OREANDA-NEWS. October 15, 2015. Alstom has been presented the “Lombardy R&D International Center award” by Invest in Lombardy[1]. The award recognises Alstom’s investment in the new Grid site in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan in Italy. Held annually, the Invest in Lombardy Awards, acknowledges significant foreign direct investment in the region.

The Sesto San Giovanni site is Alstom Grid’s worldwide competence centre for the research, development, production and testing of bushings for both direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) applications. Green, sustainable, efficient, and innovative, this new plant includes one of the largest test laboratories in Europe and is Alstom’s worldwide technical competence centre for bushings. This state-of-the-art facility is also certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)[2].

Alstom has invested over €30 million in the project, including the development and industrialisation of innovative bushing technologies such as wall-bushing for Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) and Resin Impregnated Paper[3] (RIP).

Luciano Femminis, Alstom Grid site Managing Director commented: “This award commends Alstom’s choice of developing local know-how and competences in power transmission, particularly in HVDC projects. It also recognises the strong industrial relevance of this investment today”.

Bushings designed and produced in Sesto San Giovanni are used to equip power transformers, generators and electrical grid all over the world. The unit is now cooperating in several HVDC projects for the development of the European Grid, more recently, the new Italy-Montenegro and France-Italy HVDC interconnections.

Alstom Grid currently employs 400 people in Italy, spread across three plants, including Noventa di Piave (Venezia district) plant and a Protection and Automation unit in Sesto San Giovanni.


[1] Invest in Lombardy is promoted by Unioncamere Lombardia, the Lombardy Chambers of Commerce network and Promos - the Special Agency of the Milan Chamber of Commerce - with the support of Regione Lombardia.

[2]  LEED - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design: is the independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health.

[3] Resin-impregnated paper (RIP) is used for bushings as part of insulated housing to reduce risks of damage, fire and explosion.