Alstom Grid boosted by £18m contract
Alstom Grid, based in Stafford, has been awarded a contract worth £18m by the National Grid. The engineering group is set to design, supply and commission two booster units which will control the supply of power on electricity transmission networks.
The Quadrature Booster units will be built at the company’s transformer factory in the town. The contract will create additional work for the 300-strong workforce over the next three years.
The first booster will be designed and manufactured in 2012, with the second scheduled to be manufactured in 2013. Both will be installed at Penwortham Substation near Preston, Lancashire, to allow the National Grid to control the increased power flows generated by wind farms into the network.
Mark Wilson, head of sales and tendering at Alstom Grid’s transformer factory, said: “This latest contract award by National Grid confirms the industry’s confidence in our technical competence of the design and manufacture of transformers. Both boosters will be an enhanced version of our existing proven design which are the largest Quadrature Boosters ever made in the UK.”
Alstom employs about 6,500 people across the UK, more than 5,000 of which are based throughout the Midlands region operating out of its sites in Stafford, Rugby, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Derby.
