Alstom wins $93.5M hydro contract in India

Alstom Projects India said today it won a bid for a Rs 460 crore ($93.5 million USD) hydroelectric project in Andhra Pradesh.

The subsidiary of France's Alstom (Paris: ALO) plans to build six, 40-megawatt units during the next five years for the Andhra Pradesh Power Generation. 

Alstom, based in Levallois-Perret, France, is the world's third-biggest power-plant builder. Earlier this year Alstom signed agreements with TransAlta (NYSE: TAC) for a carbon capture and storage project, and with Drax Group (LON: DRX) for a biomass plant (see TransAlta, Alstom to develop CCS project in Alberta and Drax hires Alstom to build biomass plant).

But Alstom is stepping up its presence in the hydroelectric sector. Alstom plans to increase its spending on research-and-development for hydropower by 20 percent this year to €650 million ($816 million).

Alstom is also looking at the wind sector as a possible direction during the global economic turmoil. Alstom, the world's biggest maker of coal-fired power plants, entered the wind market last year with the €350 million acquisition of Spain's Ecotecnia, which had five turbine factories.

During the next year, Alstom plans to buy some of its parts suppliers and makers of equipment for solar, wind and biomass energy in Asia.

Earlier this week, Alstom formed two joint venture companies with Pune, India-based Bharat Forge to manufacture equipment for power sector. One venture plans to design, engineer and manufacture turbines and generators that range from 600 MW to 800 MW. The other venture plans to produces auxiliary units for power plants.

The manufacturing is planned for coastal sites in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

The ventures expect to produce the first turbo generator before the end of 2012 and the first generator three years later.

Bharat is part of the Kalyani Group and works in the automobile, power, railways, shipping, oil and gas, and aerospace sectors.

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