Terms of the sale were not disclosed. This acquisition reinforces Alstom’s footprint in the US renewable energy sector, in which hydropower occupies a major share.
Philippe Cochet, president of Alstom Hydro, said: “This acquisition strengthens Alstom Hydro’s position as a leader in the North American market; it will help us broaden our product portfolio and expand our US hydro services business by enabling us to offer better and wider services to respond to customers’ expectations concerning control and governing systems.”
The acquisition also adds new locations in two key areas of the US hydropower market, namely the states of Washington and Wisconsin.
Claude Lambert, president and CEO of Alstom Hydro North America, said: “These additions, combined with our existing locations in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec and Denver, Colorado, reinforce Alstom Hydro’s North American footprint so that we may better respond to our customers needs with the most advanced and adaptable solutions.”
The hydro-installed base in North America is around 170GW: 70GW in Canada and 100GW in the US, where the average age of installed units is 41 years and 54 years, respectively. Hydro units have an estimated average operating lifetime of 40 years, after which the units normally need servicing in the form of major repairs, rehabilitation, refurbishment or replacement. However, replacement of control systems might be more frequent, Alstom said.
Much of the installed base in North America has been operating for 40 to 50 years; over time, the service market for installed units will grow, as customers increasingly seek to optimize the efficiency of existing units, according to the company.
