The inauguration ceremony was held on 5 May, and was attended by the Honourable Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Minister for Power, Philippe Joubert, alstom Power President, Sunand Sharma, Alstom Country President in India, and other dignitaries.
The factory will manufacture bearings for medium to large size hydro power projects, including large turbine and generator thrust bearings, guide bearings and shaft seals to cater to the hydro power sector both in India and abroad. Alstom’s bearing technologies are developed as an integrated part of the hydro generator system.
With an area of over 6150m2, the site will employ around 200 people, it will reach a full production capacity of 40 sets of bearings and shaft seals per year by 2012 – 2013. The factory respects internationally recognized standards for environmentally sustainable design. Its energy-efficient characteristics include heat-insulated panels, a fume extraction system, underwater plasma cutting machines to reduce noise pollution, a rainwater recycling system, a liquefied petroleum gas heated furnace to ensure zero pollution, skylights and turbo ventilators to take full advantage of the natural light and air, and demand controlled VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) air conditioning systems to increase indoor air quality.
“This is another major milestone in the history of Alstom in India,” commented Philippe Joubert. “While India continues to develop as one of the most dynamic economies of the world, Alstom is committed to providing the best technologies and equipment to its partners and customers. With this new plant in Vadodara, we will further strengthen our position as one of the largest and most comprehensive companies in equipment and services for power generation, especially in the hydro sector.”
The Vadodara site is also home to one of Alstom’s biggest hydropower manufacturing sites as well as Alstom’s Global Technology Centre (GTC) for the testing of Pelton turbines, commonly used in the Indian hydro market. The hydro factory recently dispatched the biggest Kaplan Runner for Uganda and delivered the major equipment for India’s largest dam – the 2000MW Subansiri Hydro Power Project located in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
