Alstom has announced plans to invest $6 billion in a new global hydropower technology centre in Brazil.
The technology firm says that the new technology centre will have a focus on Kaplan turbines and will carry out research and development as well as testing. It will be located at Taubaté, where Alstom already has a hydropower equipment production facility.
Alstom is planning to employ only Brazilian professionals at the technology centre after an initial period of collaboration between French and Brazilian specialists. Research activities at the centre will start in early 2012 while the test rig will be operational by mid-2013.
The test rig will test Kaplan turbines for projects located mainly in Brazil and Asia, which together account for around 80 per cent of the worldwide Kaplan market.
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