French Alstom wins contract for the Los Humeros extension in Mexico
Alexander Richter
19 May 2009
Alstom has won a US$ 61 million turnkey contract for Los Humeros II to supply a geothermal power plant including key equipment in Mexico.
As announced by the company, French group “Alstom has won a EUR45 million (US$ 61 million) turnkey contract with Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) to supply a geothermal power plant including key equipment in Mexico.
When completed in October 2011, the Los Humeros II geothermal power plant will supply reliable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly electricity to Mexico’s eastern Puebla state.
“Los Humeros II geothermal project represents the return of Alstom to the geothermal market since 2000 when four units of 25MW were built in Los Azufres, Mexico” said Guy Chardon, Senior Vice President Alstom Power Thermal Products. “Alstom’s Geothermal line builds on the group’s proven solutions such as steam turbines, generators, pumps and control systems to expand its renewable offering to its customers.”
Geothermal steam is located some 2-3 km beneath the earth’s surface and extracted to feed the turbine of a geothermal power plant. The resulting energy is low in greenhouse gases, provides base load energy* and is immune to fluctuations in fuel prices, since it requires no fuel.
Los Humeros II and its associated facilities will have a guaranteed net capacity of 25 MW. Alstom will supply the complete engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), including the geothermal steam turbines, air cooled turbogenerator, turbine control and digital control system, a high voltage electric 115kv substation, a direct contact condenser, hotwell pumps, cooling tower, fire protection system, HVAC***, civil works, project management and leadership, mechanical BoP** engineering and site supervision. The turbine will be produced at Alstom’s local manufacturing facility in the municipality of Morelia, Michoacan state.
Mexico is the fourth largest geothermal energy producer worldwide after the USA, the Philippines and Indonesia. This latest project represents Alstom’s return to the fast-growing geothermal market, which is currently present in 70 countries worldwide. From its Morelia manufacturing site, Alstom is preparing geothermal solutions for countries rich in geothermal fields such as the USA, Mexico, Chile, Indonesia, Iceland, Turkey, Philippines and New Zealand.
In addition to the four 25 MW units to the Los Azufres geothermal power plant in Michoacan state won in 2000, Alstom was also awarded another contract in 1998 to supply two 5.5 MW units to the Las Tres Virgenes geothermal power plant in Baja California Sur.”
Source: Company announcement
