Alstom Power and Energias de Portugal Renovaveis (EDPR) have started up the world’s first wind farm to use the ecotècnia 100 wind turbine, designed and installed by Alstom Power on behalf of EDPR. The site, at Vieux Moulin near Pithiviers in France, is the 12th wind farm to be fitted out by Alstom Power in France, and is due operational in mid-October 2009.

The ecotècnia 100 wind turbines have the characteristics described below.

- Power: Each unit is 140 metres high, the equivalent of a 50 storey building, with a rotor diameter of 100 metres and a blade length of 48.8 metres. The design enables maximum benefit to be derived from the wind, including moderate winds, and can withstand wind speeds of up to 8.5 metres/sec.

- Performance: nominal power of 3 MW, twice the output of previously designed machines.

- Reliability and longevity: Alstom Power teams have worked to produce a unique stress-reducing design, ALSTOM PURE TORQUETM, that protects the gearbox and boosts reliability.

- Ease of maintenance: The unprecedented design of the nacelle gives easier access for the technical staff, thus facilitating equipment maintenance.

The ecotècnia 100 wind turbines deliver enough power to allow a given number of MW to be produced with fewer units, thus reducing the land area required.

The electricity generated by Vieux Moulin wind farm will meet the needs of 12,000 homes and avoid the production of 42,000 tonnes a year of CO2 (source: European Wind Energy Association).

“Alstom’s investment in R&D has enabled the group to develop a wind-power technology that gives our customers better availability of the equipment over the long term. It also enables us to meet the current needs of the European market and, in the future, those of the world market,” says Philippe Cochet, Alstom Wind’s Senior Vice President.

Alstom is continuing its research on this new generation of wind turbines, which includes the development of the ecotècnia 110 model, due to come onto the market in 2010.

Pithiviers lies in France’s Essonne valley, where average recorded wind speeds are 7.5 metres/sec and nearly.20 wind-farm sites lie within a 50 km radius. The country’s Centre region is one of the three largest regions in France in terms of wind-generated electricity production, and its installed capacity is 423 MW, behind only Picardy (555 MW) and Lorraine (481 MW), according to ADEME, France’s Environment and Energy Management Agency.

About Alstom:
Alstom’s wind business designs, assembles and installs a wide range of onshore wind turbines spanning 1.67 MW to 3MW. The company has played a significant role in the development of the Spanish wind energy market, which is ranked second in Europe. Alstom generates about 50% of its wind sales from other European countries. To date, it has installed more than 1600 wind turbines in 88 wind farms, corresponding to a total capacity of approximately 1800 MW (about 2% of the worldwide installed base).

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 81,500 people in 70 countries, and had orders of €24.6 billion in 2008/09.

Press contacts :

Susanne Shields
Tél. : +33 1 41 49 27 22
susanne.shields@power.alstom.com

Presse spécialisée :
Nathan McConnel
Tél. : +41 56 205 4032
nathan.mcconnell@power.alstom.com