November 2, 2012 – Alstom says it has strengthened its position in the North American electrical market by completing a $6-million expansion of its power transformer manufacturing facility in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. The company’s investment in increasing capacity at the 45,000-sf facility means customers will see their orders delivered faster, says the company, “with an emphasis on high-quality and more efficient on-site production”.

“This investment ensures Alstom has the capacity to engage the growing market in Canada and the U.S., giving access to our global know-how while benefitting from local manufacturing. Our factory in Saint- Jean-sur-Richelieu is a modern unit with a skilled workforce and state-of-the-art manufacturing capacities to fully satisfy our current and future customers,” said Lars Martinsson, VP Power Transformers, Alstom Grid.

Alstom acquired the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu site from Megatran Electric Ltd. in 2009 to provide local manufacturing capability for North American customers. The plant extension includes a new high-voltage laboratory, as well as a vapour phase oven, a thermovacuum oven, horizontal winding machines and other production and testing equipment. The site’s new production layout, along with these capital investments, allows Alstom to produce transformers up to 166 MVA and 330 kV. This increased capacity also has created jobs for an additional 40 workers, says the company, in areas such as engineering, quality, testing, and contract management, bringing the St-Jean-sur-Richelieu site’s total staff size to about 105.