Original news was publsihed on 26 August, 2014

Alstom and Brazilian engineering and construction company Andrade Gutierrez have formed a joint venture to make steel towers for wind turbines.

The pair will build the new plant in Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia, in Jacobina, a city 350 kilometers from Salvador, the French power equipment manufacturer said in a statement. Each company will contribute about half of the capital needed for the project, which is expected to cost US$106 million. Andrade Gutierrez will be the majority shareholder with 51 percent of the new venture.

Production at the new plant will begin this year with the capacity to manufacture 200 towers each full year.

This is Alstom’s second plant in Bahia ‒ the first facility makes nacelles for wind turbines ‒ and its third in Brazil. Alstom operates another wind tower factory in Rio Grande do Sul. Around 80 percent of the national wind farms are in the northeast region of the country.

Brazil has adopted strict terms for developers who want to build wind farms. To qualify for reasonable financing through the Brazil’s Development Bank (BNDES), 60 percent of the components for wind turbines must be manufactured within the country.

*NEWS SOURCE