BASF Antwerp NV, has awarded Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. a contract to provide engineering services at its integrated chemicals complex in Antwerp, Belgium.

Under the terms of the contract, Jacobs is providing process, piping and electrical/ instrumentation engineering services. Officials did not disclose the contract value, but noted that the contract duration is three years.

BASF’s integrated approach to manufacturing, research, infrastructure, processes and management is known as Verbund, a German word meaning linked or integrated to the maximum degree. The Antwerp site is BASF’s second-largest Verbund site; it comprises more than 50 installations located on 6km2 (over two square miles).

Clarke Energy has signed a contract with Bord na Móna to deliver a landfill gas power plant at the Drehid Landfill site in the Republic of Ireland. This power plant will utilise landfill gas that originates from household waste to produce renewable power.

Up to 25 jobs will be supported during the plant’s construction and 3-4 permanent positions for the site’s ongoing operations.

The project will utilise landfill gas produced from the decomposition of waste in the landfill site to produce 5.6 megawatts of renewable electricity, enough to power 14,000 homes.

The project will utilise four of GE Power & Water’s containerised Jenbacher 420 gas engines each rated at 1.4MW electrical output to deliver 5.6 megawatts of renewable power. Jenbacher gas engines are renowned for their high efficiency and robust performance on difficult gases such as landfill gas.

Landfill gas is a byproduct of microbial activity and is formed from the anaerobic decomposition of organic waste materials. It is comprised primarily of methane and carbon dioxide.

The methane which contains the chemical energy for power is typically at 40-60% concentration. This biogas, if released to atmosphere, is a potent greenhouse gas.

However, if the gas is utilised in a gas engine, emissions are reduced and renewable electricity is produced, with the added benefit of converting a waste material into a useful fuel.

Using landfill gas for power provides base-load electricity; unlike wind power and solar, landfill gas can be used to deliver continuous, stable supplies of electricity to the power grid.

Aberdeen, UK – BP has awarded AMEC a two-year integrated services contract renewal to provide operations, maintenance and project support to the Forties Pipeline System (FPS) in the North Sea.

The contract is valued at between £10 million and £15 million per year, depending on activity levels and is scheduled to run through to December 2014.

AMEC is to take on increased responsibility to run, maintain and improve the year-round, 24-hour operation of the Unity offshore platform and four onshore pumping stations which form a major part of the FPS.

Personnel from AMEC and BP will work closely together on the project. The current workforce will be retained, with additional recruitment occurring as and when the work scope demands.

Mike Horgan, managing director of AMEC’s Asset Management business said: “We have been supporting the Forties Pipeline System for the past 16 years. We are pleased to be continuing our long term relationship with BP and supporting them to meet the needs of the Central North Sea’s oil and gas development.”

AMEC said it has "an exemplary" safety record on the project, with no lost time incidents (LTIs) over the last 15 years.

The FPS has a carrying capacity in excess of 750,000 barrels per day and carries around 40 per cent of the UK’s oil production.