Andrade Gutierrez and Alstom announce a joint-venture for wind market in Brazil

Andrade Gutierrez, one of the biggest infrastructure groups in Latin America, with operations in over 45 countries worldwide, and Alstom, global provider of equipment and solution to wind market, announce a joint venture (TEN – Torres Eólicas do Nordeste) to build a factory in Bahia State (Northeast of Brazil) to produce steel towers for wind turbines. The plant will receive investments of around 30 million euros and it will be composed 51% by Andrade Gutierrez and 49% by Alstom, with focus in the increasing of the local generation of energy by renewable sources.

The plant will produce 200 metallic towers per year in a built up area of around 22.000 m² and about 140.000 m² of total area. The prevision of inauguration is second semester of 2014. It will create around 250 direct and 600 indirect job positions that will be mostly composed by the local community.

The factory will be installed in Jacobina, a city with 80.000 habitants and 350 km far from Salvador, capital of the State. The city is close to the main current and potential wind projects in the region. Around 80% of the national wind farms are in the Northeast of the country. “It’s very important to the local customers to have suppliers close to the wind farms. It can reduce the logistical costs, delivery time and guarantee the security in transporting this large kind of equipment. It can bring even more efficiency in the process”, informs Marcos Costa, Country President of Alstom Brazil.

Noticing the importance of wind power for the Brazilian energy portfolio and its potential of growth, Andrade Gutierrez reorganized itself as an integrator for this industry. The company is able of managing the numerous interfaces of the different services required for building a wind farm, and now expands for the manufacturing of towers. In this way, the company intends to increase the quality assurance of the projects, assuring operation schedules and cost reliability.

It will be the third wind unit of Alstom in Latin America. The first one was inaugurated in 2011, in Camaçari, also in Bahia State, for the production of nacelles of wind turbines, and the second one in 2013 in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul State, for the production of towers of wind turbines to be installed in the South of Brazil’s market and Latin American countries as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Alstom, who is also contributing significantly to develop the supply chain of components for towers, nacelles, hub and blades, is positioning itself as a long term player in the region.

Alstom has installed more than 2,600 turbines in over 200 wind farms around the world, supplying more than 5,000 MW of energy. Alstom designs and manufactures 1.67 to 6 megawatts wind onshore and offshore turbines, while providing solutions for all geographic and weather conditions.

About Andrade Gutierrez

Grupo Andrade Gutierrez, with its diverse experience built over 65 years’ experience in Brazil and abroad, is proud to actively participate in the economic and social development of the countries where it operates. It ranks among the largest groups in Brazil and as one of the leading infrastructure conglomerates in Latin America. The group operates in diversified business areas, such as Engineering and Construction, Energy, Concessions, Telecommunications and Health.

Electric Power:

Andrade Gutierrez stands out for its ability to manage large projects and offer complete solutions in the projects it implements. The Group acts as an integrator and entrepreneur for studies on a number of power generation sources, and offers differentiated logistics solutions for transmission and distribution projects in the electric power sector.

Hydroelectric plants:

AG participated in the construction of projects accounting for more than 27,000 MW, about 30% of the installed capacity of hydroelectric plants in Brazil. Among the recent projects of major importance for the Brazilian energy matrix, the contractor participated in the construction of Irapé, Lajeado and Canabrava. Currently, in addition to participating in the consortium for building the Santo Antonio project on the Madeira River, the company leads the construction of the 11,233 MW Belo Monte hydroelectric plant.

Thermoelectric plants:

The company participated in the implementation of several thermoelectric power plant projects, totaling more than 4,000 MW of installed power (Macaé Merchant (RJ), Norte Fluminense (RJ), Fortaleza Thermoelectric (CE) and Tubarão Thermoelectric Plant (ES)). The highlight is in the introduction of thermonuclear power plants, with the company’s participation in the consortium for assembling the Angra II Nuclear Power Plant and carrying out civil works of Angra III Nuclear Power Plant.

Today, more than a large construction company, Andrade Gutierrez is fully prepared for providing integrated solutions throughout the construction supply chain based on expertise, infrastructure, strategic planning, advanced patterns, cutting-edge technology, creativity, and a skilled team, obtaining excellent operating results and ensuring the projects’ economic performance.

About Alstom

Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission 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, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales of over €20 billion and booked €21.5 billion in orders in 2013/14.