step towards creating a French industry able to set the standard in offshore wind power and bolsters Alstom's growth strategy in wind technology," said Alstom Chairman and CEO, Patrick Kron.