Under the patronage of Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (ZonesCorp), Ansaldo Energia, Italy’s leading industrial company for turbine manufacturing, inaugurated its first new gas turbine workshop at ICAD III of the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (ZonesCorp) in Abu Dhabi, bringing its latest innovative industrial technologies for the first time to the Middle East. The official opening of the new facility was attended by Mohammad Hassan Al Qamzi, CEO, ZonesCorp, Mr. Giuseppe Zampini, CEO, Ansaldo Energia, in addition to a number of senior officials from both organizations.
The event commenced with a speech by Al Qamzi in which he welcomed the new company stressing the importance of having such a top, unique industrial establishment in this region. He said that ZonesCorp considers Ansaldo Thomassen a strategic partner who is going to play a leading role in the growth of specialized industry sector through discovering new horizons of business and bringing new industrial innovations and technologies to this part of the world.
“Having a high-profile company like Ansaldo Thomassen in ICAD III reflects ZonesCorp’s relentless determination to bring new types of cutting edge industry to Abu Dhabi which is becoming an important location for heavy and specialized industries,” said Al Qamzi. “The opening of this top gas turbine industrial workshop here proves that Abu Dhabi is becoming a key driver in economic diversification and a perfect destination for all types of industrial investments.”
He pointed out that establishing such an outstanding facility for gas turbines manufacturing would not have been existed without the integrated world-class infrastructure, the flexible licensing and legislations and valuable support and services provided to investors at ZonesCorp.
Established in 1853, Ansaldo Energia developed over the years and became Italy’s leading producer of thermoelectric power plants. Ansaldo Energia is part of Finmeccanica Group, one of the world’s top ten aerospace, defense and security businesses. With the acquisition of Thomassen Turbine Systems B.V. in 2006, Ansaldo Energia acquired the existing repair workshop for gas turbines called Thomassen Sevice Gulf (TSG) located in Abu Dhabi. Due to expansion, Ansaldo Energia decided to have an important investment that will bring to the Middle East innovative technologies, modern equipment and some of the world’s best resources to create a center of excellence for the repair of Gas Turbine Rotating Blades and other gas turbine components. The local workshop then was renamed as Ansaldo Thomassen Gulf (ATG)
“We are pleased with the opening of our new gas turbine industrial workshop in Abu Dhabi with which we established a strong partnership to bring the most advanced industrial technologies and innovations to the area for the first time,” said Mr. Fausto Nepote, Managing Director, Ansaldo Thomassen Gulf. “The perfectly integrated industrial potentials available in ICAD III, and the high-quality support we received from ZonesCorp, have encouraged us to open our new facility here with a main goal to have ATG become the market benchmark for the repair of gas turbine blades of every type of units, creating a point of excellence in the Middle East.”
The workshop, which occupies a land of 3,200 sm, would help customers save time and money, as they had to wait for a long time to have their parts repaired overseas. The new workshop will also offer welding techniques, machining, heat treatment, latest coating facilities and cleaning. ATG, under the directives of ZonesCorp, will manufacture some important gas turbine components locally such as shrouds, seals, nozzles and the machining of turbine blades. “This will enable us to offer gas turbine components manufactured in this facility at competitive prices and custom duty exempted for the GCC customers,” said Mr. Nepote.
