France: Alstom to Build Four New Factories in Cherbourg and Saint-Nazaire

Alstom has confirmed the industrial plan developed for the consortium led by EDF Energies Nouvelles, which 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.

Nacelle and generator manufacturing facilities will be located dockside on a 14-hectare tract of land in the Montoir-de-Bretagne port area of Saint-Nazaire and will employ 300 people. Blades will be made in partnership with LM Wind Power in Cherbourg where the towers will also be made. The two plants will create a further 500 direct jobs. In addition, an engineering and R&D centre employing 200 people and dedicated to marine energies, the first and only set-up of its kind in France, will be established in the Pays de la Loire region.

 “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.

The Haliade 150 pre-series production run has begun in Saint-Nazaire at a temporary facility that will manufacture 40 units before the main factories come onstream. The first Haliade 150 turbine was installed at the Carnet site, near St-Nazaire, and will be used for testing prior to certification. A second offshore turbine will be delivered in Belgium in autumn 2012 for a second round of tests at sea.

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Offshore WIND staff, April 11, 2012; Image: alstom