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TransCanada, Sierra Oil & Gas and Grupo TMM have unveiled plans to develop a new refined products storage and transportation infrastructure system in Central Mexico.The $800M project will include the construction of a marine terminal near Tuxpan, Veracruz for offloading and distribution of refined products, a 265km refined products pipeline, and an inland storage and distribution hub.With a draft of 42ft, the marine terminal will feature four docking positions. The terminal will be pipeline-connected to key distribution centres in the region and will offer racks for truck loading and barge access to service the demand of other ports in the Gulf Coast.The pipeline, with an approximate daily capacity of 100,000 barrels of refined products, will run parallel to TransCanada's recently awarded Tuxpan-Tula natural gas pipeline project.
Larsen and Toubro’s construction unit has secured contracts worth INR11.67bn ($175M) across various business segments.The water and effluent treatment business won engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) orders worth INR8.43bn ($126M).The Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) awarded a contract for the construction of a second water storage reservoir in their Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. The scope of the project also includes the construction of an additional balancing reservoir and the erection of associated structures.The business also won an order from Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Distribution Board (KUWSDB) for ‘24/7 Pressurized Water Supply for Tumkuru City’. The contract includes the conversion of the existing water supply system into a 24/7 operation. The scope of the project includes improvements to the 50MLD WTP, the laying of 560km of pipeline network, metered house service connections and other associated infrastructure works.The water and effluent treatment business also secured a contract from the Public Health & Municipal Engineering Department (PHMED) government of Andhra Pradesh for a comprehensive Storm Water Drainage Scheme in Vijayawada city.Meanwhile, the metallurgical and material handling business of Larsen and Toubro’s construction unit won orders worth INR2.59bn ($39M), including the add-ons. A contract has been awarded by Indian Oil Corporation for the construction of Pet Coke Handling System in Haldia.
Alliant Energy is set to invest about $1bn to expand its wind energy operations in Iowa, USA.The company’s Iowa utility is seeking regulatory approval to expand its Whispering Willow Wind Farm in Franklin County and develop wind energy in other areas of the state.The five-year project will add up to 500MW of annual clean energy capacity. Alliant Energy is targeting a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 to 2030.Doug Kopp, the company's president of Iowa utility, said: “Our customers expect low-cost, clean energy, which is exactly what this project will bring to the communities we serve.“Wind has no fuel costs and zero emissions, making it a win-win for Iowans and the Iowa economy.”The new wind project will create more than 1,500 construction jobs in the region.
UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has approved a senior debt of £80M for the construction of a new energy from waste combined heat and power (CHP) facility near Sittingbourne in Kent, UK.The £340M facility is expected to generate up to 154GWh of renewable energy annually — enough to power 37,500 homes.The 43MW plant is also expected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 163,000t annually and eliminate around 0.5M t of waste going to landfill.Upon completion, it will supply renewable electricity to the grid and renewable heat to DS Smith’s Kemsley Paper Mill.GIB CEO Shaun Kingsbury said: “This plant will put renewable energy to work for one of Kent’s major employers while helping the UK meet its climate change and waste management goals.“Combined heat and power is a prominent feature of the low-carbon energy infrastructure in mainland Europe and Scandinavia and is one of the key technologies that can help British industry become more efficient, competitive and cleaner.”The project developer Wheelabrator Technologies has received over £300M of debt so far from a lending club that includes GIB alongside Barclays, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), Natixis and Investec.The facility will create about 500 construction jobs and around 40 full-time operational jobs upon completion. The plant is anticipated to be operational in 2019.
SapuraKencana TL Offshore has won a MYR510M ($125M) contract for the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) offshore Dardanelles Strait in the Sea of Marmara.The company, a subsidiary of Malaysia's SapuraKencana Petroleum, will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of offshore pipelines and fibre optic cables for TANAP. SapuraKencana’s president and group CEO Shahril Shamsuddin said: “This contract win demonstrates that our transformation and strategies are continuing to enhance our competitiveness globally.“Our cost reduction efforts and increased operational effectiveness have driven this enhanced competitiveness that has helped us to secure our latest wins in Mexico and TANAP, both totalling just under RM1bn. These wins will contribute positively to the group’s performance.”The project is set to start in the third quarter of 2016 and will be completed in the third quarter of 2018.TANAP is a natural gas pipeline project that connects the continents of Europe and Asia, to supply natural gas from the Southern Gas Corridor project in Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to Europe.
EUS-Rokstad, a joint venture between Emera Utility Services and Rokstad Power, has been awarded a £86m contract by NSP Maritime Link for the construction of its Maritime Link Project in Canada.
A joint venture between Kenny Construction and Obayashi has secured a $279m contract to build the South Hartford Conveyance and Storage Tunnel (SHCST) in Hartford, Connecticut.
SapuraKencana Petroleum subsidiary SapuraKencana Mexicana has won a $113M contract for the construction of a gas pipeline in Campeche, Mexico.Under the contract, awarded by Pemex Exploración y Producción, SapuraKencana will be responsible for the procurement and construction of a 36-inch diameter, 18km-long Sour Gas Pipeline from) in Ciudad del Carmen.The scope of work includes transportation and installation of pipelines, crossings, top side modifications and subsea works, including procurement and project management.Construction work is scheduled to commence in July 2016 and will be completed by March 2017.
EMAS Chiyoda Subsea in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) has won a contract from Saudi Aramco for the development of the second phase of the Hasbah Offshore Gas Field.Under the $1.6bn contract, EMAS Chiyoda Subsea and LTHE will provide engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services for the gas field development located off the coast of Saudi Arabia.The project will help Saudi Aramco’s plans to supply an additional 2,500M standard cubic feet daily of clean natural gas through the Fadhili Gas Plant.Under the contract, the consortium will be responsible for the construction of two streams of three wellhead platform topsides, one tie-in platform with flare platforms and bridges tied together by umbilicals and in-field pipelines.It will also include interconnections of trunk lines to transport produced gas from the offshore gas field to the Fadhili Gas Plant. Simultaneously, fibre optic and other cables for power and communication networks will be installed.The engineering and fabrication component of the project has commenced and the offshore execution phase is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2017. The project is set to be completed over a period of three and half years.The joint venture also signed a six-year long-term agreement — with the option of extending it for another six years — with Saudi Aramco in June 2015 to execute offshore projects.
Dutch dredging contractor Royal Boskalis Westminster has secured the Offshore Balance of Plant contract from Vattenfall for the construction of Aberdeen Offshore Wind Farm project.The wind farm, known as the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre, is located about 3km off the coast of Aberdeen and will feature 11 wind turbines with a capacity of 92.4MW.Under the €100M contract, Boskalis will be responsible for all offshore elements of the wind farm, with the exception of the wind turbine supply.The scope of the contract will include the design, procurement, fabrication, supply, transportation and installation of eleven suction bucket jacket foundations and scour protection.It will also include the procurement, supply, transportation and installation of 66kV inter array and export cables by Boskalis subsidiary VBMS, and the provision of the wind turbine transportation and installation vessel.The foundations and cables will be transported and installed with own assets including a fallpipe vessel, transport barges, a large floating sheerleg crane and a cable laying vessel, while the wind turbines will be installed by the company’s installation vessel.The offshore project work is set to begin in September 2017, with the project completion expected in the second quarter of 2018.
Amec Foster Wheeler has won an engineering and project management services contract from PT Pertamina and Saudi Aramco to upgrade and expand Cilacap Refinery in Central Java, Indonesia. Amec Foster Wheeler will perform the basic engineering design study, develop the scope for the proposed project and finalise the process configuration and licensors’ packages. The project is aimed to increase its capacity from 348,000 barrels to 370,000 barrels daily. It will also maximise production of cleaner gasoline and diesel, produce higher quality base oils for the domestic market, and expand annual production of aromatics and polypropylene to more than 600,000t and 160,000t respectively. The expansion project is part of Pertamina’s Refinery Development Master Plan to improve Indonesia’s energy security and involves the expansion and upgrade of its domestic refineries. The overall Cilacap Refinery upgrade project is estimated to cost about $4bn-5bn. Amec Foster Wheeler Group president for Asia, Middle East, Africa & Southern Europe Roberto Penno said: “This is a strategic project for Indonesia’s Oil & Gas industry, in one of Asia’s fastest growing economies with a growing energy demand. “We will combine our in-depth refinery expertise from our Reading, UK operation, together with our strong Asian operations, to deliver the best of Amec Foster Wheeler for this important project.”
Swedish power utility Vattenfall is set to construct a SEK3bn ($349M) combined wind farm and technology development centre off the Scottish coast. To be called ‘European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre’ (EOWDC), the wind farm will feature 11 turbines and have a capacity of 92.4MW. In addition, the company will build a centre for testing and developing new technologies for offshore wind power. Vattenfall’s president and CEO Magnus Hall said: “We aim to double our wind power capacity from 2 to 4GW by 2020 and are focusing on reducing and streamlining our offshore wind power costs. “Our investment in the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre off Aberdeen is an important part of this process.” Onshore construction will start in late 2016 and offshore construction work is anticipated to commence in late 2017 with power generation expected in early 2018.
Saudi Aramco has signed four engineering contracts for the construction of its SAR5bn ($13.3bn) Fadhili gas-processing project in Saudi Arabia. The company has contracted Larsen & Tubro for the project’s offshore facilities; Saudi KAD for the downstream; Saudi Electric Company and Engie for the combined heat & power (CHP); and Mohammed I. Al Subeae & Sons Investment Holding Company for the residential camp. The project will become a key component of the country’s master gas system, processing gas from both onshore and offshore fields. The project will process a daily total of 2.5bn standard cubic feet of non-associated gas, including 2bn standard cb ft of Hasbah offshore gas and 500M standard cb ft of Khursaniyah onshore gas. Saudi Aramco believes that the project will help boost production and supply of clean-burning natural gas, lessening dependence on oil for power generation. The new plant along with the company’s two other gas projects, Wasit and Midyan, will add more than 5bn standard cb ft of non-associated gas processing capacity. The project is set to be complete by 2019 and will create about 4,500 jobs in the region.
Canadian power utility Kineticor Resource has signed long-term agreements with multiple oil and gas producers to build, own and operate the 100MW Peace River power project in Alberta, Canada. The $100M project will use the associated gas produced as a result of heavy oil production near Peace River to create clean energy. The power generated will supply about 90,000 homes. The development will reduce flaring emissions from oil and gas operations, contributing to Canada's commitment to reduce methane emissions from the sector by at least 40%. Kineticor CEO Andrew Plaunt said: "The project is reducing both costs and emissions typically associated with natural gas processing and distribution to a power plant by producing power directly on-site."This reduces the emissions intensity and cost base required for clean, efficient and reliable power production in the province, while offering producers in the Peace River area an attractive and economic solution to conserve their associated gas."The project will create up to 120 construction jobs and is expected to be operational by the second half of 2017, subject to regulatory and environmental approval.
Schlumberger company OneSubsea has secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth $300M from Woodside Energy for the Greater Enfield Project oil development, off the northwest coast of Australia.The project will create a 31km subsea tie-back to the Ngujima-Yin floating, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.OneSubsea will supply the subsea production system and the dual multiphase boosting system for the project.The contract includes the delivery of six horizontal SpoolTree subsea trees, six horizontal trees for the water injection system and six multiphase meters.It will also involve the provision of a high-boost dual pump station with high-voltage motors, umbilical, topside, subsea controls and distribution, intervention and workover control systems, landing string, and installation and commissioning services.
India’s Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has secured an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the construction of a 1,320MW power plant in Bangladesh.The $1.49bn contract was awarded by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL) for a turnkey package to build a 2x660MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project at Rampal Upazila, under the Bagerhat district."The project is adopting stringent environmental norms with highly efficient machinery and state-of-art technologies have been selected for this project to make it an environment friendly project," NTPC said in a statement. BIFPCL is an equal-stake joint venture between Bangladesh Power development Board and NTPC of India.The plant is expected to be operational during the 2019-20 financial year.
Laing O’Rourke has been awarded a third work package for the Ichthys project onshore LNG facilities in Darwin, Australia.Under the $200M package, the company will be responsible for providing civil finishing works at Bladin Point. Laing O’Rourke’s region director Stuart Crofts said: “This is the third major package we have secured on this project.“In 2012 Laing O’Rourke was awarded the EPC contract to deliver a network of four massive cryogenic tanks — in consortium with Kawasaki Heavy Industries — and the $260M contract to deliver the 3,500 bed Manigurr-ma Village in Howard Springs.“The logistically challenging project will see the project delivery team working in and around a number of other contractors completing major work packages on the site, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries — Laing O’Rourke’s own Cryogenic Tanks team.“Laing O’Rourke’s demonstrated capability to work collaboratively with a large number of stakeholders and our commitment to the use of Digital Engineering and innovative solutions to manage complex interfaces and deliver to the client’s program was instrumental in our success.”
Adding capacity to the over-tasked wastewater system in Mexico City, an alignment through changing ground conditions is a likely candidate for Robbins’ Crossover TBM, Nicole Robinson reports.In the mountains northwest of Mexico City, the soft rock is self-supporting and very consolidated, a dream to mine. "Even the face is self-supporting," says Roberto Gonzalez, Robbins' general manager in Mexico. "You could use a normal backhoe and excavate like that. It's a beautiful ground to bore."But the alignment crosses valleys of tuff, faults and finishes with a stretch of soft ground with low cover. This is the scenario for Túnel Emisor Poniente II (TEP II), or the English translation of West Drainage Tunnel II.Conagua, Mexico's national water commission, is building the 5.9km-long tunnel with a 7m i.d. to reduce flooding in the area, and increase wastewater capacity. Across three municipalities, some 2.1 million people will benefit from the tunnel project.The contractor joint venture of Aldesa, Proacon and Recsa chose an 8.7m diameter, dual-mode type machine capable of "crossing over" between rock and EPB. With the August 2015 tunnel boring machine (TBM) launch on TEP II, manufacturer Robbins has supplied its first Crossover machine in Mexico.End gameRobbins draws comparisons to the Kargi Kizilirmak hydroelectric project in Central Turkey. The design of the TEP II machine was based largely on experience from past projects, and that TBM in particular. While initial reports on the Turkey project showed fractured hard rock, Robbins explains, within 80m of launch the geology became substantially more difficult than expected, consisting of blocky rock, sand, clays and water-bearing zones. The machine required multiple bypass tunnels and major modifications before it could resume excavation.Robbins says these modifications proved instrumental to the design of its Crossover TBMs, including the TEP II machine.In Mexico, the contractor JV expects to convert the machine from hard rock to EPB mode due to changing ground conditions in the last kilometre of the alignment. "Initially the proposal was a hard rock machine but they found they have 800m of water-more EPM conditions-that's the reason we proposed a Crossover," explains Javier Alcala, job site engineer for Robbins on TEP II.The ground conditions at TEP II are complex, from competent to weathered volcanic rock to clay, and sand. The final 800m is also the portion of the alignment with the lowest cover, some 12m, and the most populated. This is one of the reasons for using a Crossover machine. The rest of the drive has between 50-60m of cover on average with some stretches up to 150m."We try not to convert unless it's completely necessary because you stop, you have to drain the screw conveyor inside the machine, and you have to make a lot of changes, for example on the cutterhead," Robbins' Gonzalez explains.As an open mode machine boring in rock, the TBM is equipped in the event of entering running ground, he says. "These closure doors are able to maintain the material in the cutting chamber. They're just a safety." In smaller valleys of tuff there is potentially some water, but it's unknown for now, he explains."For these cases we believe that these closure doors will be held to see what we have to do with the material, if we have to consolidate in the front."Tight fitAldesa's Castillo says one of the biggest accomplishments on the project so far has been organising the logistics in such a small work space-fewer than 10,000 sq m. The JV excavated a 30m deep launch shaft supported by 800mm-thick Milan walls (slurry walls), and used on-site first time assembly, he says, to start excavation as soon as possible.Once assembled by gantry crane, the machine bored 100m before adding back gantries. When completely assembled the machine has nine gantries for a total length of 1,030m.At the time Tunnels & Tunnelling visited the project, the crews were still adjusting to having the full machine in operation, and had only recently started using the continuous conveyors for muck.The TBM was mining through a transition zone between tuffs and dacites, and had excavated 435m by mid November 2015. At the time of publication the TBM has bored 1,417.5m, which equates to 945 rings. The best day has seen an advancement of 42.8m and the best week is 185.1m. Robbins' Mexico office reports the TBM has reached softer geology and is boring very well.Tunnelling is expected to finish within this year and a second lining of reinforced concrete will be installed following excavation to extend the life of the tunnel. "Once we arrive to the final bit, it's a very close curve of 400m radius," Alcala explains.The tunnel alignment ends along the rivers of San Javier and Xochimanga in Atizapan de Zaragoza.
With a burgeoning market for hydropower development, tunnelling work is seeing an uptick in South America’s third largest country. Nicole Robinson looks at two recent projects.The World Bank released a report in 2010 to help the Peruvian government in assessing the potential role of hydropower in the energy sector and the measures that could be taken to encourage its continued development as appropriate. Hydropower has been the major source of electricity in Peru, traditionally supplying more than 80% of requirements, and serving as a source of independent generation for major mines and industries.However, as the report explains, in the early 1990s efforts turned to natural gas and the government began providing incentives for its use in power generation: "This resulted in a virtual moratorium on hydropower development as a result of the very low price of natural gas (below economic cost)."Over the next decade, with the development of export markets for gas and increased attention to the impacts of climate change, the Government returned its attention to hydropower. The Peruvian government completed its National Energy Plan 2014-2025, which calls for electricity to comprise 60% renewable sources by 2025, with 54% coming from hydropower.The International Hydropower Association called Peru a regional leader in small hydropower projects. In its 2015 Hydropower Status report it estimates Peru has hydropower potential of at least 70GW, "of which only 3.8GW have been tapped so far."In 2014 Peru added 199MW, ranking it among the top 20 countries installing capacity at number 17 —Canada comes in at number three and the US at number 16.The market potential for hydro construction in Peru has captivated the likes of Odebrecht, whose subsidiary Empresa de Generación Huallaga (EGH) is developing the 462MW Chaglla power plant, which will be country's third biggest hydropower project upon opening, scheduled for this year.Norwegian company Statkraft opened its ninth hydropower plant in Peru, the Cheves Hydropower Project, this autumn. "The opening of Cheves consolidates Statkraft's position among the largest power producers in Peru," says Statkraft's executive vice president of International Hydropower, Asbjørn Grundt. "It also underlines our ambition to further strengthen our position as a leading international provider of pure energy. Our efforts in South-America play a very important role in this strategy,"Chaglla’s bypassLocated between the districts of Chaglla and Chinchao, some 420m from Lima, the Chaglla Hydroelectric Power Plant has 406MW of installed capacity. The plant is the result of an investment made by Odebrecht Energia of $1.bn, with support from the Brazilian Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank, among others.The project will also feature a small power house, including a power transformer with an output of 6MW. "Chaglla will be one of the largest hydroelectrical power plants in Peru and it will represent almost 8% of the current consumption of energy of this country," says Erlon Arfelli, manager of Odebrecht Energia in Peru.Construction started in May 2011, with Sandvik supplying six DT820-SC tunnelling jumbos for the excavation at Chaglla. Underground construction includes a spillway composed of three tunnels for a total length of 2,838m, 14.5m x 12.6m-high. The 14.7.km-long intake tunnel is horseshoe-shaped with a 7.6m diameter.One of the most important works in the project is bypassing the Huallaga River, which contractors performed through a trunk tunnel of 12.5m diameter, 1,125m long. Odebrecht says the work concluded nine months prior to the scheduled date. The bypass tunnel, a significant step for the project, allowing the dam to be constructed in the former riverbed.Odebrecht says EGH began filling the reservoir on September 1, 2015, and expects the process to last between 45 and 60 days. The project's lenders appointed Mott MacDonald in 2013 as independent engineer to monitor construction.
Enel Green Power North America (EGPNA) has begun construction on the 65MW Chisholm View II wind farm in Oklahoma, USA.Chisholm View II is an expansion of the existing 235MW Chisholm View wind farm. When completed, it will bring the site’s total installed capacity to 300MW.The $90M project, owned by EGPNA subsidiary Enel Kansas, will be able to generate over 240M kWh annually — the equivalent to the energy consumption needs of more than 19,000 US households. The power generated from the wind farm will be sold under a bundled, long-term power purchase agreement.The wind farm will eliminate more than 126,000t of CO2 emissions each year. EGPNA’s head Rafael Gonzalez said: "With the construction of Chisholm View II, EGPNA is further reinforcing its rapid growth strategy in the United States.“The new plant is part of our ongoing commitment to expand our operations in North America where we continue to reach new milestones, including a record 800 MW currently under construction.”The wind farm is expected to be operational by the end of 2016.
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