Alstom GT24 gas turbine and steam turbine retrofit to add 25 years to Mexico’s El Sauz combined cycle power plant and boost its efficiency by 20%

Regulatory News:

Alstom Power (Paris: ALO), a leading provider of power generation equipment and world leader in power plant retrofitting, has won a contract worth approximately €40 million with Spain’s ACS Group to provide power equipment and services for the El Sauz combined cycle power plant in Queretaro, one of Mexico's most industrialized states. Under a separate 7-year long-term service agreement, Alstom will also provide services for the gas turbine and generator.

Mark Coxon, Senior Vice-President of Alstom’s Gas Business, says: "This project marks Alstom’s GT24 gas turbine’s return to the market. ACS has chosen our GT24 gas turbine and steam turbine retrofit solutions, a demonstration of their sustained trust in our technology’s ability to provide cleaner power with increased availability and reliability.”

Launched in 1994, Alstom’s GT24 gas turbine has been continuously upgraded to incorporate the latest advances in gas turbine technology. Its unique sequential combustion engine emits less nitrous oxide (NOx) per megawatt (MW) produced and offers greater operational flexibility.

Gas-fired El Sauz, which consists of three gas turbines and an 80 MW steam turbine, entered operation in 1981 and is owned and operated by Mexico’s state-owned utility, Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE). Alstom will provide a new GT24 gas turbine to replace the existing gas turbines and will retrofit the steam turbine. The project will add at least 25 years to the power plant’s lifetime and boost its efficiency by 20%.

"El Sauz will help ensure much-needed power is delivered to Mexico’s industrial Queretaro state, to help support the region’s growth. This contract is also an important milestone in Alstom strategy to further develop the GT24 engine’s penetration into the 60Hz market,” said Cintia Angulo, Alstom Mexico Country President.

Overall, Alstom equipment provides a total output of over 10,000 MW in Mexico, over 16% of the country’s power generation capacity.

Editor’s note:

* unit years: A power plant’s accumulated unit years are the plant’s number of units multiplied by the years of operation of each.

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 93,500 people in around 100 countries, and had sales of over € 20.9 billion in 2010/11.