Alstom launches latest smart solutions at CIGRE 2012

During this edition, Alstom showcased its latest innovative solutions for the power grid of the future, notably across five product launches.

Alstom develops smart grid systems by interconnecting all equipment and players on the grid, supergrid projects by transporting large amounts of electricity across energy highways, and new-generation digital substations instantly analysing and regulating the electricity passing through the substation.

To support its customers in deploying these technologies, Alstom provides services and support through network consulting, condition monitoring analysis and knowledge management.

“CIGRE 2012 is a great opportunity for us to highlight our smart solutions, as we commit ourselves to a sustainable future and take our next step in building the smart grid of tomorrow,” said Alstom Grid president Grégoire Poux-Guillaume.

“The new solutions we present are at the forefront of today’s challenges in energy and the
environment, making our customers’ grids more reliable, clean and smart. ”

CIGRE 2012 was a key opportunity for Alstom and its customers to discuss the future deployment of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) in transmission grids.

A long established expert in the HVDC field, Alstom is already producing HVDC technologies through Line Commutated Converter (LCC) and Voltage Source Converter (VSC) to connect offshore wind farms to the mainstream grid and to build the super grids of tomorrow, the energy highways for future long-distance transmission.

Alstom has notably built the Ningdong-Shandong 660 kV transmission scheme in China and is currently working on the Rio Madeira project in Brazil, the world’s longest HVDC link.

Most recently Svenska Kraftnät selected Alstom’s Voltage Source Converter technology,
HVDC MaxSineTM, for the South-West link project in Sweden.

Discussions at the CIGRE 2012 centered on the industry’s current challenges -  the reduction of global CO2 emission through increasing integration of renewable energy sources, the need to respond to growing energy demand in all economies, the push to interconnect national electrical grids across long distances to develop international energy exchanges, and finally, the challenge of integrating new digital technologies (Smart Control Room, automated functionalities and seamless telecommunications).

Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail
infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies.

Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The group employs 92,000 people in around 100countries. It had sales of €20 billion and booked close to €22 billion in orders in 2011/12.

Alstom Grid has over 100 years of expertise in electrical grids. Whether for utilities or electro-intensive industries or facilitating the trading of energy, Alstom Grid brings power to its customers’ projects.

Alstom Grid ranks among the top three in electrical transmission sector with an annual sales turnover of more than €4 billion. It has 20,000 employees and over 90 manufacturing and engineering sites worldwide.