Administrator
New wood chip plant to supply E.ON
Wood recycling firm Plevin is to open the UK’s largest waste wood recycling centre – primarily to supply wood chips for E.ON’s £120m renewable energy plant at Blackburn Meadows near Sheffield.
As exclusive suppliers of fuel for the biomass-fired facility, Pelvin plan to install the £5 million facility on a 50 acre site in Hazlehead, South Yorkshire.
The development has been timed to coincide with the start of our contract with E.ON, with work due for completion in Spring 2014.
The project will create 20 jobs and process up to 150,000 tonnes of waste wood a year – raising family-run Pelvin's annual waste wood processing capacity to 350,000 tonnes.
Jamie Plevin, managing director of Plevin, said: “The Hazlehead facility will be a fantastic development for us, and with the E.ON contract we are making significant strides towards our growth targets.
“As well as helping us expand our operations by giving us further capacity for new contracts, Hazlehead will also help us to offer increased processing volumes to existing customers.
“The project will allow us to have an open gate policy for contracted suppliers on all grades of waste wood. Once completed, we will be able to offer guaranteed recycling of a large volume of high and low grade waste wood.
Sourcing of the additional 150,000 tonnes of wood waste for the Hazlehead development will be led by business development manager Andrew McFadzean, who has recently been recruited by Plevin as part of its ongoing recruitment drive.
Andrew has more than 15 years’ experience within the waste wood recycling industry, having been a founding member of Tracey Timber Recycling before becoming the materials manager at AW Jenkinson Forest Products.
His new role will include responsibility for sourcing and procuring waste wood for all Plevin sites, as well as supporting with logistic and processing operations.
First for GE WWT technology in Spain
Spanish poultry processing firm, Procavi SL has doubled wastewater treatment capacity and improved water quality following the installation of a GE membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology.
Wastewater discharge regulations and water quality standards, along with an increase in factory production, led Procavi to expand its existing wastewater treatment plant.
The use of GE's LEAPmb technology – the first such installation in Spain – allowed Procavi to increase its water treatment capacity while staying within the same footprint. The previous wastewater treatment plant was producing 600 m3/day, while today it can process two times that amount—1,200 m3/day.
GE provided the technology to Agua, Energia y Medio Ambiente, Servicios Integrales SL (AEMA), a Spanish engineering, procurement and construction company that is operating the newly expanded wastewater treatment plant for Procavi.
The new capacity of the upgraded wastewater treatment plant is equivalent to the daily water use of roughly 6,000 people. Once treated, the water will be reused for washing within the production facility and for irrigation.
The Procavi wastewater treatment plant is an upgrade of an existing facility, located in the province of Seville, in southern Spain. The water discharged from the facility will released into the Corbones River, a tributary of Guadalquivir.
Dounreay reduces raffinate hazard
Tanks of highly radioactive liquid waste have been now cemented into drums at Dounreay – part of hazard-reduction efforts around the decommissioning of the former fast-reactor site in Scotland.
The liquid was produced during reprocessing of material test reactor (MTR) fuel at Dounreay. Spent fuel was dissolved in acid and the re-usable fuel separated from the waste, or fission products, using solvent extraction.
The acidic liquor containing the waste, known as raffinate, was transferred to underground storage tanks. It is highly radioactive, accounting for around 80% of the waste inventory at Dounreay in terms of radioactivity.
The total volume of raffinate generated was 1200 cubic metres, according to a 10 May announcement by Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd – the company in charge of the site clean-up and demolition programme
In the 1980s and early 90s, Dounreay invested in a cementation plant at Dounreay, to condition the research reactor raffinate. The Dounreay Cement Plant (DCP) has been in operation since 1996 processing the MTR raffinate.
Batches of liquor were transferred from the tanks, neutralised and mixed with cement powder inside 500-litre drums, to make it safe for long-term storage or disposal.
560 drums have been cemented during the past financial year to complete the removal of pumpable MTR raffinate from the eleven raffinate tanks. Over 4,700 drums have been generated to date with the successful cement solidification of the MTR raffinate.
To pump out the heels that have heavy solids, nitric acid is being added to the tanks. Three tanks have been completed, and two are currently being treated.
A Dounreay-devised pump system will be used to pump out the tanks that have been drained leaving a heel of approximately 750 litres, and the raffinate will be cemented into drums.
The next stage is cleaning the tanks out and Dounreay is working on a way forward.
Laboratory trials are underway to use a decontamination solution of nitric and hydrofluoric acid. The tanks will be flooded with the solution and then pumped out.
Once the tanks have been decontaminated to meet LLW criteria, they will then be removed and disposed in the new LLW facility.
Foster Wheeler FEED for Russia refinery
Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract by OJSC Gazpromneft Moscow Refinery to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) and design documentation in accordance with Russian norms, for a major investment, termed the Combined Oil Refinery Unit (CORU) Project, at the Moscow Refinery.
The CORU project is part of the implementation of Gazpromneft’s OJSC Moscow Refinery Revamping and Upgrading Program, under which the refinery will be expanded up to 2020 to process an additional six million tons of crude oil per year and produce transportation fuels to Euro-V standards.
The CORU facilities are planned to include crude distillation and vacuum distillation units (CDU & VDU), a continuous catalytic reforming unit with naphtha hydrotreatment and hydrogen recovery by pressure swing adsorption, a diesel hydrotreater including a dewaxing section, a gas plant with a liquefied petroleum gases sweetening unit and common utilities.
The FEED activities are expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2013 while the submission of design documentation is scheduled for the first quarter of 2014.
Foster Wheeler was previously awarded the process design package for the facilities’ crude and vacuum distillation units and the gas plant.
SSE restructures power portfolio
The work to upgrade Medway power station is fully complete and it is now able to operate at a higher efficiency with the increased flexibility necessary to satisfy the trading requirements of the local transmission system. Medway is due to commission in March 2013 and provide 700MW of commercial availability from May 2013.
The financial outlook for Uskmouth for the coming financial year 2013/14 is also negative, particularly following the introduction of the Carbon Price Floor. Nevertheless, recent improvements in market conditions and the productivity of the station have suggested that Uskmouth will be able to operate profitably in the coming year, if changes are made to the operation of the station and steps are taken to reduce ongoing maintenance costs.
Unit 13 (120MW) will, therefore, cease generation and be closed from April 2013 and by doing so avoid the cost of a major statutory outage that was otherwise planned for 2013/14.
This decision will result in a reduction of around 20 roles at the site (just over 100 people are currently employed at Uskmouth). SSE will actively seek to redeploy these people within its wide range of business operations in South Wales or meet the reduction through other voluntary means such as early retirement. It has already begun discussions with employees and their representatives about how this can best be achieved.
Following this change Uskmouth will have a generation capacity of 240MW through its two remaining units.
Given the ongoing financial challenges at Uskmouth, SSE will notify National Grid that it will release all 345MW of the TEC for the Uskmouth site from 31 March 2014.
This will mean that if market conditions suggest the station is able to operate profitably after this date, SSE will need to purchase the required level of TEC in the open market. A decision on how SSE will operate Uskmouth beyond March 2014 will be taken in early 2014.
SSE had been considering alternative options for the Uskmouth site including conversion to biomass, but recent policy decisions on ROC (Renewable Obligation Certificate) banding for new biomass have ruled these out.
Two units at Slough use ageing fluidised-bed biomass technology, which are becoming increasingly uneconomic. SSE will therefore decommission both these units, and associated infrastructure, on a phased basis over the next six months. Both units will cease generation completely by Oct 2013.
Slough’s remaining boiler and steam turbines will continue to operate as normal and SSE will invest approximately £8m to increase the output and efficiency of this unit and broaden its fuel envelope. The station will provide 20MW of capacity after this upgrade.
The net effect of these changes will be a reduction in capacity of 60MW. These changes will also require substantially fewer people to operate the plant and consequently there will be a total reduction of around 40 roles over the next six months. SSE will actively seek to redeploy these people within its wide range of business operations in southern England or meet the reduction through other voluntary means such as early retirement. It has already begun discussions with employees and their representatives about how this can best be achieved. 50 people will continue to be employed at the site.
This plan is fully consistent with SSE honouring its existing obligations to the Slough Trading Estate and will have no impact on these customers.
Longer term, SSE is pursuing the development of a new 40MW Multifuel facility at Slough. The project is currently at the public consultation stage and a full planning application is expected to be submitted to Slough Borough Council towards the end of 2013.
Transmission access charges continue to be excessively expensive in north of Scotland and, given the challenging market conditions for gas-fired generation, have resulted in the need for SSE to take steps to safeguard the future financial viability of Peterhead.
SSE will, therefore, notify National Grid that it has decided to reduce the TEC for Peterhead to 400MW from 31 March 2014, effectively constraining the total generation capacity of the site to this level.
This decision will significantly reduce the costs associated with operating Peterhead power station but is unlikely to have any impact on job numbers at the site as all existing employees will be required to operate the remaining plant.
This decision also has no impact on the proposed CCS project for Peterhead being developed in partnership with Shell UK.
Although CCGT projects such as Abernedd are ‘shovel ready’ and others such as Keadby 2 are at an advanced stage of development, unless there is a significant change in Government policy around EMR and the timing and operation of a future capacity mechanism, and clear market signals suggesting the need for increased gas-fired generation capacity, SSE does not expect to take any final investment decisions to construct these projects until at least 2015. This will effectively mean no new capacity will come into operation until 2017/18 at the earliest, given the lead times for constructing new CCGT plant.
Abernedd, South Wales
The 470MW CCGT project at Abernedd is fully consented and ‘shovel ready’. SSE issued an invitation to tender for the construction of its planned combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant at Abernedd in 2011 but now does not expect to take an investment decision on Abernedd until 2015.
Seabank 3, Bristol The Seabank 3 project is a proposal for a new CCGT plant with up to 1,400MW of capacity immediately adjacent to the existing 1,140MW CCGT Seabank plant that SSE has a 50% ownership interest in. The project is about to commence pre-application public consultations with the aim of submitting a Development Consent Order to the Planning Inspectorate in early 2014. However, SSE does not expect to take an investment decision on Seabank 3 until 2016 at the earliest.
Fiddler’s Ferry, Cheshire
All four units (combined 1990MW) at Fiddler’s Ferry are compliant with the LCPD and opted-in to the Industrial Emissions Directive Transitional National Plan (TNP).
SSE will conclude a significant trial investment on one 485MW unit in the next few months, which, if successful, will reduce the emissions of NOx and provide the option of increased generation under the TNP. Further investment in similar technologies could be extended to the other three units at the plant, as well as to the two remaining units at Ferrybridge. This would give SSE significant optionality to operate this coal-fired plant up to and beyond 2020 and support SSE’s commitment to a diverse, flexible and cost-effective generation portfolio.
This investment decision will be heavily influenced by the government’s policy on the operation of a capacity support mechanism and the level of any future carbon price support.
Great Island, Co Wexford SSE acquired the 460MW CCGT project at Great Island as part of the portfolio of assets acquired from Endesa Generacion in October 2012. Construction at the site is well advanced, with the first turbine on site and about to be installed. The plant is expected to be commissioned in summer 2014.
The Single Electricity Market (SEM) in Ireland already has an effective capacity mechanism in place that remunerates generators for fixed capital costs when plant is made available. This mechanism was a key factor in SSE’s decision to progress with the development and means it is able to proceed with investment in new thermal electricity generation plant in the Irish market, which is in contrast to the position in respect of the Great Britain market.
Engineering graduates top salary survey
Engineering graduates in the US continued to dominate the list of starting salaries in the latest survey published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Engineers took seven of the top ten spots in NACE’s April survey, which is based on data from 400,000 US employers. Petroleum engineers earned the most with an average starting salary of $93,500 (£60,323).
Chemical engineering graduates were ranked third, after computer engineers, with a healthy starting salary of $67,600 (£43,612).
Overall, engineering starting salaries in the US rose by 4% to $62,535 (£40,345). Leading non-engineering disciplines included computer science ($64,800/£41,806) and finance ($57,400/£37,032).
In the UK, chemical engineering graduates enjoy similarly high starting salaries. The Institution of Chemical Engineers’ (IChemE) annual salary survey, published in July 2012, indicated graduates typically could expect to earn £28,000 ($43,400) in their first year.
IChemE chief executive, David Brown, said: “This latest data shows the high regard and status of engineering and chemical engineering in the US.
“This appeal is reflected in the UK as well. Record numbers of students are enrolling on IChemE degree courses. Over the past decade student intake numbers have grown by 134% driven by the remuneration and job satisfaction of a discipline that brings huge benefits to everyday life.”
GDF SUEZ advances China LNG position
GDF SUEZ signed several significant agreements with Chinese partners in the field of natural gas storage, the provision of liquefied natural gas regasification facilities and the environment.
After the signing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts, GDF SUEZ has for the first time signed an agreement in the field of natural gas storage in China.
The technical service agreement signed with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) schedules the assessment of six projects to convert depleted fields into underground natural gas storage facilities, which its subsidiary PetroChina plans to fill with gas in 2013.
The total storage volume is expected to be be 10 billion cubic meters (bcm) – the equivalent of GDF SUEZ’s entire storage capacity in France today.
This initial award follows a year of discussions during which PetroChina met experts from Storengy in both Europe and China. Storengy is a subsidiary of GDF SUEZ dedicated to the underground storage of natural gas.
With its presence and expertise in storage in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Storengy is looking to expand its activities in China. As such, the 12th five-year plan currently in effect requires the construction of approximately 24 underground storage facilities, with a useful volume of 30 bcm by 2017, compared to 3 bcm today.
GDF SUEZ will also provide China with a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), speeding up the possible reception of LNG in Tianjin. The city is located around hundred kilometers from Beijing and the FSRU will support the region’s growth.
This agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) schedules the sub-chartering of the GDF SUEZ Cape Ann LNG carrier from October 2013 for a period of up to five years. The FSRU will be permanently moored in Tianjin and will become the first floating LNG import terminal in China.
This delivery follows the signing in 2011 of a cooperation agreement on LNG floating storage and regasification units between GDF SUEZ and CNOOC.
CNOOC is the largest importer of LNG in China. Under a supply agreement reached in 2010, GDF SUEZ is delivering to CNOOC about 2.6 million tonnes of LNG over a four-year period beginning in 2013.
GDF SUEZ has over 50 years’ experience in land-based LNG terminals and built the Mejillones floating terminal in Chile. In 2012, the Group was also selected by the Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation as a strategic partner for the development of a proposed floating LNG import terminal on the east coast of India.
Meanwhile, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has also signed a cooperative contract with the Beijing Enterprise Environmental Group, a subsidiary of Beijing Enterprises Holdings to establish a joint venture dedicated to developing operations and management of waste facilities in China.
This partnership, through SITA Waste Services, a subsidiary of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT, will offer comprehensive operating and maintenance services, consisting of waste operations and management, team training, and technical support. It will be integrated into existing facilities as well as new Beijing Enterprises projects.
The agreement extends the GDF SUEZ Group’s partnership with Beijing Enterprises Holdings, established in natural gas supply via Beijing Gas, water supply via Beijing Water and waste via the Beijing Enterprise Environmental Group.
Hertel wins contract for Statoil platform
Hertel Offshore have signed a €70 million contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries for the engineering, design and construction (EPC) of the new accommodation for Statoil’s Aasta Hansteen platform.
The Norwegian contract follows on from Hertel's award for Statoil’s Valemon Living Quarter (LQ) project in 2011 and the Shell Norge Draugen Additional Living Quarter project in 2012 – both currently under construction in its Rotterdam facility.
The project is on a lump sum EPC basis and will draw on the in-house capabilities of Hertel Offshore. Work has already started and delivery is scheduled for April 2015. Design will be based on the stringent Norsok standards and Statoil requirements. Several Hertel innovations will be used including prefab cabins to facilitate an efficient construction process.
Peter van Aken, Managing Director said: "We are very proud to work alongside Hyundai Heavy Industries and it is a privilege to build such a state of the art LQ. This project will also further strengthen Hertel’s presence on the Norwegian Continental Shelf."
The Aasta Hansteen Living Quarter will be made of steel and will accommodate 108 persons. The five storey building weighs approx. 2,600 tonnes and will be fully equipped with everything required for offshore operations, such as galley, recreational area, medical room, control room and heli deck.
The Aasta Hansteen gas field is located on Blocks 6706/12, 6707/10, roughly 186 miles (300 kilometers) from land in 4,265 feet (1,300 meters) of water in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. Statoil serves as the operator, holding a 75% interest; OMV holds 15%; and ConocoPhillips holds the remaining 10% interest.
Tekmar launches £1m investment
The Newton Aycliffe-based company is a significant supplier of offshore wind cable protection systems and said it will use this growth to expand its operations back into the oil & gas sector.
The expansion includes adding a further 75,000 sq. ft. to its current 27,000 sq. ft. facility. Due to Tekmar’s hard work and dedication, this growth has enabled it to take on an additional building adjacent to its existing facility, on the Newton Aycliffe Business Park.
This investment will help transform its current facility into a state-of-the-art Research and Development Centre while its existing operations will be expanded to meet the demands of the sector by operating out of the additional larger building.
Currently employing 75 people, Tekmar, which is a member of business development organisation NOF Energy, will also be investing in recruitment and training with plans to take on more than 30 new members of staff during the next 12 months.
GE to service RWE npower plants in UK
GE has signed a multimillion dollar, multi-year maintenance plan with UK energy company RWE npower to provide services to help increase the operating flexibility and reduce costs for its Great Yarmouth and Little Barford power plants.
Together, these two natural gas-burning plants serve the power needs of nearly 1 million UK homes and businesses, according to a 2 May statement from GE.
The Little Barford combined-cycle power station operates with two GE 9FA gas turbines and has a generating capacity of 740 megawatts, while the Great Yarmouth power station features one GE 9FA gas turbine and has a capacity of 400 megawatts. The agreement for these sites is among the largest GE service contracts signed in Europe over the past year.
Designed for 50-Hz applications, the advanced technology 9FA gas turbine delivers power with high efficiency, availability, reliability and low emissions.
The 9FA gas turbine provides the flexibility required today in many regions for power that can be rapidly adjusted to compensate for changes in renewable generation, demand or use. It provides the plant operator with choices to best meet fluctuating power demands.
The new service agreement follows a previous GE maintenance support agreement for the Little Barford plant that included the first UK installation of GE’s dual fuel DLN 2.6+ combustion system technology, which enables a 40% reduction in NOx emissions.
The new multi-year maintenance program is designed to help increase the availability and reliability of the GE 9FA gas turbines at the Little Barford and Great Yarmouth sites. It also will help the plants to maintain high levels of fuel efficiency and help reduce maintenance cycles, which translates to higher availability and increased revenue in generation. During the life of the contract, GE will supply OEM parts and technical services, including repair and training.
The agreement also positions RWE’s plants to benefit from GE’s latest technology and global experience. To date, GE has long-term service agreements in place at more than 700 sites worldwide.
“We are sharply focused on helping our customers maintain high productivity and returns on investment from their installed assets,” said Dick Ayres, general manager of GE’s Power Generation Services (PGS) business in Europe. “This level of service commitment is particularly crucial to energy producers in the U.K., which is currently experiencing an excess supply of power. In this type of environment, only the most efficient power plants can successfully compete, and we want to help our customers better position themselves long term.”
In addition to Little Barford and Great Yarmouth, GE continues to support the RWE npower cogen fleet at industrial power plants in the U.K.
Through a collaborative process, RWE and GE continue to work collectively to consider improvements across the U.K. fleet including technical support for the installation, operation and maintenance of gas and steam turbines, generators, turbine controls and accessory systems.
This collaboration helps improve RWE’s overall fleet performance and availability, which contribute to a more stable power grid for the communities served by RWE.