Hydrostadium, a subsidiary of European power giant Electricite de France (EDF), won the bidding for the design of the canoe slalom contest course for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, EDF announced in a press release in Beijing on Tuesday.

The EDF subsidiary will provide the design and technological support for the 280-hectare Aquatic Park in Shunyi District that will host that event. The project is scheduled to start in April 2004 and be completed in September 2006.

Hydrostadium will provide its patented mobile obstacle supplier, called Omniflots, which could reduce the difficulty level of the course from professional to amateur grade after the Games are over.

EDF China deputy manager Zhou Wei said at the Tuesday press conference that the product would first be used at the tenth National Sports Games in Nanjing in 2005 as a trial run.

EDF entered the Chinese market in 1984, and since 2001 has invested $2.8 billion in this country. Last year, the company moved its Asia Pacific headquarters to Beijing. The company aims to have a significant stake in China's nuclear power development in the future.
 

(Beijing Today December 20, 2003)