Alstom Enters into a Strategic Agreement with NIRE

DALLAS, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Alstom, a global leader in power generation, today announced that Alstom Wind has entered into a long-term collaborative R&D agreement with the National Institute for Renewable Energy (NIRE).  

Alstom Wind and NIRE's collaborative efforts will initially focus on grid integration research & development. The program is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2010 and will also include the North American certification of Alstom's ECO 86, 1.67 MW wind turbine by the middle of 2011.

To build on a foundation of over forty-years of experience in wind related research, Texas Tech University co-founded NIRE with The Innovate Texas Foundation as an independent public-private collaboration to investigate and resolve key scientific and technology issues facing the U.S. wind power industry.  Texas Tech has also created and will manage the National Wind Resource Center (NWRC) in partnership with some of the nation's leading institutions in wind power research and workforce development initiatives.  NWRC will provide some of the research and technology development solutions to be utilized by NIRE.

"We are pleased to welcome Alstom to Texas and applaud Alstom and all the state, county, and local officials that made this announcement possible," said Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance.  "Texas is the national leader in electrical generating capacity from wind and continues to be focused on innovation to further improve the cost and efficiency of wind powered generation."

NIRE has partnered with The Wind Alliance to form a unique industry consortium to provide the wind industry with R&D services, technology solutions, and communications support.  Alstom has joined the consortium as a founding member and will engage in a significant funded research initiative in coordination with Texas Tech University based on an R&D roadmap outlined between the parties.  

"We are pleased to partner with Alstom and value the leadership they bring to West Texas and our great state as a leader in global technology and energy innovation," said David L. Miller, Chairman of the National Institute for Renewable Energy.  "We look forward to a significant and long-term relationship which will create jobs, enhance technology development and prepare our workforce for this rapidly growing business sector."

Alfonso Faubel, Alstom Wind Vice President from their Global Wind headquarters located in Barcelona, Spain, said, "We are excited about the development of NIRE and appreciate the leadership of Texas Tech University in research and work force development within the wind power sector. We view our collaboration with NIRE and Texas Tech as another key step in our commitment to work with R&D leaders in the wind industry as we take the next step in serving the North American energy market."

Andy Geissbuehler, Vice President and General Manager of Alstom Wind North America, said, "Coupled with the construction of our new nacelle assembly facility in Amarillo and a similar R&D agreement with NREL, this strategic partnership with NIRE will position us to deliver our proven technology solutions to the North American market."  Geissbuehler heads Alstom's North American wind power business, which is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

About Alstom

Alstom (www.alstom.com) is a global leader in the world of power generation 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, and provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions, equipment and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind. The Group employs 76,500 people in 70 countries and had sales of nearly euro 20 billion in 2009/10.  

About Alstom Wind

Alstom Wind designs, assembles and installs a wide range of onshore wind turbines spanning 1.67 MW to 3 MW. The company is responsible for a significant share of the development of the Spanish wind power market, which is ranked second largest in Europe. Alstom Wind currently generates about 50% of its sales from other European countries. To date, the company has installed or is installing over 1850 wind turbines in more than 100 wind farms, corresponding to a total capacity of over 2200 MW

About NIRE

The National Institute for Renewable Energy (NIRE, www.thenire.org) is a public-private partnership committed to resolving the key scientific issues facing the wind power industry and to:  build and operate research wind farms; develop other renewable energy research facilities; operate an industry-wide renewable energy consortium and provide commercial and technology development services to industry partners.  

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SOURCE Alstom