Alstom, in consortium with Hindustan Construction Company, announced it has been awarded a contract worth around US$412 million by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation to install a 1,000-MW variable speed pumped-storage hydropower plant on the river Bhagirathi in the state of Uttarakhand, India.

It will be India's first pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant to use variable speed technology, Astom said. Alstom's share of the contract is worth around US$260.3 million.

Alstom will supply four 250-MW variable speed turbine-generator units and other equipment, including main inlet valves and control and protection systems. Upon completion, the hydro plant's electricity output will provide much-needed power to the country's northern grid.

In other news, Alstom, in consortium with Portuguese engineering company Ensulmeci, has been awarded a contract by Portuguese utillity Energias de Portugal to supply and install a new turbine that will more than quadruple power output at the Salamonde hydropower project.

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