Heidenheim. Voith has secured a new major contract for the hydro power project „Alto Maipo“ in Chile. The facility located in the metropolitan area of Chile’s capital Santiago is the largest hydro power project in the history of the South-American country.

The Alto Maipo project with its two run-of-river plants Alfalfal II and Las Lajas will have a total capacity of 532 MW after completion. Under the contract, Voith Hydro will build the powerhouses, realize the complete electromechanical scope, including turbine and generator, the engineering, manufacturing, erection and commissioning as well as the entire project management, with the power generation company AES Gener as the client.

With the Alto Maipo project, Voith strengthens its market position in Chile and secures another important order in South America. Just recently, Voith was awarded the contract for the modernization of the run-of-river power plant Água Vermelha in Brazil by the AES Group.

“Our long-term, international experience in the area of planning, manufacturing and the erection of hydropower plants, our excellent references in recent projects in Latin America and our solid market presence in Chile were key factors for winning this contract,” said Dr. Roland Münch, Member of the Board of Management of Voith GmbH and CEO of Voith Hydro.

Chile has set itself the target to promote energy generation from renewable sources and to cover the growing demand for energy by electricity from regenerative resources. Today about 50 percent of Chile’s energy production already originate from hydropower.

Voith sets standards in the markets energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 40,000 people, generates €5.6 billion in sales, operates in over 50 countries around the world and is today one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe.

The importance of Hydro Power
Hydro power is the largest, oldest and most reliable form of renewable energy generation. Worldwide, it makes an indispensable contribution to stable power supplies and hence to economic and social development - both in industrial countries and in emerging markets. Hydro power also makes a significant contribution to climate-protecting energy production. Voith has been a leading supplier of this technology from the early beginning and continuously develops it further.