The €50 million contract is with Jiangxi Province Xiajiang Water Control Project Headquarters. The hydropower project is expected to be operational in summer 2013.
“This latest contract is a sign of the healthy growth of the Chinese hydroelectricity market,” says Anders Maltesen, General Manager of Alstom Hydro China.
The hydropower equipment for the contract will be manufactured and supplied by Alstom Hydro China Co Ltd (AHC), Alstom’s new manufacturing site in Tianjin.
Hydropower equipment plant
The €110m site will gradually replace Alstom’s original factory in China, Tianjin Alstom Hydro (TAH).
Alstom says the new hydropower manufacturing plant is carbon-neutral with energy efficient design, geothermal heating and cooling system, rainwater recycling and solar photovoltaic (PV) panels providing heating, cooling, lighting and ventilation.
The facility will have a total area of around 250,000 m2, with a 20% higher production capacity than the old plant. The hydropower manufacturing plant will be capable of delivering up to 30 hydropower turbine and generator units per year with outputs of 20 MW to 1 GW.
“AHC places us in a great position to respond to demand and execute our order backlog in the Asian region, as well as having an eco-friendly design,” says Philippe Joubert, President of Alstom Power and Executive Vice President of Alstom.
“Its new location in the TAEZ industrial zone near Tianjin Airport provides us a lot of room for potential further expansion.”
The facility will also house a Global Technology Centre for R&D activities and hydropower test turbines.
Chinese hydropower market
Hydropower accounts for 22% of China’s electricity generation capacity and is expanding by 15 GW per year. Over 100 hydropower projects are currently being planned to be completed by 2020. These will add an extra 20 GW to the grid and will account for 28% of installed capacity.