Saudi Arabia based contractor Saudi KAD has secured a contract from Saudi Aramco to deliver strategic pipeline projects related to the Master Gas Program Phase II, and the Fadhili Gas Program.
US-based electrical contractor MYR Group has won a $125M contract from Cross Texas Transmission (CTT) to build the new Limestone to Gibbons Creek transmission line in Texas.
TenneT, Statnett and KfW have begun work on the German converter station for the NordLink subsea cable project.
UK energy regulator Ofgem has given the go-ahead to the £1.1bn Aquind interconnector project between the UK and France.
Online retailer Amazon has unveiled plans for the construction of a new 253MW wind farm in Scurry County, Texas.
French firm Veolia has signed a £1bn agreement with Hertfordshire County Council to manage the county’s residual waste for 30 years at a proposed energy recovery facility.
Finnish state-owned financing company Finnvera is set to provide £100M in financing for the construction of the MGT Teesside biomass plant in the UK.
The UK government has approved the construction of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset.
Enel’s subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB) has begun construction of the Horizonte solar plant in Brazil.
Aecom has been selected by Ratch Australia as the owner’s engineer for the AUD360M ($270M) Mount Emerald Wind Farm in North Queensland, Australia.
A consortium formed by Morelco, a subsidiary of Peruvian construction firm Graña y Montero, has won a $149M contract to deliver the Regional Transmission System located in the Colombian Atlantic Coast.The contract has been awarded by the Mining and Energy Planning Unit (UPME) — an entity of the Ministry of Mines and Energy responsible for the design, supplies procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of the electrical reinforcement of Guajira Province.
Yorkshire Water has received planning approval from Leeds City Council for the construction of a new £72M sludge treatment and anaerobic digestion facility in Leeds, UK.The contract has been awarded to Black & Veatch with the civil engineering element being delivered by Clugston Construction.The new facility — to be located at Leed’s Knostrop waste water treatment works— will replace the existing sludge and bio-solid incinerator, which was built in 1993, and enable the more efficient and effective treatment of sewage combined with the additional benefit of renewable power production from the waste water effluent. The plant will have a capacity to process 131t of dry sludge daily and will generate enough renewable energy to meet 55% of Knostrop’s energy needs — enough to power 8,000 households.It will also help the company reduce its carbon emissions by 15%, and contribute to achieving the planned target of recycling 94% of the region’s sludge by 2020.The facility is planned to be complete in 2019.
Spanish-based companies Navantia and Windar have won a €120M contract from Iberdrola to supply the foundations for the East Anglia One wind turbines off the coast of the UK.Navantia will produce 34 jackets at its shipyard in Fene, while Windar will forge the jacket piles at its facilities in Avilés.The project — to have an installed capacity of 714MW — is being developed off the coast of East Anglia, UK, in the North Sea.The power generated by the wind farm will be sufficient to supply clean energy to more than 500,000 average UK homes. Iberdrola’s chairman Ignacio Galán said: “Thanks to the quality of the works carried out for our offshore wind farm in Germany and the know-how and expertise acquired in the fabrication of metal structures — both at Fene and Puerto Real yards — we are pleased to announce yet another contract award to Navantia, this time for the East Anglia One offshore wind project being developed by Iberdrola in British waters of the North Sea.”The East Anglia One wind farm will be commissioned in 2020.
A consortium of Balfour Beatty and Equitix has achieved financial closure for the £162.9M Humber Gateway offshore transmission project (OFTO), located off the coast of Yorkshire, UK.Balfour Beatty will invest £12.5M of the total required equity of £21M.The transmission line connects E.ON’s 219MW offshore wind farm in the North Sea, 8km off the east Yorkshire coast, to the onshore transmission grid.The wind farm includes 73 turbines, which are capable of generating enough electricity for about 170,000 homes annually.According to Balfour Beatty, its power transmission and distribution unit will operate and maintain the OFTO’s assets, including one offshore and one onshore substation and two cable circuits consisting of 18km of subsea and 30km of land cable.Balfour Beatty Investments CEO Ian Rylatt said: “This is our fourth OFTO contract to reach financial close and further establishes our position in the offshore transmission market.“Our technical expertise ensures we can efficiently and effectively, support the government’s targets to meet more of the UK’s energy needs through renewable sources.” The consortium will own and operate the offshore transmission line for the next 20 years.
Express Reinforcements Ltd (ERL) has been selected as the preferred bidder for the £100M contract to supply reinforcing steel for the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, UK.The scope of the contract will include the provision of 200,000t of steel to main civils contractor BYLOR, a joint venture between Bouygues TP and Laing O'Rourke.The firm will supply rebar from its Neath and Newport manufacturing centres.Express Reinforcements’ managing director Andy Lodge said: "We are pleased to be the preferred supplier of reinforcing steel to this contract through BYLOR."It cements long-term relationships and puts Express at the forefront of reinforcing steel supply, having already been a major supplier to other key infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and Heathrow Terminal 5."It shows that our proven track record in delivering on these significant projects is highly valued and local, responsibly-sourced steel to the highest quality standards (Eco-Reinforcement/BES 6001) is fundamental to all involved on this construction."
Larsen and Toubro’s construction unit has secured contracts worth INR14.58bn ($218M) across its various business segments.The company’s power transmission & distribution business has won engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts worth INR6.54bn ($97.8M) in the international and domestic markets.The business has been awarded a contract by the National Grid Saudi Arabia — a subsidiary of Saudi Electricity Company — for the construction of a 132kV double circuit transmission line and a 132kV cabling in the Rafah, Arar, and Sakaka areas of Saudi Arabia.Furthermore, the business has won an order, under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), from Kanpur Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. (KESCo). The Urban Electrification project involves the design and construction of new substations and feeders and the upgrade of electricity network of Kanpur city in Uttar Pradesh.The business has also won a contract from Power Grid Corporation of India for the construction of gas insulated substations in Vadodara, Navasari, Pune, and Gwalior cities. The building & factories business has been selected for projects valued at INR5.18bn ($77.4M) in the domestic market.It has won an order from a paint manufacturing company for the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Karnataka. The scope of the project includes civil and allied structural works.Additionally, the business segment has secured a residential project at Bengaluru. The contract includes civil and structural works for the construction of seven towers of G+14 and 11 towers of G+15 with two levels of common basement.The company’s smart world & communication business has won a contract worth INR2bn ($29.9M) from Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BSEDC) for the implementation of a wi-fi project in the campuses of government universities, constituent colleges and other premier academic institutions in the Indian state of Bihar.Larsen and Toubro’s other businesses also secured orders worth INR860M ($12.8M) across various ongoing projects.
India-based firm KEC International has secured new energy plant contracts worth INR12.24bn ($182.7M) in India, Thailand and Bangladesh.The company’s transmission and distribution business has secured domestic orders worth INR5.89bn ($88M) from Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation under the Indian government’s ‘Green Energy Corridors’ initiative. It includes the supply and construction of a 400/220kV GIS & AIS substation and a 400kV transmission line at Jagalur, Karnataka, and a 400/220kV Substation and 66kV transmission Line at Gadag, Karnataka.KEC’s transmission business has also secured international contracts worth INR2.16bn ($32.2M). A turnkey order of INR1.73bn ($25.8M) was awarded by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand for the construction of a 500kV transmission line on the Thai/Laos border, while an INR430M ($6.4M) contract was awarded by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh for the construction of 132kV transmission lines.The firm’s railways business has secured orders worth INR2.48bn ($37M) for overhead electrification in India, and its cables business won an INR1.71bn ($25.5M) contract to supply power and telecom cables.KEC International managing director and CEO Vimal Kejriwal said: “We are pleased that we continue to strengthen our order book across various businesses and geographies.“In the Transmission and Distribution arena, the order win in Thailand is a significant step in our pursuit to diversify our geographic spread into the ASEAN region. On the Domestic front, the order wins clearly reflect a strong growth in the intra-state T&D network.“The new order wins in Railways strengthen our belief that the Railway Business is poised for a rapid built-up in order book and revenues.”
MidAmerican Energy Company has secured approval from the Iowa Utilities Board to construct a 2GW wind project in Iowa, US.The project, known as Wind XI, will include 1,000 wind turbines. Wind XI will consist of multiple sites across Iowa, which are still being finalised. The wind sites will be placed into service over a three-year period.MidAmerican Energy president and CEO Bill Fehrman said: “This is an exciting day for our customers, the state of Iowa and MidAmerican Energy. We thank the board for its support and for moving quickly to deliver this ruling.“Wind energy helps us keep prices stable and more affordable for customers, provides jobs and economic benefits for communities and the state, and contributes to a cleaner environment for everyone.”Construction work is set to commence soon with completion scheduled for the end of 2019.
An engineering solution devised by heavy lifting specialist Mammoet will be used in Malaysia to assist with the placement of large reactor vessels, as part of an expansion at a petrochemical complex.The expansion project includes the installation of new reactor vessels ranging up to 650t and over 100m tall.To overcome the site’s constraint operating area and low pipe rack, Mammoet has come up with a “unique solution” to install the vessels. The use of one of its PTC 35 ring cranes — with a capacity of up to 1,600t — will enable the vessels to be installed from a main road and lifted over the pipe rack. Mammoet APAC manager solutions Roel Wesel said: “Mammoet was able to provide our client with a unique solution that would optimize the handling of heavy vessels. Less movements on site results in reduced risks, reduced costs and a faster completion, reducing the overall time-to-market for our client.”
KfW IPEX-Bank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) have agreed to provide a $160M loan for the construction of the Peralta wind farm in Uruguay.The wind farm — located in the municipality of Cuchilla de Peralta in the department of Tacuarembó in central Uruguay — is being built by German wind turbine manufacturer Enercon and will have a total installed capacity of 117.5MW.Peralta will feature 50 Enercon E-92 wind turbines including a hub height of 108m, a rotor diameter of 92m and an output of 2,350kW per turbine. It will produce enough energy to supply around 150,000 Uruguayan households.The power produced in the facility will be sold to the national energy supplier Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas (UTE), which signed a power purchase agreement for a period of 20 years. KfW IPEX-Bank management board member Markus Scheer said: “German and European wind technology is in demand internationally. This is a great opportunity — both for manufacturers and the environment. As a bank, we do our part in helping ideas and projects take concrete shape.”