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Otis China has announced the construction of a new 270m-high elevator test tower as part of a new global R&D facility in Shanghai.Anticipated to be the world’s tallest above-ground test tower, it has been designed to be flexible and easily adaptable to the testing of new components and systems as they evolve.The project will support the development of new technologies for use in elevators for different market segments in order to deliver high efficiency, small footprints, industry-leading safety, comfort and convenience for passengers, says Otis.Otis’ president Philippe Delpech said: “Building our new test tower and R&D Center in Shanghai underscores our continuous commitment to satisfy customers in China and around the world.“As the industry leader that introduced safe elevator technology, this is a strong example of how we are investing to accelerate innovation and technology development for our next generation elevators and service.”The new facilities, part of a network of research facilities and test towers set to spread across four continents, are expected to be operational by the end of 2018.Otis has supplied lifts for iconic high buildings around the world, including the 828m Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest building; the 599m Ping’An Financial Center in Shenzhen, one of the highest buildings in China when completed this year; the 555m Lotte World Tower in Seoul, the tallest in South Korea; the 553m CN Tower in Toronto, the highest in North America; and the 324m Eiffel Tower, Paris’ iconic symbol.
UK-based oil and gas services company Wood Group has won two new contracts, worth more than $140M, to provide technical services and expertise to an oil firm in Iraq.Under the three-year contracts, Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) — one of the group’s three businesses — will offer brownfield front-end engineering design, detailed engineering, project management, procurement services, system completion and commissioning support for operations and start-up on a significant onshore asset in southern Iraq.Both contracts, set to create over 100 new jobs in the region, will be executed from southern Iraq and Dubai, where WGPSN opened an office in 2015. WGPSN's eastern region managing director David Buchan said: “These two significant contract wins demonstrate Wood Group’s commitment to working closely with key clients to extend our operations in Iraq, where we see a growth market that complements our broad service capabilities, international knowledge and strong expertise. “Establishing an office in Dubai and a base in Iraq reflects our intention to build lasting customer relationships and focus on the development of our Iraqi workforce and supply chain partnerships.”
India-based Reliance Power has secured approval from the government of Bangladesh to develop a $1.3bn liquefied natural gas (LGN) power project.
Saipem and consortium partners Bos Shelf and Star Gulf have secured the $1.3bn contract for Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz natural gas project in Azerbaijan. The Shah Deniz field is located 90km offshore Azerbaijan, in water depths from 75-550m.The five-year scope of work will include the transport and installation of subsea production systems and subsea structures, and the installation of fibre optic cables and production umbilicals.It will also involve the installation of 90km of pipelines, the activation, crewing and operations management of the new-build subsea construction vessel (SCV) Khankendi.Saipem’s CEO Stefano Cao said: “We are delighted to have secured this major award, which enables us to continue and consolidate our 20-year relationship with BP and Socar in Azerbaijan and to put our world-class people and technologies at their disposal for the timely and efficient delivery of Shah Deniz Stage 2. “This award also further strengthens Saipem’s key role in the construction of the Southern Gas Corridor where the company has a total of four contracts, in the upstream segment and in gas transportation infrastructure both onshore and offshore.”
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore has awarded two civil contracts worth about SGD334m ($248.8m) for the construction of Amber and Bedok South stations in Singapore. Woh Hup Limited has secured a SGD146m ($108.7m) contract for the construction of Amber station, while the Bedok South Station and associated tunnels were awarded to China Jingye Engineering Corporation Limited in a contract worth SGD188m ($140m).Bedok South station will serve as the sixth Civil Defence shelter along the East Coast stretch of Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL).The 13km-long East Coast stretch of the 43km-long TEL will connect commuters living in the eastern parts of Singapore who are not directly served by the rail network, such as those in Tanjong Rhu, Siglap, Marine Parade, Upper East Coast and Bedok South.The East Coast stretch will have nine stations, including a station that interchanges with the Downtown Line at Sungei Bedok.The project will be completed in two stages, with the first seven stations, from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore, expected to be ready in 2023 and the remaining two due to be completed in 2024.
Atlantis has entered into an agreement with privately-owned international marine, subsea and renewable energy developer SBS to establish a joint venture to develop a 150MW tidal stream site in Indonesia.SBS has been studying the potential of ocean energy resources for tidal stream devices around the Indonesian archipelago since 2013. The project will now be implemented as SBS has completed the feasibility study. The project will be supported by a 25-year power purchase agreement with the state-owned electricity company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius said: "The Indonesian archipelago of over 17,000 islands represents an extremely promising tidal stream resource. We are looking forward to working with SBS on this exciting project that offers the potential to provide highly predictable tidal stream power generation to the people of Indonesia."This also represents an opportunity for us to demonstrate our industry-leading tidal energy technology in a range of tidal conditions and export some of the intellectual property we have created through the development of the MeyGen project from Scotland to other parts of the world."The total cost of the project has been estimated at $750m and will be constructed over a number of stages.
Coca-Cola Beverage has broken ground on a new $185m eco-friendly plant in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China.The new 195,632 sq m plant is being constructed in the Majinpu New Town Industrial Base in Kunming National Hi-tech Industries Development Zone to replace an existing plant, tripling the number of bottling lines from four to 12.When completed, the plant will deliver an annual capacity of 423m unit cases of beverage with both sparkling and still products, across brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Ice Dew and Ice Dew Chunyue.The new factory will adopt green building standards regarding the site selection, building environment, water-saving and energy-saving measures, air protection, material and resource utilization, indoor environment quality and design innovation. It will also adhere to the international certification system requirement for the Silver Certification of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).Coca-Cola Bottling Investments Group China CEO Glen Walter said: "The new plant will become an important production base for Coca-Cola in China's southwest region."This investment will not only provide strong support to Coca-Cola's sustainable development in Yunnan, but also boost economic development locally by increasing job opportunities and enhancing collaboration."The new plant is part of the Coca-Cola's current $4bn investment plan, which began in 2015 and will continue through 2017.
Hyundai Engineering has begun construction on the $2.66bn Kandym gas processing plant in Uzbekistan.The South Korean company obtained orders for the front end engineering design (FEED) services for the Kandym gas field development in 2011, and received the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Kandym gas processing plant in February 2015 from LUOC —a joint venture between Russia's Lukoil and Uzbekistan's state-run oil and gas company UNG.The processing plant is being constructed in the Kandym gas field, which is about 520km southwest from Uzbekistan's capital city Tashkent. When completed, the facility will have an annual production capacity of 8.2bn cubic metres, or 6.35m tonnes, of natural gas.The Hyundai Engineering's stake of the project is $2.01bn and construction work is expected to be complete in the first half of 2019.
San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has broken ground on the Metro Rail Transit 7 (MRT-7) project in the Philippines.The elevated railway from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan will be constructed by SMC’s infrastructure subsidiary San Miguel.Estimated to cost PHP69.3bn ($1.49bn), the 23km project will feature 14 stations and take 30 minutes to travel end-to-end. It will also link to the MRT-3 and LRT-1 and serve more than 800,000 passengers daily.MRT-7 will have stations at Quezon-North Avenue, Quezon Memorial Circle, University Avenue, Tandang Sora, Don Antonio, Batasan, Manggahan, Doña Carmen, Regalado, Mindanao Avenue, Quirino, Sacred Heart, Tala and San Jose del Monte.The project will be completed in three to four years with the assistance of Hyundai Rotem and EEI consortium.
Gammon Construction, an equal stake joint venture of Balfour Beatty, has secured a contract worth HKD1.6bn ($206m) from Hysan Development Company to build the Lee Garden Three project in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.The project will involve the construction of 20 levels of Grade A offices sitting atop a five-storey retail podium of shops and a range of food and beverage establishments. It will feature a five-level basement, with about 200 parking lots.Owned and developed by Hysan, Lee Garden Three project will be built on the former site of Sunning Plaza and Sunning Court. It will be part of Hysan’s cluster of commercial buildings in Causeway Bay, fronting Hysan Avenue.The company will use latest construction technologies such as Building Information Modeling, 4D modeling and 3D scanning to enhance the project’s environmental friendliness and construction efficiency.The project is scheduled to be completed in late 2017.Gammon CEO Thomas Ho said: “We are delighted to have been selected by Hysan as the construction partner of this redevelopment project. Our team is committed to delivering maximum efficiency, a smooth running project and minimal disruption to the public.”
Indian construction firm MBL Infrastructures has secured two road development projects worth INR21.3bn ($320m) from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.NHAI awarded the projects on a DBFOT (design-build-finance-operate-transfer) hybrid annuity basis.Construction period for both the projects is stipulated at 730 days. During construction, 40% of the bid project cost will be funded by NHAI and the remaining 60% will be arranged by the concessionaire.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), a wing of the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry of Bangladesh, plans to build four underground railways across Dhaka in a bid to mitigate traffic congestion.The cost of the first two railways is estimated to be $8.14bn.According to the proposal, a 32km-long subway will connect Sayedabad with Tongi, via Airport, Banani, Mohakhali, Moghbazar, Paltan and Motijheel, at a cost of $5.265bn. It will later be extended to Arranging. The second subway, totalling a distance of 16km, will connect Aminbazar with Sayedabad. The proposed route will go through Gabtoli to Shyamoli, Asadgate, Newmarket, Tsc and Motijheel and will cost $2.87bn.Planning for the third and fourth routes is still in a development stage. These will connect Gabtoli with Sadarghat, and Rampura with Sadarghat, respectively.
The World Bank has approved $100m of funding for the Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization Project (KUWSMP) in India to provide clean water to citizens of Hubballi-Dharwad.The project will be implemented by the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation. The municipality will hire a professional water supply operating company to help improve its water supply system through a 12-year contract. It will retain ownership of the water supply assets and control of the service delivery set up. KUWSMP will enable the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation to set up a city-level water utility that will take over water supply operations from the operating company at the end of its contract period.The $100m loan from World Banks’ International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a five-year grace period, and a maturity of 24 years.World Bank country director for India Onno Ruhl said: “No major city in fast-urbanizing India provides its residents with continuous piped water supply, a situation that particularly affects the poor, women and children, who spend time and money to secure water for their basic needs.“The government of Karnataka and the city authorities of Hubballi-Dharwad are trying to change this reality. The World Bank is pleased to support their efforts to ensure that all the citizens of the twin cities, including the poor who usually remain under-served in most urban areas, have access to clean water in their homes.”
The construction unit of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has won contracts worth INR22.71bn ($343.1m) across its various businesses.L&T's buildings and factories business has secured a turnkey contract valued at INR15bn ($226.6m) to build a mixed-used development in New Delhi.The contract will include the construction of a convention centre, a business centre tower and two hotel towers as part of the overall development. L&T's scope of work will also involve civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and finishing works.L&T has also won an INR4.5bn ($68m) contract for the expansion of Hyderabad's Air Force Academy. The project will include the extension of the main runway and parallel taxi track, widening of tracks, earth filling and allied works.The company’s power transmission and distribution business has secured new orders worth INR3.21bn ($48.4m) in both the domestic and international markets. On the domestic front, the company has received an EPC order for 765kV double circuit Bhuj Banaskanta transmission line (part-1) from Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, which is associated with Green Energy Corridor.In the overseas sector, L&T has won a contract from Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) for the engineering, procurement and construction of 500kV Transmission Line for Thai/Laos Border Crossing.
MMC Gamuda KVMRT (T) (MGKT) has won a MYR15.47bn ($4bn) contract from Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) for an Underground Works Package for the MRT Sungai BulohSerdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line in Malaysia.The SSP Line is 52.2km in length, of which 13.5km will run underground. It will have 37 stations, including 11 underground stations.The Underground Works Package involves the design, construction and completion of tunnels, underground stations and associated structures such as portals and escape shafts for the SSP Line’s 13.5km underground alignment from the Jalan lpoh North Escape Shaft to the Desa Waterpark South Portal.MRT Corp CEO Dato’ Sri Shahril Mokhtar said MGKT had a proven track record in carrying out tunnelling and other underground works in the challenging geology of the Klang Valley. “The working relationship between MRT Corp and MGKT began with the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line. This good relationship can now continue with the SSP Line.”
Goodman Group has commenced the second stage of development of the $1.5bn Goodman Business Park in Chiba Newtown, Japan.
Bangladesh-China Power Company (BCPCL) has signed a $1.56bn EPC contract with a Chinese consortium for a 1,320MW coal-fired power plant in Bangladesh.BCPCL is an equal stake joint venture between North-West Power Generation Company of Bangladesh and China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation. The Chinese consortium includes First Northeast Electric Power Engineering Company (NEPC) of China and China National Energy Engineering and Construction Company (CECC).The plant will be located on a 397-hectare site at Payra in Patuakhali district, about 204km south of Dhaka, near Payra maritime port.It will have two units of 660MW capacity each. The first unit is expected to supply electricity by April 2019, while the second one will start generation six months later.The project is a part of Bangladeshi government's plan to construct a series of coal-fired power projects to produce 20,000MW electricity by 2030. The EPC contractor is slated to arrange the project fund from the Chinese banking system as credit.
China Power Engineering Consulting Co. (CPECC), a subsidiary of Energy China, has started construction on the 1,200MW Hai Duong Thermal Power Plant in Vietnam.The project will involve an investment of around $1.87bn. CPECC holds 70% stake in the project, while Jaks Resources Berhad has the remaining 30% stake.It is located in Hai Duong Province, 60km away from Vietnam’s capital city Hanoi. The construction of the power plant includes two 600MW subcritical generating units and four circulating fluid bed boilers. The thermal power plant is being constructed in a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, with a construction period of 54 months. The concession period of the BOT contract is 25 years.Within the concession period, profits from selling electricity will be divided among the shareholders in proportion to the number of shares owned. At the end of the concession period, the plant will be transferred to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) has awarded the first viaduct work package for the construction of the MRT Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line in Malaysia.The contract worth MYR1.44bn ($360.9m) for Work Package V202 was awarded to Ahmad Zaki, a unit of Ahmad Zaki Resources Berhad. Work Package V202 was reserved for Bumiputera contractors. The SSP Line is 52.2km in length, of which 13.5km will run underground. It will have 37 stations, 11 of them underground. In total there are 66 work packages being tendered for the construction of the SSP Line, including 10 viaduct guideway packages.The scope of the contract will include the construction and completion of the viaduct guideway and other associated works for a 4.5km stretch of the SSP Line elevated guideway from Persiaran Dagang to Jinjang, Kuala Lumpur.Currently Ahmad Zaki is a work package contractor for the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) Line for Work Package V6, and therefore was pre-qualified to tender for viaduct work packages for the SSP Line.MRT Corp CEO Dato’ Sri Shahril Mokhtar said: “With this award, construction of the SSP Line is truly on the way.“The Bumiputera participation target set by the government was increased to 45% of the total value of all work packages for the SSP Line, up from 43% for the SBK Line. I believe we have started off on a good footing by awarding first to a Bumiputera contractor.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) has signed an agreement with the municipal government of Nanjing, China to invest $3bn in building an advanced silicon wafer plant in Nanjing.The new facility in Nanjing’s Pukou Economic Development Zone will have a capacity to manufacture 20,000 12-inch semiconductors, or wafers, per month. The investment would also support the construction of a design service centre.TSMC chairman Morris Chang said: “With our 12-inch fab and our design service center in Nanjing, we aim to provide closer support to customers as well as expand our business opportunities in China in step with the rapid growth of the Chinese semiconductor market over the last several years. “We look forward to stronger collaboration with our customers to further expand our market share in China.”
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