The company, which is a joint venture between French companies alstom and Bouygues, plans to build a hydromechanical equipment plant in Rondonia, Brazil. They are to invest Euro35M (US$55M) and said the facility – to be operational by late 2009 – would support hydro development activities in northern Brazil and the Amazonian region.
Working in collaboration with local firm Bardella, alstom-hydro will help to supply hydromechanical equipment for the Santo Antonio scheme being built in west Brazil, near the border with Bolivia. Alstom is supplying the 19 bulb turbines for the 3,150MW plant.
The new 50:50 JV is called Industria Metalurgica e Mecanica de Amazonia (IMMA), and was established as the firms are part of the concession company – led by contractor Odebrecht.
Last month, the company signed a Euro22M (US$35M) contract with Eskom Generation to upgrade and refurbish four generators at the Gariep plant in South Africa. The Gariep plant was built on the Orange river in Free State province in the 1970s.
Alstom Hydro is to increase the output of each generator by 22% to 122MVA. Refurbishment work on all four units will also include replacement of the stator frames, cores and windings, and the rotor windings.
The schedule for the upgrade and refurbishment project calls for the first unit to be completed in September 2009 and the final unit in early 2011.
Separately last month, Alstom Hydro announced its planned acquisition of Canadian hydropower service provider Sitca. When the deal is close the company is to be fully integrated into Alstom Hydro Canada.
Sitca, which has a staff of 25, provides services to the hydro sector such as maintenance, technical assistance, repair and service of power plants. It also provides services to the cogeneration sector.
