NCC and Kungälv Municipality have entered into a partnership for the construction of a $36bn waterworks in Kungälv, Sweden.The project is set to provide drinking water to the municipalities of Kungälv, Tjörn, Ale and Stenungssund.The waterworks will have as its water source the Göta älv river and will be able to supply 1,080cb m of water per hour when completed.Maria Sondell, project manager at Kungälv Municipality, said: “Kungälv and the surrounding municipalities need to secure their supply of drinking water and we will build, together with NCC, a state-of-the-art facility equipped with the latest water purification technology.”NCC Infrastructure business area manager, Svante Hagman said: “Working on this type of sustainable community solution is incredibly motivating. “We have been working with Kungälv Municipality on project engineering and dimensioning of the new waterworks since the autumn. “We are moving into the next phase of the partnering arrangement that involves detail engineering so that we can start construction soon. This is scheduled to begin no later than May.”
Menter Newydd has been selected by Horizon Nuclear Power to build the £14bn Wylfa Newydd nuclear power project in Anglesey, UK.Menter Newydd, a specially created joint venture, includes Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe, Ltd., Bechtel Management Company, Ltd. and JGC Corporation (UK) Ltd. Horizon’s CEO Duncan Hawthorne said: “This is an important step in any large, complex infrastructure project and it adds to Wylfa Newydd’s growing momentum.“The depth and breadth of expertise Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe, Bechtel and JGC bring to the Menter Newydd venture will help us ensure the timely delivery of our project, which will be vital for meeting the UK’s energy gap and boosting the local economy in North Wales for decades to come.“We look forward to working with the team and continuing to make great strides with our plans.” Work on the site is continuing to advance and the UK ABWR remains on track to complete its regulatory generic design assessment by the end of 2017.
Germany-based KfW IPEX-Bank is providing a loan worth €104M to the French energy provider Neoen to support the construction of energy projects in France.The projects include a 30MWp photovoltaic (PV) facility and two wind farms with a total capacity of 46MWp.German manufacturer SolarWorld is providing the modules for the PV plant, which is being built in the Tarn department in southwestern France, while German wind farm manufacturer Enercon and the Danish company Vestas are supplying the equipment to the Bussy Lettrée and Raucourt II wind projects in northeastern France. Neoen corporate finance director Charlie Canevet said: “We are happy to be working with KfW IPEX-Bank again on our new projects in France. For our global activities in the field of renewable energies, we partner with dependable banks with proven structuring expertise.”The plant will be completed soon and the two wind farms are expected to be operational by the end of 2016.
Construction begins on Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe.TAP, part of the $45bn Southern Gas Corridor project, will transport natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz II field in Azerbaijan to Europe.The 878km pipeline will connect with the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) at the Turkish-Greek border at Kipoi, crossing Greece and Albania and the Adriatic Sea and coming ashore in Southern Italy.TANAP, which includes the European leg of the Southern Gas Corridor, is a gateway project that will deliver 10bn cubic metres annually of new Caspian gas supplies to Europe from 2020.TAP’s managing director Ian Bradshaw said: “Today’s event marks a major milestone for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, our shareholders and for the energy landscape of Europe.“After winning the bid in 2013 and working diligently to prepare for this moment, we are delighted to have started constructing the pipeline — a strategic project for Europe transporting new sources of Caspian gas via a new route commencing in 2020 and for years to come.”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide a £700M loan for the £4.2bn Thames Tideway Tunnel in London.The project, dubbed the ‘super sewer’, will help tackle overflows of untreated sewage into the river through the centre of the British capital.The 35-year long-term loan has been agreed with Tideway, the new regulated company established to design, build, commission and maintain the 25km tunnel, which will directly control or intercept discharges from more than 30 combined sewer overflow points stretching from Acton in the west to Stratford in the east.EIB’s vice president Jonathan Taylor said: “The new GBP700M loan for Tideway represents the European Investment Bank’s largest-ever water loan and the most significant support for UK infrastructure since Crossrail.“This demonstrates the EIB’s strong commitment as the largest source of financing for long-term investment in UK water infrastructure since before privatisation and builds on more than £2bn of support for investment to improve London’s water and waste water infrastructure since 1989.“We are pleased to support the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a world-class engineering scheme, delivering infrastructure vital to clean up the Thames.”
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.
Chinese bio-energy company Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group is set to construct a €1bn ($1.13bn) biofuel refinery in Kemi, Finland.