French power generation and transmission company Alstom has opened a wind manufacturing unit in Canoas in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil.
Being the second manufacturing facility in Latin America, the plant spans over an area of 11,000m² stocking Alstom’s Grid power transformers and shunt reactors unit.
It has annual production capacity to produce 120 steel towers, which will account for electricity supply of nearly 350MW.
Alstom Brazil country president Marcos Costa said the plant is situated in close proximity of its customers, besides providing a window to interact with other countries such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
“We have a long and established history in the wind markets of Latin America, and we continue to invest in the region to meet its growing power needs,” added Costa.
The Canoas plant will supply towers to the Corredor do Senandes complex, which is the first wind project of Odebrecht Energia with installed capacity of 108MW.
Meanwhile, Alstom’s first wind nacelle plant situated in Camaçari, State of Bahiahas the capacity to manufacture 600MW of wind turbines per year.
The company has recently inked an agreement with Renova Energia, which could result in the installation of about 1.2GW in projects, generating over €1bn in orders. A contract for 513MW has already been signed by the two companies as part of the frame agreement.