The 402MW Dudgeon Offshore Wind Project has secured £1.3bn of project financing.The wind farm, located 32km from the coast of North Norfolk, UK, is being developed by Statoil (35%), Abu Dhabi-based Masdar (35%), and Statkraft (30%). Allen & Overy, a UK-based law firm, is advising the Mandated Lead Arrangers on the long-term financing, which will fund the capital requirements of the wind farm.Statkraft and Statoil are also participating in the financing through sponsor co-lending, Statkraft will finance its 30% share in the project, while Statoil will finance a share of 17.5%.Chris Andrew, lead Allen & Overy partner on the deal said: “This is a landmark transaction as it’s the first UK offshore wind project to obtain financing under the UK government’s new ‘Contract for Difference’ regime.“Detailed preparatory work meant financing on this project was nevertheless executed very quickly.”
A consortium led by Ferrovial Agroman has been awarded a contract by Iberdrola to construct the Daivoes dam and hydroelectric plant on the Támega River in northern Portugal.Estimated to cost more than €90M, the project will include the construction of a concrete arch-gravity dam 77.5m high and 264m long, together with a power plant housing two turbines with a total installed capacity of 118MW.Under the contract, Ferrovial will also construct a 388m tunnel to divert the river, and a weir 71m long and 10.5m high, located 2.2km downstream of the dam.Work on the project is set to be complete in around 56 months.Daivoes is the first of four main contracts to be awarded by Iberdrola as part of the Támega river hydroelectric project and is the second to be delivered by Ferrovial Agroman for the utility in Portugal.
Wind farm infrastructure and communications delivery specialist Vysiion has secured a contract to support the installation of a 108km fibre link for the £1.3bn Rampion wind farm development.UK-based construction services firm Carillion is serving as the main contractor for the onshore connection, a project that will include the installation of cable over a distance of about 26km from landfall near Shoreham-on-Sea to Bolney, West Sussex.Under the contract, Vysiion will support Carillion’s delivery and will supply splice and test the 108km cable link from the onshore substation at Bolney to the beachhead.The wind farm is expected to provide enough energy to power about 300,000 homes annually, with a target capacity of 400MW. Vysiion infrastructure sales manager Michael Grimshaw said: “The Rampion wind farm project contract is another example of how the team at Vysiion is able to support the infrastructure requirements of the UK’s wind power industry.“Throughout the UK and on a number of on-going wind farm developments Vysiion’s fibre, communications and infrastructure expertise is proving to be both an additive and assured element of the construction.”
Fortum Värme has opened its new biomass-fired combined heat and power plant (CHP) in Värtan, Stockholm.The company, owned by Fortum and the city of Stockholm, will use forest residues and wood waste to produce district heat for nearly 200,000 households, requiring about 12,000 cb m of wood chips per day.The €500M project, launched in 2013, will eliminate 126,000t of emissions annually in the Stockholm area.Fortum’s president and CEO Pekka Lundmark said: “High emissions and low efficiency of heating, cooling and electricity production are typical problems in growing urban areas.“Together with the city of Stockholm, we are taking steps towards a circular economy by utilising biomass, waste and recovered heat from data centres in energy production.“Biomass is a renewable, largely local and carbon-neutral energy source. Its use increases the share of domestic energy resources particularly in Northern Europe, and it is an important building block of a sustainable energy system and bio economy.”
Scottish Water has commenced construction of phase one of a £120m project to upgrade the drinking water network in Ayrshire and parts of East Renfrewshire in Scotland. The water main’s route begins at Waulkmill Glen reservoir near Newton Mearns in the north and goes south via Drumboy Hill to Amlaird Water Treatment Works near Fenwick, with branches to the South Moorhouse and Corsehouse water treatment works.Preparatory works on the 13-mile long strategic water main have been carried out and the firm has now started work to install the pipes.Stewart Davis, Scottish Water programme manager, said: “This is a major piece of work on the first phase of Scottish Water’s overall investment in improvements to connect the system in Ayrshire with the Greater Glasgow area’s network.“We have worked closely with many different stakeholders, including landowners and statutory bodies, and we would like to thank them for their help and co-operation which has enabled us to complete the preparatory work and now move on to the construction phase.“This involves installing a new water main from Waulkmill Glen reservoir to the Fenwick Waterside area, which we estimate will be completed this autumn.”
E.ON has entered into an equal stake partnership with Norwegian energy firm Statoil to build the €1.2bn Arkona offshore wind farm.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is set to offer £500m to improve the power transmission network in Scotland.The project will include a 1,200MW subsea cable between Spittal in Caithness and Blackhillock in Moray. It aims to upgrade connections between wind, wave and tidal renewable energy schemes and the national power network. Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SSE, is building the project, which is due for completion in 2018. The company is investing over £1.1bn in the project.Once operational, the new link is expected to supply equivalent electricity to meet the needs of about 2m Scottish residents. The project is anticipated to create 600 construction jobs.EIB vice president Jonathan Taylor said: “Our strong partnership with SSE over many years demonstrates our firm commitment to support ambitious energy investment that creates jobs and benefits local companies.”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a €175m long-term loan for the construction of a new industrial combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Kilpilahti, Finland. Estimated to cost €400m, the project will be developed by a joint venture between Borealis and Neste, alongside energy service company Veolia. Veolia will oversee the operation and maintenance of the plant. The project is being funded by the Nordic Investment Bank, BTMU, ING, Nordea, SEB and UniCredit. The new plant will supply heat to the oil refinery and chemicals plant on the site, and provide electricity to the grid.A total of four new steam and power generation assets will offer an installed capacity of 450MW thermal and 30MW electrical power. The new units will replace the old ones, enhance their environmental performance, as well as utilise industrial side streams such as asphaltene that would not be otherwise recovered for energy production. The facility will comply with the latest environmental regulations, and is projected to minimise carbon dioxide emissions by 20% after becoming operational during 2018.EIB vice president Jan Vapaavuori said: “The European Investment Bank strongly promotes energy efficiency and security of energy supply. Therefore, we are glad to foster the construction of the Kilpilahti power plant, which will offer long-term sustainable support to the largest concentration of oil refinery and petrochemical industries in the Nordic region. “The new plant will not only produce electricity and heat with higher efficiency and lower environmental impact, but also ensure a reliable supply of heat to on-site industrial consumers.”
Amec Foster Wheeler has secured a one-year EPC contract worth £125m from BP to build a new refrigeration plant at BP’s Refrigerated Liquid Petroleum Gas (RLPG) site in Grangemouth, Scotland.
Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil has awarded contracts worth NOK 1.6bn ($188.6m) for Oseberg Vestflanken 2, Johan Sverdrup and Gina Krog fields in the North Sea.
Construction work has started on a new £160m wood-fired biomass energy plant at Port Clarence in Teesside, UK.
Tekfen Construction has secured a contract to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP).
A joint venture led by Norwegian state-owned utility Statkraft has announced plans to invest about €1.1bn in Europe's largest onshore wind power project in central Norway.
ScottishPower Renewables is set to invest £2.5bn on its East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm project in the UK.
The number of projects and the technical capabilities used by the tunnelling market in Europe has strengthened and expanded over the past two decades. Keren Fallwell reports.
There’s no doubt that for the idea of the Northern Powerhouse to become a reality we need better infrastructure in the North, and we need it fast. But how do we build the schools, houses, hospitals, rail stations and other buildings we need across the region quicker and cheaper, without sacrificing quality? John Edwards at Atkins Group looks at solutions.
One critically important, but perhaps under discussed, area of the Northern Powerhouse is energy. In particular, where will it be generated, what technologies will be used now and in the future and how will it be decarbonised? And most importantly, how will it be distributed effectively and efficiently across the Northern Powerhouse. Paul Yates at Atkins Group discusses.
A strong period for the UK construction industry is reflected in a growing crane rental market, with new projects and investments in fleet expansions taking place. Daniel Searle reports.
Chinese bio-energy company Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group is set to construct a €1bn ($1.13bn) biofuel refinery in Kemi, Finland.