European power player Alstom Power

EUROPEAN POWER PLAYER

Alstom Power in Croatia has been continuously investing in new production capacity and technology. The group’s activities in Croatia are related to the thermal sector in order to support the country’s power generation equipment sector.

Alstom has two sites in Croatia: its sales offices are based in Zagreb whilst manufacturing, engineering and R&D all take place in Karlovac. As part of the global Alstom Group it offers gas & steam turbine components, ST blades, GT hot gas components, exhaust housings, exhaust diffusers, turbine and compressor vane carriers, ST inner casings components and GT compressor blades.

Over 190 mechanical engineers work within its Engineering centre on international R&D activities in the field of mechanical equipment (steam & gas design, reconditioning, quality control, field assessments etc.) and electrical equipment. Since 1949, Alstom Croatia has sold 239 steam turbines to clients throughout the world.

Some recent projects for Alstom Croatia have included the upgrade of the HE Dubrovnik hydro power plant, involving the installation of major hydro mechanical equipment. Last year it was also involved in the revitalisation and modernisation of the turbine generator set for the Tuzla thermal power plant.

Continuous growth

Between 2001 and 2003, Alstom Croatia went through a period of successful restructuring. This involved an expansion of its workforce to deal with a rise in demand and it invested €7 million in its production centre at Karlovac. Since then, the company has continued to build on those firm foundations and has seen positive growth despite the global financial situation over the past few years.

A key development in 2007 was the expansion of the business with the acquisition of Croatian company Turboteh, a Karlovac-based manufacturer of spare parts for steam turbines, compressors and pumps. At the same time, the company continued to invest in its own operations, with the modernisation of its factory in Karlovac. The biggest investments in recent years have been in new machines for turning and milling turbine stator components (gas casing, blade carriers etc). And there have

been other investments, aimed at increasing capacity and quality in blade production, involving investment in new equipment and machines to speed up production times.

The service portfolio was also expanded at the same time, so that it now includes component reconditioning. This function – aiming to extend the lifespan of components – includes repair, adjustment and rehabilitation, and has involved substantial investment in new equipment, as well as the company having to rearrange its existing space to allow for a new workshop.

Although the company is expanding its own business, group level projects still make up almost 85 per cent of its business. Synergy with other group companies is high, particularly in the engineering business. Its engineers provide direct support to Alstom’s leading engineering centres in Switzerland and Germany.

Moving forward

For the future, the major customer will continue to be the Alstom Group. But there have been some trends over the past few years that will no doubt see the focus shift a little. The need for modernisation in the energy sector, for example, is growing every day, and the company has seen its sales volumes move slowly but surely in that direction as well. In general terms, the plan is to move into more complex products and projects. It is aiming for a growth of at least 10–15 per cent each year.

At the same time, Alstom Croatia intends to stay in its current business and keep producing compressor blades and vanes for gas turbines; producing and reconditioning hot gas parts; and providing machining, locksmith and welding activities within the region. All its

investments, past and present, have been with that aim in mind. The strategic goal for Alstom Croatia is to become the main and leading service provider for all power plants in its allocated market. To achieve this goal, it relies upon ongoing support from specialised companies within the group, responsible for other products.

Less easy to predict are the long term effects of the current global economic crisis, but the company’s management has not seen any major problems for this particular industry sector. In fact, despite the unstable market situation, its region within the power service sector is still in a phase of growth, with rising sales. n