Our customers tell us that uncertainty about the legal and regulatory framework around carbon dioxide emissions is holding back needed investments in the Power Sector
– By Linton Levy –
Senior officials from Alstom Power, the world’s largest supplier of electric power generation equipment, today joined a chorus of voices calling on the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that establishes greater certainty for businesses considering investments in technologies that will help limit carbon dioxide emissions.
Alstom Power President Philippe Joubert said, “Our customers tell us that uncertainty about the legal and regulatory framework around carbon dioxide emissions is holding back needed investments in the Power Sector. Investment to replace and retrofit ageing power plants and infrastructure are essential for security of supply as well as to tackle climate change. The U.S. Congress and other national legislatures should act to establish such a legal framework as soon as possible. In the U.S., such legislation can help create skilled jobs, stimulate the economy, and safeguard competitiveness.”
Alstom is a leader in the area of carbon capture and storage (CCS), with multiple technologies being developed in ten demonstration projects in seven countries worldwide. Key U.S. demonstration projects include the AEP Mountaineer power plant in New Haven, West Virginia, and a project with The Dow Chemical Company in Charleston, West Virginia.
Alstom, a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), was one of a number of companies, environmental NGOs, labor groups, faith-based organizations, and others who signed on to a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal today calling for Congress to take action on climate legislation as soon as possible, http://www.climatead.org/.
Alstom already has 6,500 employees in the U.S., and is investing in new facilities including a factory in Chattanooga to create hundreds more skilled jobs. The company provides or is actively developing a portfolio wide set of low-carbon technologies in the power sector, including nuclear, hydro, wind, energy efficiency, and coal with carbon capture. Alstom, a global leader in high-speed rail, also has a significant rail transportation business in the U.S. Company officials stressed that both sectors can contribute to and benefit from greater clarity around how climate change will be addressed.
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation 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, and provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind. The Group employs 81,500 people in 70 countries, and had orders of €24,6 billion in 2008/09.