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139-707: Lynemouth Power Station is a biomass power plant which provides electricity for the UK National Grid . Until March 2012, it was the main source of electricity for the nearby Alcan Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter . It is located on the coast of Northumberland , north east of the town of Ashington in north east England. The station has stood as a landmark on the Northumberland coast since it opened in 1972, and had been privately owned by aluminium company Rio Tinto Alcan throughout its operation until December 2013, when RWE npower took over. In January 2016 it

278-416: A steel frame with aluminium cladding . Other structures include a single 114 m (374 ft) tall chimney of reinforced concrete , and coal delivery and sorting plant. The station's boiler house houses three 380  MWth International Combustion boilers, which were fuelled by pulverised bituminous coal . Each of these provide steam a 140 megawatt (MW) Parsons turbo-alternators , situated in

417-467: A $ 16.9 billion offer, comprising a $ 13.5 billion value plus $ 3.4 billion cash. On 5 May, GE offered to buy one-fourth of the shares in Alstom's Indian power and distribution companies – Alstom T&D India and Alstom India – at 261.25 and 382.20 rupees a share (value US$ 278 million and $ 111 million respectively) subject to its bid for Alstom SA being successful. On 5 May 2014,

556-574: A 2003 deal in Indonesia valued at $ 118 million in particular. On April 13, 2013, Alstom senior executive Frédéric Pierucci was arrested at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York . He was accused of willful blindness of his company's suspected corruption and was imprisoned in a high security facility for 14 months and denied release on bail until the week of Alstom's acquisition by

695-538: A 51% shareholding in Linke-Hofmann-Busch from Salzgitter AG . In 1995, the company acquired the remaining shares in the steam turbine manufacturer MAN Energie . In early 1998, GEC Alsthom acquired the electrical contractor Cegelec , renaming it Alstom Power Conversion . In 1998, GEC Alsthom bought Italian firm SASIB 's rail signalling subsidiary Sasib Railways , which included the former General Railway Signal (USA). In June 1998, GEC Alsthom

834-520: A consortium of Alstom ( Alstom Wind ), EDF , and DONG Energy was awarded three major French offshore wind farm contracts, the company initiated construction of factories at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (turbine blades in association with LM Power , also wind turbine towers) and Saint-Nazaire (Nacelles and generators). Also in 2012, the company formed a joint venture with RusHydro to manufacture hydropower equipment for small and medium power hydropower plants. (up to about 100MW.) Late in 2012, to further

973-455: A curve which moves along a time axis), or as a static value ; this shows average emissions calculated over a defined time period. The time-dependent net emission curve will typically show high emissions at the beginning (if the counting starts when the biomass is harvested.) Alternatively, the starting point can be moved back to the planting event; in this case the curve can potentially move below zero (into carbon negative territory) if there

1112-559: A design flaw inherited from the acquisition of ABB 's turbine business, in addition to losses in other business sectors. In 2014, General Electric (GE) announced that it reached a deal to purchase Alstom's power and grid divisions for US$ 17 billion (€12.4 billion). The deal came under heavy scrutiny from French regulators who saw the business as a strategically important domestic industry. To secure approval, GE agreed to form joint ventures with French companies in power generation and transmission, Alstom's heavy gas turbine business

1251-445: A dramatic increase in waste utilization to 45 EJ annually in 2050. Raw biomass can be upgraded into better and more practical fuel simply by compacting it (e.g. wood pellets), or by different conversions broadly classified as thermal, chemical, and biochemical. Biomass conversion reduces the transport costs as it is cheaper to transport high density commodities. Thermal upgrading produces solid, liquid or gaseous fuels, with heat as

1390-563: A fuel that is more practical to store, transport and use, or to exploit some property of the process itself. Many of these processes are based in large part on similar coal-based processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. A chemical conversion process known as transesterification is used for converting vegetable oils , animal fats , and greases into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), which are used to produce biodiesel. Biochemical processes have developed in nature to break down

1529-469: A fuel. Lynemouth's future came further under threat in March 2011, following carbon cutting measures announced in the 2011 United Kingdom budget . The government's plans meant that the station would cost an extra £40 million a year, erasing Rio Tinto Alcan's profits on the station. This has made the station's operators consider the option of converting the power station to operate on biomass only to avoid

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1668-403: A further 10% stake from shareholder Bouygues and an option to form a rail transport joint venture. On 19 June, GE revised its bid, matching the same price with a lower cash transaction value; it also proposed forming a joint venture of their renewable, electric grid, steam turbine and nuclear power businesses. GE announced a memorandum of understanding between the two firms in the rail sector and

1807-593: A greater product overlap and thus a greater risk to jobs, along with potential issues with EU competition regulators. Siemens' offer was characterised as "defensive", being skeptically received by investors and analysts. On 29 April, Reuters reported that Alstom's board had accepted a €10 billion bid by GE for its energy division; In a letter from GE executive Jeffrey R. Immelt to President François Hollande published in Les Echos , Immelt gave assurances about continued investment in Alstom's French activities,

1946-468: A joint venture of Alstom and Gibela began construction of a new 60,000 square metres (650,000 sq ft) train building factory in Dunnotar , outside of Johannesburg , South Africa . Initial orders for the factory included 580 X'Trapolis Mega passenger trains for Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa under a €4 billion contract that was awarded in 2013. In September 2016, Alstom announced it

2085-524: A long way from the major coal unloading ports of Teesside , Hull and Immingham , which had been booked by power stations closer to them. This meant that coal for the power station needed to be imported via Blyth or the Port of Tyne . However, because of the small sizes of these docks, they can only receive ships from Poland and Russia. Due to high production costs and industry restructuring in Poland though,

2224-477: A no–to–low oxygen environment. The heating process removes (via gasification) the parts of the biomass that has the lowest energy content, while the parts with the highest energy content remain. That is, approximately 30% of the biomass is converted to gas during the torrefaction process, while 70% remains, usually in the form of compacted pellets or briquettes . This solid product is water resistant, easy to grind, non-corrosive, and it contains approximately 85% of

2363-477: A proposal to merge with Siemens Mobility , the rolling stock division of German conglomerate Siemens ; this merger was promoted as the creation of "a new European champion in the rail industry". The combined rail business, which was to have been reportedly named Siemens Alstom and headquartered in Paris, would have $ 18 billion U.S. in revenue and employ 62,300 people in more than 60 countries. During November 2018,

2502-592: A range of fuel substitution efficiencies for different biomass-combustion pathways. Different supply chains emit different amounts of carbon per supplied energy unit, and different combustion facilities convert the chemical energy stored in different fuels to heat or electrical energy with different efficiencies. The researcher has to know about this and choose a realistic efficiency range for the different biomass-combustion paths under consideration. The chosen efficiencies are used to calculate so-called "displacement factors" – single numbers that shows how efficient fossil carbon

2641-489: A rating of 2.5 MW, but only three turbines would be built. The wind farm would produce enough electricity to provide power for 1,690 houses. One turbine is expected to be erected initially, while environmental issues are assessed. ScottishPower Renewables also have permission to build 13 wind turbines near the aluminium smelter. They were initially refused planning permission, which they submitted in November 2006. This

2780-599: A reported cost of €54 million. As a consequence of an alignment agreement between Transmashholding and another entity, LocoTech-Service , Alstom's stake in the former decreased to 20% in August 2018. In 2011, Alstom and the Iraqi government signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the construction of a new high-speed rail line between Baghdad and Basra . In 2012, Alstom opened construction of factories at Sorel-Tracy , Quebec, Canada (passenger rail vehicles). After

2919-469: A specific time period. The specific time period can be the expected lifetime of the infrastructure involved (typical for life cycle assessments; LCA's), policy relevant time horizons inspired by the Paris agreement (for instance remaining time until 2030, 2050 or 2100), time spans based on different global warming potentials (GWP; typically 20 or 100 years), or other time spans. In the EU, a time span of 20 years

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3058-560: A variant of their TGV family specially designed for traversing the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France. Although collectively operated by Eurostar , the type was ordered by three different railway companies: 16 by SNCF , four by NMBS/SNCB , and 18 by British Rail , of which seven were shortened North of London sets. The first Class 373 set was completed at GEC Alstom's Belfort facility during 1992. In 1994, GEC Alsthom acquired

3197-426: A £2.5 million new coastal defence scheme be put in place, involving the use of large rocks as a defence wall. The power station's use of biomass since 2004 has been part of an attempt to reduce its carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) output. In 2002 and 2004 the station met its targets for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Despite this, in 2006 the power station was revealed as having the fourth highest CO 2 emissions in

3336-401: A €700 million deal), refocused on rail transport. Due to the acquisition, GE accrued $ 17.3bn of goodwill, consisting of Alstom's negative book value of $ 7.2bn at the time of acquisition and the $ 10.1bn purchase price. In October 2018, GE wrote-off $ 23bn from the value of its power industry division, largely attributed to the Alstom purchase. In November 2015, Alstom was awarded a contract by

3475-527: Is a perennial crop , while corn and rapeseed are annual crops. Sugar- and starch-producing crops are used to make bioethanol , and oil-producing crops are used to make biodiesel . The United States is the largest producer of bioethanol, while the European Union is the largest producer of biodiesel. The global production of bioethanol and biodiesel provides 2.2 and 1.5 EJ of energy per year, respectively. Biofuel made from food crops harvested for energy

3614-498: Is also known as "first-generation" or "traditional" biofuel and has relatively low emission savings. The IPCC estimates that between 0.32 and 1.4 billion hectares of marginal land are suitable for bioenergy worldwide. Residues and waste are by-products from biological material harvested mainly for non-energy purposes. The most important by-products are wood residues, agricultural residues and municipal/industrial waste: Wood residues are by-products from forestry operations or from

3753-647: Is approximately 2 EJ. However, agricultural residues has a large untapped potential. The energy content in the global production of agricultural residues has been estimated to 78 EJ annually, with the largest share from straw (51 EJ). Others have estimated between 18 and 82 EJ. The use of agricultural residues and waste that is both sustainable and economically feasible is expected to increase to between 37 and 66 EJ in 2030. Municipal waste produced 1.4 EJ and industrial waste 1.1 EJ. Wood waste from cities and industry also produced 1.1 EJ. The sustainable potential for wood waste has been estimated to 2–10 EJ. IEA recommends

3892-443: Is categorized either as biomass harvested directly for energy (primary biomass), or as residues and waste: (secondary biomass). The main biomass types harvested directly for energy is wood , some food crops and all perennial energy crops . One third of the global forest area of 4 billion hectares is used for wood production or other commercial purposes, and forests provide 85% of all biomass used for energy globally. In

4031-426: Is common to include alternative scenarios (also called "reference scenarios" or "counterfactuals") for comparison. The alternative scenarios range from scenarios with only modest changes compared to the existing project, all the way to radically different ones (i.e. forest protection or "no-bioenergy" counterfactuals.) Generally, the difference between scenarios is seen as the actual carbon mitigation potential of

4170-405: Is defined as sustainable, for instance wind, solar, biomass from wood residues and tree thinnings that would otherwise be burnt or decompose relatively fast, and biomass from short rotation coppicing (SRC). The IPCC states: "While individual stands in a forest may be either sources or sinks, the forest carbon balance is determined by the sum of the net balance of all stands." IPCC also state that

4309-403: Is no carbon debt from land use change to pay back, and in addition more and more carbon is absorbed by the planted trees. The emission curve then spikes upward at harvest. The harvested carbon is then being distributed into other carbon pools, and the curve moves in tandem with the amount of carbon that is moved into these new pools (Y axis), and the time it takes for the carbon to move out of

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4448-523: Is now more common to consider biofuel to be a liquid or gaseous fuel used for transportation, as defined by government authorities in the US and EU. From that perspective, biofuel is a subset of biomass. The European Union's Joint Research Centre defines solid biofuel as raw or processed organic matter of biological origin used for energy, such as firewood, wood chips, and wood pellets . Different types of biomass are used for different purposes: Biomass

4587-494: Is substituted by biogenic carbon. If for instance 10 tonnes of carbon are combusted with an efficiency half that of a modern coal plant, only 5 tonnes of coal would actually be counted as displaced (displacement factor 0.5). Generally, fuel burned in inefficient (old or small) combustion facilities gets assigned lower displacement factors than fuel burned in efficient (new or large) facilities, since more fuel has to be burned (and therefore more CO 2 released) in order to produce

4726-426: Is used for bioenergy production. There are variations in how such biomass for energy is defined, e.g. only from plants, or from plants and algae, or from plants and animals. The vast majority of biomass used for bioenergy does come from plants. Bioenergy is a type of renewable energy with potential to assist with climate change mitigation . Some people use the terms biomass and biofuel interchangeably, but it

4865-441: Is used in the station; however, it has to be cleaned of impurities before use. This is done at an on site water treatment plant that uses a process of ion exchange to remove impurities such as silica and control PH levels so as to avoid boiler tube corrosion. This treated water is used to make superheated steam in the coal-fired boilers, that will turn the turbines before being recovered in the condenser and reused. Operating close to

5004-510: Is used when quantifying the net carbon effects of a land use change. Generally in legislation, the static number approach is preferred over the dynamic, time-dependent curve approach. The number is expressed as a so-called "emission factor" (net emission per produced energy unit, for instance kg CO 2 e per GJ), or even simpler as an average greenhouse gas savings percentage for specific bioenergy pathways. The EU's published greenhouse gas savings percentages for specific bioenergy pathways used in

5143-456: The French : Constructions Électriques de France , Tarbes; a manufacturer of electric locomotives as well as electrical and hydraulic equipment. In 1969, Compagnie Générale d'Électricité (CGE) became the majority shareholder of Alsthom. In 1976, Alsthom merged with Chantiers de l'Atlantique , becoming Alsthom Atlantique. Thus, the business expanded into marine. The next year, it constructed

5282-601: The North Sea . The water is transferred from the sea to the plant by a series of shafts and tunnels. There are three condensers (one per each generating set) in the interior of the power station, which are used to cool the heated water before it is reused in the steam cycle . The cooling water is then transferred back to the North Sea. Water used in the steam cycle is taken from the local mains water, supplied by Northumbrian Water . Up to 300,000 tons of mains water per year

5421-758: The Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and Criminal Law Act 1977 . Further charges were brought in late 2014 by the SFO in relation to corrupt practices used to obtain energy contracts in Lithuania. Additional charges relating to contracts for the Budapest Metro in Hungary were added in April 2015. In December 2018, three executives of Alstom were found guilty of conspiracy to corrupt following an investigation by

5560-565: The wood processing industry. Had the residues not been collected and used for bioenergy, they would have decayed (and therefore produced emissions) on the forest floor or in landfills, or been burnt (and produced emissions) at the side of the road in forests or outside wood processing facilities. The by-products from forestry operations are called logging residues or forest residues, and consist of tree tops, branches, stumps, damaged or dying or dead trees, irregular or bent stem sections, thinnings (small trees that are cleared away in order to help

5699-552: The 1,067.2 kilometres (663.1 mi) from Calais to Marseille in 3 hours and 29 minutes. In 1986, Alsthom Belfort received an order from EDF for the largest gas turbine in the world (212 MW). In 1988–89, holding company CGEE Alsthom acquired ACEC Énergie (hydroturbines and electrical equipment for the nuclear industry) and ACEC Automatisme (automation) from the dissolution of Belgian electrical engineering company ACEC . Alsthom acquired 100% of ACEC's transport division, renaming it ACEC Transport . In early 1989, GEC Alsthom

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5838-479: The 1990s, the company expanded its holdings in the rail sector, acquiring German rolling stock manufacturer Linke-Hofmann-Busch and Italian rail signaling specialist Sasib Railways. In 1998, GEC Alsthom was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and, later that year, it was rebranded Alstom. At the time, the company was manufacturing railway rolling stock, power generation equipment and ships. In 2003,

5977-493: The 420 MW that the power station produces, so the excess 110 MW was fed into the national grid. Since the closure of the smelter, all generation goes to the grid. Between 1999 and 2000, the power station was given a turbine upgrade. In 2000, the station's condensers were also refurbished. The condenser refurbishment was carried out by Alstom . These improvements saw an increase in the station's generating capacity, thermal efficiency and MWh production. The power station

6116-678: The Belfort plant's closure in the short to medium term. In June 2017, Alstom opened the largest train modernisation facility in the UK at Halebank on the outskirts of Liverpool . Initial work involved the repainting of the Class 390 Pendolino s. On 12 November 2024, Alstom announced on their official website that the first of 35 fully automated metropolis trains has been delivered to Taiwan . The four-car stainless-steel train can carry up to 700 passengers, including 108 seated, with speeds up to 100 km/h. On 26 September 2017, Alstom announced

6255-544: The EU, forests provide 60% of all biomass used for energy, with wood residues and waste being the largest source. Woody biomass used for energy often consists of trees and bushes harvested for traditional cooking and heating purposes , particularly in developing countries, with 25 EJ per year used globally for these purposes. This practice is highly polluting. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that cooking-related pollution causes 3.8 million annual deaths. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 aims for

6394-636: The European Commission voiced its concerns surrounding the proposed merger of the two companies, particularly that the combined entity would be too dominant in the European market; alleged impacts from such dominance included potential increases in passenger fares and cargo fees. Furthermore, a series of popular protests concerning the financial reforms of both the French territorial railway infrastructure and SNCF occurred. The proposed merger

6533-403: The European and North American forest carbon stock is increasing, it simply takes too long for harvested trees to grow back. Bioenergy from sources with high payback and parity times take a long time to have an impact on climate change mitigation. They therefore suggest that the EU should adjust its sustainability criteria so that only renewable energy with carbon payback times of less than 10 years

6672-419: The French government stated it did not back GE's bid, citing concerns on the future of Alstom's rail division as a smaller separate entity, suggesting that GE transfer its own rail division to Alstom; other concerns were over the civil nuclear field's national independence, and French jobs. On 14 May, France issued a decree ( Décret n° 2014-479 du 14 mai 2014 . ), nicknamed " décret Alstom ", extending to power of

6811-512: The French government's 21% holding in Alstom for €2 billion. Later that year, Bouygues elected to increase its shareholding in the firm to 24%. In 2007, the TGV POS set the world speed record for rail vehicles of 574.8 kilometres per hour (357.2 mph). In March, Alstom acquired Power Systems Manufacturing LLC ( Florida , USA) a manufacturer of gas turbine components from Calpine Corporation for $ 242 million. In June, Alstom acquired

6950-763: The French state agreed terms with Bouygues, buying a 20% stake in Alstom from Bouygues at a 2–5% discount on a minimum value of ≈€35 per share. Initially, the acquisition was expected to be finalised by early 2015. In early 2015, the EU Competition Commission began examining the deal. Both EU and US competition regulators approved the deal by September 2015, subject to the divestiture of Alstom's large and very large gas turbine (GT26 and GT36 models) manufacturing and service business; and its GE7FA gas turbine aftermarket parts subsidiary business, Power Systems Mfg. LLC (PSM), to another company, Ansaldo Energia . The sale of Alstom's energy division to GE

7089-687: The Indian Railways to construct an electric locomotive factory in Madhepura ( Bihar ), receiving an initial order of 800 twin-section 9MW locomotives for use on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor , valued at ₹190 billion (about US$ 2.9 billion). This factory was to be operated under a joint venture with the Ministry of Railways (26%) at a cost of ₹ 13 billion (roughly US$ 200 million). In September 2015, it

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7228-590: The Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and other legal documents are based on life cycle assessments (LCA's). The spatial boundaries define "geographical" borders for carbon emission/absorption calculations. The two most common spatial boundaries for CO 2 absorption and emission in forests are 1.) along the edges of a particular forest stand and 2.) along the edges of a whole forest landscape, which include many forest stands of increasing age (the forest stands are harvested and replanted, one after

7367-566: The SFO into allegations of several Lithuanian politicians and officials being offered bribes in return for securing contracts. In February 2020, the United Nations published a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements . Alstom has been listed on the database in light of its involvement in activities related to "the provision of services and utilities supporting

7506-626: The Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Ecotècnia, renamed as Alstom Ecotècnia (since 2010 Alstom Wind ). The company also adopted a new graphic chart (logo, corporate identity) using "alstom" as its trading name, reserving "Alstom SA" for legal documents. In 2009, Alstom acquired a 25% stake in the Russian locomotive manufacturer Transmashholding . Six years later, Alstom decided to increase its shareholding in Transmashholding to 33% at

7645-741: The US conglomerate General Electric . In late 2014, Alstom was fined $ 772 million by the DOJ, and admitted guilt under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in relation to bribes paid to obtain contracts in various countries. In mid-2014, Alstom Network UK was charged by the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to corruption offences alleged to have been committed when obtaining transportation contracts in India, Poland and Tunisia, covered under sections 1 of

7784-479: The additional CO 2 from biomass "[...] is irrelevant if the biomass is derived from sustainably managed forests." Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional and urban trains along with trams. The company and its name (originally spelled Alsthom)

7923-421: The air as they grow. However, the establishment and cultivation of bioenergy crops can displace natural ecosystems , degrade soils , and consume water resources and synthetic fertilisers. Approximately one-third of all wood used for traditional heating and cooking in tropical areas is harvested unsustainably. Bioenergy feedstocks typically require significant amounts of energy to harvest, dry, and transport;

8062-439: The award. In late 1994, the power station was flooded to a foot deep of sea water, after a freak high tide and strong winds. This led to a sea defence system being constructed to protect the building. The problems came about because of the temporary closure of Ellington Colliery . Tipped waste from the colliery had been used as a coastal defence measure, but as the colliery had closed, waste was no longer being tipped. The colliery

8201-405: The bigger trees grow large), and trees removed to reduce wildfire risk. The extraction level of logging residues differ from region to region, but there is an increasing interest in using this feedstock, since the sustainable potential is large (15 EJ annually). 68% of the total forest biomass in the EU consists of wood stems, and 32% consists of stumps, branches and tops. The by-products from

8340-463: The burning of coal in power stations. Ash is normally dumped in the station's Ash Lagoons landfill site, which is located on site. Since 2006, ash produced at Lynemouth Power Station has been recycled and used as a sub-fill material in the construction industry and in the production of grout . In 2007, 63,000 tonnes of ash from the station, along with 100,000 tonnes of ash from the Ash Lagoons,

8479-441: The calculation, for instance carbon absorption going on in the forest before the initial harvest. Sometimes "late" events are included as well, for instance emissions caused by end-of-life activities for the infrastructure involved, e.g. demolition of factories. Since the emission and absorption of carbon related to a project or scenario changes with time, the net carbon emission can either be presented as time-dependent (for instance

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8618-444: The calculation, if any. Changed market conditions can lead to small or large changes in carbon emissions and absorptions from supply chains and forests, for instance changes in forest area as a response to changes in demand. Macroeconomic events/policy changes can have impacts on forest carbon stock. Like with indirect land use changes, economic changes can be difficult to quantify however, so some researchers prefer to leave them out of

8757-470: The calculation. The chosen system boundaries are very important for the calculated results. Shorter payback/parity times are calculated when fossil carbon intensity, forest growth rate and biomass conversion efficiency increases , or when the initial forest carbon stock and/or harvest level decreases . Shorter payback/parity times are also calculated when the researcher choose landscape level over stand level carbon accounting (if carbon accounting starts at

8896-450: The calculation. Most researchers include emissions from direct land use change, for instance the emissions caused by cutting down a forest in order to start some agricultural project there instead. The inclusion of indirect land use change effects is more controversial, as they are difficult to quantify accurately. Other choices involve defining the likely spatial boundaries of forests in the future. The efficiency-related boundaries define

9035-457: The coal on the conveyor belt into the power station. In 2004 11,000 tonnes of biomass fuel were used in the station. Biomass conversion ambitions have increased, with the site currently aiming to be 100% biomass fired from 2015. The station earned the world class OHSAS 18001 health and safety certificate in 2003, ahead of Alcan's global targets. All of the station's staff were required to take place in safety audits to improve working practice at

9174-484: The company bought out ABB's share in the former joint venture ABB Alstom Power. In 2000, Alstom sold its diesel engine businesses ( Ruston , Paxman , and Mirrlees Blackstone ) to MAN Group . It also acquired a 51% stake in Italian rail manufacturer Fiat Ferroviaria , a world leader in tilting technology. In April 2003, Alstom sold its industrial turbine business to Siemens for €1.1 billion. By 2003, Alstom

9313-401: The company required a €3.2 billion bailout from the French government. As a result, Alstom was compelled to dispose of several of its divisions, including shipbuilding and electrical transmission to Areva , in order to comply with European Union rules on state aid . In 2004, Alstom remained in financial difficulties, having incurred massive unexpected costs (€4 billion) arising from

9452-770: The company signed a letter of agreement to purchase the transportation division of the financially struggling Bombardier Inc. The purchase was finalized in January 2021. Alsthom was founded in 1928 from the merger of French heavy engineering subsidiary of the Thomson-Houston Electric Company – the Compagnie Française Thomson Houston, CFTH – and the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques . In 1932, Alsthom expanded into transportation by acquiring

9591-510: The construction of a new aluminium smelter in Northumberland at Lynemouth . Later that year, Alcan was granted the permission and site preparation would soon begin. However, to meet the electric demand of the new smelter, a power station would also be needed to be a built. Therefore, Lynemouth Power Station was constructed only 800 m (2,600 ft) from the aluminium smelter. The smelter and power station were constructed in southeast Northumberland to lower high unemployment numbers. The site

9730-711: The development of its tidal energy business, Alstom acquired Tidal Generation Ltd from Rolls-Royce , however this was later sold to GE in 2015 as part of the sale of Alstom's energy business. In November 2013, Alstom announced it planned to raise €1 to €2 billion through sale of some non-core assets, plus the possible sale of a stake in Alstom Transport, and cut 1,300 jobs. In 2014, Alstom sold its steam auxiliary components activities (air preheaters and gas-gas heaters for thermal power, other industrial heat transfer equipment, and grinding mills) to Triton Partners for €730 million. In November 2014 Alstom

9869-473: The diesel locomotive manufacturer Meinfesa to Vossloh , and Alstom Power Rentals to APR LLC. Six years later, Alstom re-acquired the electric power transmission division of Areva. In 2005, the former Metro-Cammell rail vehicle works in Washwood Heath closed. In the same year, Alstom sold its Australian subsidiary, Alstom Transport Australia and New Zealand, to United Group , which became part of

10008-494: The displacement factor will start to rise. On the other hand, if or when new baseload energy sources with lower emissions than fossil fuels start to come online, the displacement factor will start to drop. Whether a displacement factor change is included in the calculation or not, depends on whether or not it is expected to take place within the time period covered by the relevant scenario's temporal system boundaries. The economic boundaries define which market effects to include in

10147-455: The dominant conversion driver. The basic alternatives are torrefaction , pyrolysis , and gasification , these are separated principally by how far the chemical reactions involved are allowed to proceed. The advancement of the chemical reactions is mainly controlled by how much oxygen is available, and the conversion temperature. Torrefaction is a mild form of pyrolysis where organic materials are heated to 400–600 °F (200–300 °C) in

10286-483: The drier coal, which means that the amount of CO 2 emitted per unit of produced heat will be higher. Many biomass-only combustion facilities are relatively small and inefficient, compared to the typically much larger coal plants. Further, raw biomass (for instance wood chips) can have higher moisture content than coal (especially if the coal has been dried). When this is the case, more of the wood's inherent energy must be spent solely on evaporating moisture, compared to

10425-421: The drier coal, which means that the amount of CO 2 emitted per unit produced heat will be higher. This moisture problem can be mitigated by modern combustion facilities. Forest biomass on average produces 10-16% more CO 2 than coal. However, focusing on gross emissions misses the point, what counts is the net climate effect from emissions and absorption, taken together. IEA Bioenergy concludes that

10564-400: The end of the conveyor belt. Both buildings were designed by architects Yorke Rosenberg Mardall , with engineering consultation from Engineering & Power Consultants Ltd. The power station was constructed by Tarmac Construction and the smelter by M.J. Gleeson Company. Both the power station and smelter were brought into operation in March 1972. The boiler house and turbine hall have

10703-581: The energy usage for these processes may emit greenhouse gases. In some cases, the impacts of land-use change , cultivation, and processing can result in higher overall carbon emissions for bioenergy compared to using fossil fuels. Regarding the issue of climate consequences for modern bioenergy, IPCC states: "Life-cycle GHG emissions of modern bioenergy alternatives are usually lower than those for fossil fuels ." Consequently, most of IPCC's GHG mitigation pathways include substantial deployment of bioenergy technologies. Some research groups state that even if

10842-513: The first 1300 MW generator set for the Paluel Nuclear Power Plant , setting a world record with an output of 1500 MW. In 1978, Alsthom delivered its first TGV to SNCF . The TGV went on to break world rail speed records in 1981 (at 380 kilometres per hour (240 mph)) and in 1990 (at 515.3 kilometres per hour (320.2 mph)). It also set the world endurance record for high-speed train lines in 2001, travelling

10981-473: The harvest rather than at the planting event.) Conversely, longer payback/parity times are calculated when carbon intensity, growth rate and conversion efficiency decreases , or when the initial carbon stock and/or harvest level increases , or the researcher choose stand level over landscape level carbon accounting. Critics argue that unrealistic system boundary choices are made, or that narrow system boundaries lead to misleading conclusions. Others argue that

11120-547: The latter's UGL Rail division. Alstom would restart its manufacturing operations in Australia by the early 2010s. In 2006, Alstom sold its Marine Division to the Norwegian group Aker Yards , with a commitment to retain 25% of the shares until 2010; it also sold Alstom Power Conversion, which became Converteam , in a leveraged buy-out deal funded by Barclays Private Equity France SAS. In June 2006, Bouygues acquired

11259-404: The line was only used to serve the power station and smelter. Coal from the local opencast mines was brought to the station by road using heavy goods vehicles . Coal was graded and washed at the station prior to being burned. With only one significant opencast in the local area mining past 2008, along with another smaller opencast at Stony Heap, there was a need for more local supplies of coal for

11398-406: The local coastline, and can be seen over a 25-kilometre (16 mi) stretch of coast, from Cresswell down to South Shields pier . Biomass (energy) The climate impact of bioenergy varies considerably depending on where biomass feedstocks come from and how they are grown. For example, burning wood for energy releases carbon dioxide. Those emissions can be significantly offset if

11537-944: The long term, and compare investments in new bioenergy technologies with investments in other renewable energy technologies that only provide emission reductions after 2030, for instance the scaling-up of battery manufacturing or the development of rail infrastructure. Forest carbon emission avoidance strategies give a short-term mitigation benefit, but the long-term benefits from sustainable forestry activities provide ongoing forest product and energy resources. Most of IPCC's GHG mitigation pathways include substantial deployment of bioenergy technologies. Limited or no bioenergy pathways leads to increased climate change or shifting bioenergy's mitigation load to other sectors. In addition, mitigation cost increases. Carbon positive scenarios are likely to be net emitters of CO 2 , carbon negative projects are net absorbers of CO 2 , while carbon neutral projects balance emissions and absorption equally. It

11676-504: The maintenance and existence of settlements" and "the use of natural resources, in particular water and land , for business purposes". On 5 July 2021, Norway 's largest pension fund KLP said it would divest from Alstom together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. On 24 April 2014, unconfirmed reports claimed that US conglomerate General Electric (GE)

11815-554: The marine market. Alstom's share price had dropped by 90% over two years. European competition commission law required Alstom to sell several of its subsidiaries, including its shipbuilding and electrical transmission assets, when it accepted a €3.2 billion rescue plan involving the French state. In 2004, the French state took a 21% stake in Alstom for €772 million and Alstom received an EU-approved bailout worth in total €2.5 billion. The company sold its electrical transmission and distribution ("grid") activities to Areva ,

11954-662: The molecules of which biomass is composed, and many of these can be harnessed. In most cases, microorganisms are used to perform the conversion. The processes are called anaerobic digestion , fermentation , and composting . Fermentation converts biomass into bioethanol, and anaerobic digestion converts biomass into renewable natural gas ( biogas ). Bioethanol is used as a vehicle fuel. Renewable natural gas—also called biogas or biomethane—is produced in anaerobic digesters at sewage treatment plants and at dairy and livestock operations. It also forms in and may be captured from solid waste landfills. Properly treated renewable natural gas has

12093-504: The near complete absence of oxygen. Biomass pyrolysis produces fuels such as bio-oil, charcoal, methane, and hydrogen. Hydrotreating is used to process bio-oil (produced by fast pyrolysis) with hydrogen under elevated temperatures and pressures in the presence of a catalyst to produce renewable diesel, renewable gasoline, and renewable jet fuel. Gasification entails heating organic materials to 1,400–1700 °F (800–900 °C) with injections of controlled amounts of oxygen and/or steam into

12232-426: The north of England, for producing 2,685,512 tonnes of CO 2 per year. However, generally the station reduced its CO 2 emissions by 65% between 1990 and 2010, and the local air quality meets UK and European standards. In 2006 a proposal was made by Hawthorn Power, an offshoot of UK Coal , to construct three 110 m (360 ft) tall wind turbines on an unused part of the station's coal sorting area, north of

12371-446: The only realistic source of imported coal for the station was Russia. The environmental impact of shipping 1,000,000 tonnes of coal from Russia to Lynemouth was the production of 12,812 tonnes of CO 2 , whereas hauling coal from local mines to the station would produce only 703 tonnes of CO 2 . There were currently two local opencast mines for which planning approval had been granted, one at Shotton near Cramlington approved in 2007,

12510-458: The only universally applicable approach to carbon accounting is the one that accounts for both carbon emissions and carbon removals (absorption) for managed lands (e.g. forest landscapes.) When the total is calculated, natural disturbances like fires and insect infestations are subtracted, and what remains is the human influence. IEA Bioenergy state that an exclusive focus on the short-term make it harder to achieve efficient carbon mitigation in

12649-740: The original biomass energy. Basically the mass part has shrunk more than the energy part, and the consequence is that the calorific value of torrefied biomass increases significantly, to the extent that it can compete with coals used for electricity generation (steam/thermal coals). The energy density of the most common steam coals today is 22–26 GJ/t. There are other less common, more experimental or proprietary thermal processes that may offer benefits, such as hydrothermal upgrading (sometimes called "wet" torrefaction.) The hydrothermal upgrade path can be used for both low and high moisture content biomass, e.g. aqueous slurries. Pyrolysis entails heating organic materials to 800–900 °F (400–500 °C) in

12788-546: The other at Potland Burn near Ashington approved in October 2008. However, the coal mined from Potland Burn would have had too high a sulphur content to meet the station's environmental requirements, meaning it would not have been an immediate choice of coal for the station. Coal had been provided by the Delhi surface mine at Blagdon , owned by Banks Developments , since 2002. It finished extracting coal in March 2009, following

12927-438: The other, over as many years as there are stands.) A third option is the so-called increasing stand level carbon accounting method. The researcher has to decide whether to focus on the individual stand, an increasing number of stands, or the whole forest landscape. The IPCC recommends landscape-level carbon accounting. Further, the researcher has to decide whether emissions from direct/indirect land use change should be included in

13066-402: The penalties. However, this conversion itself would cost €400 million and then using biomass instead of coal would cost an additional £170 million a year. Nevertheless, as of 2024 the plant runs fully on wood biomass. Since its construction, the station has made appearances in a small number of films shot locally. These include: The chimney of the power station is a strong landmark on

13205-511: The permission of extension proposals to its original plans in May 2007. For creating the steam to turn steam turbines and generate electricity, and for cooling the steam coming away from the turbines, water is needed, and is thus beneficial to have near any thermal power station . The cooling water that is used in the Lynemouth power station is taken from a body of water located close to the plant,

13344-506: The plant was subject to the emission limit values of the European directive on Large Combustion Plants. As a consequence, the station has to have at least £200 million worth of adaptations made to it so that it conforms to the directive, or be shut down. A date has not yet been given for it to conform, but two options for saving the station are the CCS project, or a switch from coal to biomass as

13483-408: The pools and return to the forest via the atmosphere (X axis). As described above, the carbon payback time is the time it takes for the harvested carbon to be returned to the forest, and the carbon parity time is the time it takes for the carbon stored in two competing scenarios to reach the same level. The static carbon emission value is produced by calculating the average annual net emission for

13622-506: The power station is a fishing bait company, Seabait. Seabait uses some of the excess hot water that the plant generates to grow worms four times as fast as in the wild. The worms are used for several purposes, primarily for providing worms as bait while fishing. However, the worms are also frozen, packaged and exported to seafood farms. This is seen as environmentally beneficial as it reduces the need for bait digging in natural habitats. Fly ash and bottom ash are two byproducts made through

13761-514: The power station using a conveyor belt from its Bewick Drift Mine, situated 970 metres (3,180 ft) from the station. Within a year of the power station opening, 3,000 men were employed between the Ellington and Lynemouth collieries, producing over two million tons of coal a year, the majority of it being sold to the power station. In 1994, Ellington Colliery connected underground with Lynemouth Colliery, but coal continued to be taken straight to

13900-468: The power station's coal sorting area using conveyor belts. This supply was supplemented by coal from local opencast mines . However, Ellington Colliery was forced to close when it flooded in January 2005. The station burned the colliery's remaining coal stock after it closed, and since then coal had been sourced from opencast mines in Northumberland and Scotland , but then a small amount of import

14039-477: The power station. Permission was granted for the turbines in February 2008. In July 2010, it was revealed that the project's new developer, Clipper Windpower , would be using the site to erect the country's first super-efficient wind turbines, called Liberty Wind Turbine . However, this meant the height of the turbines would increase from 110 m (360 ft) to 130 m (430 ft). Each turbine would have

14178-442: The proposed merger with Siemens. On 6 February 2019, the planned merger between the two companies was vetoed by the European Commission. In response to this ruling, Alstom's Chief Executive Officer Henri Poupart-Lafarge stated that he viewed the decision to block the merger was a result of "ideological prejudices". In mid-February 2020, Alstom announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Agreement to buy Bombardier Transportation ,

14317-630: The sale of GE's rail signalling unit to Alstom. On 20 June, Siemens and MHI modified their bid, with MHI increasing its stake in Alstom's steam, hydro, and grid businesses to 40% in all three (total €3.9 billion) while Siemens increased its offer by €400 million to €4.3 billion. Subsequently, Economy minister Arnaud Montebourg stated he would block both bids, but the French government backed GE's offer and had given GE more specifications on commitments and guarantees; it also intended to buy two-thirds of Bouygues' shareholding (20%). The next day, Alstom's board backed GE's revised bid. On 22 June,

14456-463: The same amount of energy. The displacement factor varies with the carbon intensity of both the biomass fuel and the displaced fossil fuel. If or when bioenergy can achieve negative emissions (e.g. from afforestation, energy grass plantations and/or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage ( BECCS ), or if fossil fuel energy sources with higher emissions in the supply chain start to come online (e.g. because of fracking, or increased use of shale gas),

14595-409: The same uses as fossil fuel natural gas. The climate impact of bioenergy varies considerably depending on where biomass feedstocks come from and how they are grown. For example, burning wood for energy releases carbon dioxide; those emissions can be significantly offset if the trees that were harvested are replaced by new trees in a well-managed forest, as the new trees will absorb carbon dioxide from

14734-600: The scenarios. In addition to the choice of alternative scenario, other choices has to be made as well. The so-called "system boundaries" determine which carbon emissions/absorptions that will be included in the actual calculation, and which that will be excluded. System boundaries include temporal, spatial, efficiency-related and economic boundaries. For example, the actual carbon intensity of bioenergy varies with biomass production techniques and transportation lengths. The temporal boundaries define when to start and end carbon counting. Sometimes "early" events are included in

14873-421: The security of the civil nuclear sector, and on job commitments made by Alstom Wind , whilst making its wind activities available to investors. On 30 April, Alstom confirmed that an offer for its power and grid divisions (representing an equity value of €12.35 billion, €11.4 billion enterprise value ) was under review with key interests including the French state. On 30 April, GE confirmed it had made

15012-771: The state to veto the takeover of "strategic interests" into areas of energy supply, water, transport, telecoms and public health. Both the French employer organisation MEDEF and the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services ( Michel Barnier ) responded negatively to the decree. On 16 June, Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) submitted a competing offer for Siemens to acquire Alstom's gas turbine activities for €3.9 billion while MHI would form joint ventures with Alstom, acquiring 40%, 20% and 20% stakes in Alstom's steam and nuclear, electrical grid, and hydroelectric businesses respectively, for €3.1 billion. The proposal included an offer to buy

15151-409: The station because of the risks in depending upon overseas sources of coal. Long distance supplies of coal could see sharp fluctuations in price, as well as the flexibility and security of the supply, whereas local sources would not be as vulnerable to interruptions and would have fixed, contracted prices. The station was not an established importer of coal, having only imported since 2005. It is situated

15290-462: The station has failed to "significantly reduce its emissions". The UK Government contested the allegations, as the power station and smelter combined then provided 650 jobs and a contribution of £100,000,000 to the local economy, in an area heavily affected by the loss of traditional heavy industry. They lost the court case over it and on 22 April 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled that

15429-491: The station in the future, using "pre-combustion" CCS technology. This would have involved treating the coal prior to burning so that less CO 2 was produced, with any remaining CO 2 being pumped under the North Sea into an aquifer . However, due to the economic climate, Rio Tinto did not commit the funding for the project themselves, and did not secure any of the required £1 billion European Union funding available for demonstration of CCS technology. In November 2009 it

15568-501: The station was purchased by Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH). The station converted to biomass in 2018, ending its use of coal. Two separate wind farm plants currently have permission to be built near the station, one for a 13 turbine wind farm near the smelter and another three turbine wind farm to the north of the station. In 2009, Alcan announced that they hope to fit the station with carbon capture and storage technology. In 1968, Alcan had applied for planning permission for

15707-503: The station's turbine hall. These give the station a total generating capacity of 420 MW. The electricity generated was fed at 24 kilovolts (kV) to a substation to power the smelter during operation. The substation also has a 132 kV connection to the National Grid , where electricity is distributed to homes and other industries by Northern Electric Distribution Limited . The smelter's two pot lines required 310 MW of

15846-670: The station. The certificate was presented to the station's manager by Wansbeck MP Denis Murphy on 15 March 2003. The station's attention to health and safety was further recognised on 6 June 2007 when they were honoured by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) with a RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Award at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. Workers at the station had been audited by RoSPA for 10 years before receiving

15985-473: The sustainability debate should be made explicit by researchers, rather than hidden away. GHG emissions per produced energy unit at the point of combustion depend on moisture content in the fuel, chemical differences between fuels and conversion efficiencies. For example, raw biomass can have higher moisture content compared to some common coal types. When this is the case, more of the wood's inherent energy must be spent solely on evaporating moisture, compared to

16124-527: The traditional use of biomass for cooking to be phased out by 2030. Short-rotation coppices and short-rotation forests are also harvested directly for energy, providing 4 EJ of energy, and are considered sustainable. The potential for these crops and perennial energy crops to provide at least 25 EJ annually by 2050 is estimated. Food crops harvested for energy include sugar-producing crops (such as sugarcane ), starch -producing crops (such as maize ), and oil-producing crops (such as rapeseed ). Sugarcane

16263-452: The trees that were harvested are replaced by new trees in a well-managed forest, as the new trees will remove carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. However, the farming of biomass feedstocks can reduce biodiversity , degrade soils and take land out of food production. It may also consume water for irrigation and fertilisers . Biomass (in the context of energy generation) is matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms which

16402-592: The vessel to produce a carbon monoxide and hydrogen rich gas called synthesis gas or syngas. Syngas can be used as a fuel for diesel engines, for heating, and for generating electricity in gas turbines. It can also be treated to separate the hydrogen from the gas, and the hydrogen can be burned or used in fuel cells. The syngas can be further processed to produce liquid fuels using the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process. A range of chemical processes may be used to convert biomass into other forms, such as to produce

16541-559: The wide range of results shows that there is too much leeway available and that the calculations therefore are useless for policy development. EU's Join Research Center agrees that different methodologies produce different results, but also argue that this is to be expected, since different researchers consciously or unconsciously choose different alternative scenarios/methodologies as a result of their ethical ideals regarding man's optimal relationship with nature. The ethical core of

16680-473: The wood processing industry are called wood processing residues and consist of cut offs, shavings, sawdust, bark, and black liquor. Wood processing residues have a total energy content of 5.5 EJ annually. Wood pellets are mainly made from wood processing residues, and have a total energy content of 0.7 EJ. Wood chips are made from a combination of feedstocks, and have a total energy content of 0.8 EJ. The energy content in agricultural residues used for energy

16819-524: Was acquired by the Czech company Energetický a průmyslový holding . The station was one of the most recently built coal-fired power stations in the United Kingdom, but with a generating capacity of only 420  megawatts (MW), was one of the smallest. In 2011, it was announced that the power station may be converted to burn biomass only, in a bid to avoid government legislation. In January 2016

16958-578: Was announced that Amtrak would award Alstom a contract for $ 2.5 billion for the next generation high-speed train sets for the Northeast Corridor . This would result in the creation of 750 jobs across upstate New York with 400 direct manufacturing jobs at Alstom. The order for 28 Avelia Liberty trainsets was officially confirmed in August 2016 by Amtrak. These trainsets are manufactured at Alstom's plant in Hornell, New York . In March 2016,

17097-490: Was announced that a variety of energy experts were preparing for the £1 billion bid to the Government for investment. The plans included a pipeline into the North Sea, and the upgrading of one of the station's generating sets from 140 MW to around 375 MW, to safeguard the supply of electricity to the aluminium smelter. The European Commission (EC) claimed that Alcan is in breach of their operating licence as

17236-609: Was awarded a $ 429.4 million contract to modernise 85 trains for the Mexico City Metro system. Starting in 2009, Alstom's practices were questioned by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), which violated the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act . This American law has extraterritorial scope. At the time, Alstom seemed to cooperate with the proceedings. In 2010, the DOJ opened an investigation into Alstom's commercial practices, focusing on

17375-524: Was because their site is spread over two council boundaries and Wansbeck Council approved the scheme, but Castle Morpeth refused. An appeal hearing was given in April 2008, and permission was eventually granted in January 2009 for the construction of up to 13 turbines, producing 30 MW of electricity. Following a visit to the station by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 3 July 2009, it became apparent that Rio Tinto Alcan were hoping to be able to demonstrate Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology at

17514-460: Was chosen because of the nearby Ellington and Lynemouth collieries . Ellington Colliery was sunk in 1909 and Lynemouth Colliery in 1927. In 1968 the two collieries were connected underground by the Bewick Drift, from which coal was brought to the surface. The Drift had no rail connection, and so coal was sent to the washery at Lynemouth by conveyor belt . The power station was constructed at

17653-401: Was facing a financial crisis caused by a mix of poor sales and over $ 5 billion of debt liabilities. It reportedly had the potential to force the company's liquidation. These heavy debts were largely due to a $ 4 billion charge over a design flaw in a turbine developed by ABB , acquired by Alstom in 2000, as well as the collapse of customer Renaissance Cruises amid a general downturn in

17792-508: Was finalised on 2 November 2015; the final valuation being €12.4 billion, of which €9.7 billion was transferred to Alstom, the remainder being reinvested in GE/Alstom joint ventures plus other corrections. The acquired businesses were reorganised within GE's existing power generation business ( GE Power & Water ) as GE Power . The remainder of Alstom Group, including GE Signalling (acquired via

17931-604: Was formed by a merger between the electric engineering division of Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (Als) and Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston (thom) in 1928. Significant acquisitions later included the Constructions Électriques de France (1932), shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique (1976), and parts of ACEC (late-1980s). A merger with parts of the British General Electric Company formed GEC Alsthom in 1989. Throughout

18070-553: Was formed from a 50–50 merger of Alsthom and the Power Systems Division of the British General Electric Company ; for Alsthom this move was intended to aid Alsthom in selling its products outside the French market. In May of that year GEC Alsthom bought British rail vehicle manufacturer Metro-Cammell . During the early-1990s, GEC Alsthom was the principal manufacturer of the British Rail Class 373 ,

18209-481: Was in acquisition talks with Alstom for $ 13 billion with the support of 29%-shareholder Bouygues, causing Alstom's share price to rise 18% in one day. On 27 April, Le Figaro reported that a rival 'cash plus asset swap' offer was issued by Siemens , trading Alstom's power business for part of its rail arm, plus a cash offer as good as GE's and job guarantees. Siemens' bid was reportedly promoted by French economic minister Arnaud Montebourg . Siemens and Alstom had

18348-486: Was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange ; both GEC and Alcatel elected to sell off part of their stakes (23.6% each). Around this time, the company was officially renamed Alstom . In 1999, Alstom bought half of ABB 's power systems division, forming a 50-50 joint company known as ABB Alstom Power. Alstom also bought Canada's Télécité, a passenger information and security solutions company, and sold its heavy-duty gas turbine business to General Electric . The next year,

18487-548: Was necessary. Coal was then delivered to the station mainly using rail transport and was unloaded at the station using a merry-go-round system. Trains supplying the station used the Newbiggin and Lynemouth branch line of the Blyth and Tyne Railway , which also served the smelter. This line was originally used to export coal from the local coalfield, and also had passenger services. These passenger services ceased in 1964, and then

18626-465: Was reopened by RJB Mining, and in July 1999 the station ensured the future of the colliery by signing a contract with RJB Mining to be provided with 3,000,000 tonnes of coal from Ellington Colliery and opencast mines in Northumberland, over the course of three years. The colliery closed for good in 2005, leading to problems with coastal defence again, threatening the station's coal stocking area. This required

18765-490: Was sold to Ansaldo Energia , and GE agreed to sell Alstom's rail signalling business. The deal was finalised in November 2015; since then, Alstom has been operating solely in the rail sector. In an attempt to grow its rail business, in late-2017, Alstom announced a proposed merger with Siemens Mobility . However, in February 2019, the European Commission prohibited the merger. Subsequently, in February 2020,

18904-576: Was taken and recycled. In September 2007, Pulverised Fuel Ash was utilised as a filling material in the capping of Woodhorn Landfill, which had been used for the disposal of spent potlining from the smelter. In December 2003 the Environment Agency granted permission for the plant to co-fire biomass fuels in the station. Since 2004 three different types of biomass fuel been in use at Lynemouth; Sawdust and Wood pellets from FSC certified forests and Olive residues. These fuels are mixed with

19043-439: Was the leading coal customer in Northumberland, burning 1,200,000 tonnes of coal a year, with a weekly coal consumption between 25,000 and 27,000 tonnes. The station had relatively limited coal storage facilities, and was only able to hold three to four weeks' worth of its fuel. The station was designed specifically to burn coal from the Northumberland coalfields. The neighbouring Ellington Colliery originally fed coal directly to

19182-530: Was to cease locomotive manufacturing at its Belfort (France) site by 2018 due to low orders; remaining production activity was to be transferred to its facility of Alstom DDF in Reichshoffen , Alsace . However, during October 2016, the French state placed an order of about €650 million for 15 TGV Euroduplex trains; an order for 20 locomotives; plus an order for 30 intercity trains to be built at Reichshoffen. Together, these orders were sufficient to prevent

19321-464: Was viewed by some as a measure to counter the rise of rival Chinese rail business CRRC ; it reportedly received support from many figures within both the French and German governments. The transaction, which was originally due to close by the end of 2018, was met with opposition by French trade union officials who voiced their concerns that such a merger would have the potential for job losses. On 17 July 2018, Alstom shareholders overwhelmingly approved

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