Alstom ships first ever Chattanooga-built gas turbine to Mexico

Lawrence Quinn, president of Alstom Chattanooga Turbines LLC, hovered like a concerned parent around his significantly overweight baby.

A handful of red-shirted workers steadied the shrink-wrapped package with ropes as a crane lifted it at a glacial pace, while another two dozen Alstom employees stood by in bright green safety vests.

Over the next 30 minutes, the first ever Chattanooga-built gas turbine lifted from the earth and disappeared slowly into a Tennessee River barge bound for New Orleans.

From there the 240-ton generator, which can power more than 700,000 homes, will make its way to Queretaro, Mexico.

“I’m elated,” Quinn said. “People are so excited, like going out with your first girlfriend.”