Alstom secures EUR100m supply contract for Albanian hydro project

Alstom, a French power generation company, has secured a supply contract worth around €100m from the Norwegian renewable energy company Statkraft for Albanian hydro projects.

Under the contract, Alstom will supply six Francis turbine-generator units and auxiliaries to Statkraft’s Albanian project subsidiary, Devoll Hydropower (DHP), which will overlook the construction of new hydropower plants on the Devoll River, in southern Albania.

Besides turbine-generator, the contract also includes the supply of two high voltage substations of 220 kV and 110 kV along with hydraulic steelworks such as gates, penstock, stoplogs and trash-racks.

Majority of the equipment would be manufactured in Alstom’s factories in Spain and Turkey, the company said in a statement.

The contract is said to be included in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

Alstom Norway country president Eric Staurset stated that the company is proud to have received the contract for the largest project under the alliance with Statkraft.

"We are looking forward to starting the project with Statkraft and its associated partners," added Staurset.

The 243MW of Devoll hydropower project is the first large scale public-private-partnership investment in the country, besides also being one of the largest hydropower investments in the Balkans.

With an estimated power generation capacity of 700GWh per year, the project will cater to the electricity requirements of more than 300,000 Albanian households.

In addition, the hydro project is expected to increase the current electricity production in the country by about 17%.

The electricity from hydro projects is expected to facilitate 90% of Albania’s power requirement.