www.energydigital.com | September 2014
Sainsbury’s waste-powered market: A Load Of Rubbish? Australia’s renewable energy Future In Jeopardy
India’s push for solar Makes Energy Accessible
From Beneath the Earth
Iceland’s Geothermal Industry Continues To Gain Steam
editor ’ s c o m m e n t
The Future of Energy S u m m e r ’ s almost over and that means
vacations have probably come and gone for many. This month’s issue of Energy Digital is a globetrotting one, though, so pack your bags. For our cover story, we’ll travel to Iceland and feature its bustling geothermal industry. A land of volcanoes, skyr, and Sigur Rós, Iceland is an incredible country with vast natural geothermal resources. The country has taken advantage of these resources and the international community is starting to take notice. We’ll also take a trip to the land down under to find out what’s going with the Australian government’s renewable energy policy and why it has utilities and green energy advocates furious. Over in India, we’ll see how solar is helping modernize the rural countryside and lead the fight to provide clean energy access to some of the 400 million citizens without power. In waste management, we’ll look at the often ignored problem of food waste and see how some of the issue’s biggest offenders are coming up with some surprising solutions. Finally, our Top 10 this month features Fortune 500 companies who are making the most out of green energy.
Enjoy the issue, and have a great trip!
Kevin Smead Editor kevin.smead@wdmgroup.com 3
Big landscapes Inspire big thinking
THERE’S NOTHING LIKE AUSTRALIA FOR YOUR NEXT BUSINESS EVENT. This year we chose Australia for our global congress. It was an easy choice, as Australia’s proximity to Asia gave us the opportunity to attract many new delegates. The program was one of the best in years. New Australian developments in our field attracted a lot of interest and strong international research partnerships were established. Australia is on everyone’s list to visit, and it lured our highest number of delegates yet. There’s no doubt they’ll be talking about this convention for years to come. Dr Louise Wong, International Board Member
visit australia.com/businessevents/associations for everything you need to plan your australian event.
C o n t e n ts
Features
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UTILITIES Australia’s Renewable Energy Future in Jeopardy
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Green Tech Out of the shadows
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Waste Management
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Digesting the Food Waste Issue
Top 10
Fortune 500 Companies Using Green Energy
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RENEWABLES From Beneath the Earth 5
C o n t e n ts
SKA International
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54
Boulting Group
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88
Sharp Energy
CBC Pipeline
120 AJ Lucas
Company Profiles EUROPE 54 Boulting Group
Middle East 64 SKA International
CANADA 78 Rock Energy 88 Sharp Energy 96 CBC Pipeline
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104
Energyworks Limited
Ocala Utilities
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104 Ocala Utilities 112 Association: CG/LA Infrastructure Inc.
Australia 120 AJ Lucas
TAG Oil
xxxxxxx
USA
136 TAG Oil
158
Brazilian Association for Electric Power Companies
148 Energyworks Limited
BRAZIL 158 Association: Brazilian Association for Electric Power Companies 7
Utiliti e s Though Australia may cut its Renewable Energy Target, the state of New South Wales wants to be “Australia’s answer to California,” meaning its cities like Sydney (pictured) would be heavily reliant on renewable energy
Australia’s Renewable Energy Future in Jeopardy Edited by Deana Cacus
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September 2014
Renewable energy companies and advocates are furious as Australia may reduce its Renewable Energy Target based on a governmental review
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UTILITIES In 2001, Australia’s Howard Coalition government introduced a Renewable Energy Target (RET) policy, designed to ensure that 20 percent of Australia’s electricity would come from renewable sources by 2020. The goal was to diversify the nation’s energy sources while also supporting growth and employment in the renewable energy sector. Industry leaders planned accordingly, securing investments and launching projects that would help the country reach its target. During each stage of the RET policy, Parliament reported strong support from both of the major political parties, and the policy was expanded further in 2009. So it came as a surprise to many when the government announced in February of this year that they would be reviewing the RET policy and placed Dick Warburton—regarded by many as a climate change skeptic—at the helm of the RET Review Panel. A Cause for Concern The review caused panic in the industry and led a group of Australia’s leading clean energy investors to send an open letter to Parliament 10
September 2014
A wind farm outside of Queensland urging them to leave the RET unchanged. The letter also warned of the risks that changing the RET might cause—risks that could effect not only the industry and its investors, but also Australian citizens. “If the 41,000GWh target is reduced, or moved out past 2020, existing wind farms, bagasse plants, hydropower and large-scale facilities will suffer financial distress and the potential for financial failure,” the letter, written by Clean Energy Council’s CEO Kane Thornton and co-signed by 17 major renewable energy companies
A u stra l ia ’ s R e n ewa b l e E n erg y F u t u re i n J eopard y
‘If the 41,000GWh target is reduced, or moved out past 2020, existing wind farms, bagasse plants, hydropower and largescale facilities will suffer financial distress and the potential for financial failure’
said. “A significant reduction to the scheme would damage Australia’s reputation as a safe place to invest not only in clean energy, but in all forms of infrastructure.” Supporters of the review propose to scale the RET back to 25,000GWh or 30,000GWh. Some even believe that the RET should be scrapped altogether, with incentives offered strictly to existing generators. The review, commissioned by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, was reportedly initiated due to concerns that the current policy would lead
to increased power prices. “We have to accept that in the changed circumstances of today, the renewable energy target is causing pretty significant price pressure in the system and we ought to be an affordable energy superpower… cheap energy ought to be one of our comparative advantages,” Abbott said in December. However, those opposing the review are quick to cite modeling that challenges Abbott’s theory. ACIL Allen Consultants, whom Abbott hired to conduct modeling 11
UTILITIES used notably bleak projections within their modeling, including working on the assumption that coal and gas prices would stagnate until 2040. Separate modeling by Roam Consulting was also performed for the Clean Energy Council. The modeling, which employed more optimistic gas price projections, found that bills would be $50 lower per year by 2020 if the RET was left unchanged. A Clean Energy Exodus? Industry analysts have reported that Australia’s investment in renewable energy has plummeted over the course of the year, mainly due to the RET review. Kobad Bhanvnagri, head of Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Australian unit, reported that between January and June of 2014, $40 million was invested in large-scale renewable energy—the lowest level since the first half of 2001. Last year’s investment totaled $2.691 billion, the second largest amount of flow to the sector in the nation’s history. “Clean Energy investment in Australia fell sharply in the lead-up to the federal election and then fell further again after the Coalition took government 12
September 2014
‘Clean Energy investment in Australia fell sharply in the lead-up to the federal election and then fell further again after the Coalition took government with its promise to conduct a review of the RET,” Bhavnagri told Fairfax Media. “The investment environment for clean energy in Australia is currently very poor’ for the review, found that the current target would increase the average Australian household bill by an average of $54 per year between now and 2020 but would reduce bills by a similar amount over the decade that followed when compared to what they might be if the RET were repealed. ACIL Allen’s modeling
A u stra l ia ’ s R e n ewa b l e E n erg y F u t u re i n J eopard y
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is currently the target of criticism as his government looks to scale back renewable energy efforts
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UTILITIES
Solar farms are common in Australia, such as this one at Wilpena, Flinders Range National Park with its promise to conduct a review of the RET,” Bhavnagri told Fairfax Media. “The investment environment for clean energy in Australia is currently very poor.” Renewable energy companies throughout the country are likely to have suffered a significant drop in investment, and many are doing their part to make sure the RET remains unchanged. In addition to signing the letter to Parliament, some executives are publicly voicing their opposition to the review and warning that its repeal could have further consequences. “Hopefully the government and 14
September 2014
the parliament more broadly would accept that you can’t leave the industry in limbo with legislative uncertainty for another two years. The industry would pretty much collapse if that happened,” Miles George, managing director of Infigen Energy told RenewEconomy. “Regulatory certainty is what we need. You can’t make a 20-year investment on the back of legislation that might change every two years.” Upon the official announcement of the review, Australian Solar Council chief executive John Grimes launched a Save Solar campaign
A u stra l ia ’ s R e n ewa b l e E n erg y F u t u re i n J eopard y
‘Even if the Palmer United Party blocks any changes to the RET, if the government’s intention is to change or remove the target, investment will be affected,” Bhavnagri said. “Investors are likely to hold off on making new investments until it is clear who will be in government next, and what their clean energy policy is’ aimed at educating the public on the importance of upholding the RET. “The big projects today in Australia are dead, and the only prospect of reviving them is to shift the federal government on this issue,” Grimes said in a statement. A Future Uncertain Abbott may face resistance in the Senate in regard to altering the RET. Clive Palmer has gone on record to say that any change in the RET would be a broken promise by Abbott, and his party will swiftly block any proposed changes.
Feature Update:
While the clean energy industry is encouraged by his support, Palmer’s words do little to buoy investments in the current market. “Even if the Palmer United Party blocks any changes to the RET, if the government’s intention is to change or remove the target, investment will be affected,” Bhavnagri said. “Investors are likely to hold off on making new investments until it is clear who will be in government next, and what their clean energy policy is.” Until then, the industry may remain at a standstill.
Since the writing of this story, the panel has presented its findings on the RET and recommend it be scaled back dramatically. Click here for the most current news on the subject. 15
Green Tech
Out of the Shadows India stands on the precipice of a major solar revolution Edited by Kevin Smead 16
September 2014
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Green Tech Energy accessibility is a major issue across much of the developing world. Around the globe, almost 4 million people die annually because the only power sources available are extremely harmful to their health. These sources are used for common daily tasks that can be easily taken for granted, such as cooking and lighting one’s home. While this is a serious and pressing matter, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s estimated that nearly a billion people, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, lack basic energy accessibility. In India, this is a major problem, as a third of its citizens—400 million out of its 1.2 billion—are without power. While the problem is staggering, India isn’t willing to let the current crisis turn into a future nightmare. Though oil and gas make up much of India’s energy profile, the country is turning to solar to solve the problem. Trying Not to Get Left in the Dark When it comes to powering India, one thing is for certain: maintaining the status quo isn’t going to work. Demand for energy is increasing 18
September 2014
Despite the nighttime brilliance of cities such as Mumbai, 400 million Indians don’t have access to energy dramatically and outpacing supply. In 2012, a massive blackout left 700 million without power in India— the worst blackout in the modern times. 20 of the country’s 28 states were without power and India was temporarily plunged into chaos. While this blackout was a massive event for India’s energy infrastructure, living without access to energy is a daily reality for many rural Indians. In a video produced by
O u t of the S hadows
‘In India, this is a major problem, as a third of its citizens – 400 million out of its 1.2 billion – are without power.’
ClimateProgresss, one family discusses the crippling nature of their lifestyle without the most basic of necessities: light. “Without light, one can’t do anything,” Govind Singh, an elderly man, says in the video. Not only are there obvious drawbacks to the absence of a reliable light source, but the not-so-hidden costs of the alternatives expand the issue. Lamps, biomass, and other
forms of dirty energy have direct health effects as their smoke and emissions can be toxic. Even then, access to these is relatively limited. Many have said that renewable are the answer to this problem, and for the most part, they’d be right. High costs for both the materials and installation have made this difficult in the past, though that appears to be changing. “India is one of the largest markets in the world. If you look at China, five 19
G REEN T ECH
‘SunEdison, Tata Solar Power, and First Solar are just some of the companies who’re trying to bring solar to consumers in the form of lower-cost installations, parts, and microgrids that power single communities rather than a whole state’
A small-scale solar farm in Tamil Nadu, India. Projects such as this may be the key modernizing rural India
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September 2014
O u t of the S hadows
years ago the country had zero solar installations,” Ahmad Chatila, CEO and Director of U.S.-based solar company SunEdison, explained in an interview with The Hindu Business Line. “This year, it will be 14 GW. India is as big a country with similar needs. India needs energy and solar costs are on the decline and because of that, it is a match made in heaven.” Certainly, solar appears to be the answer to India’s energy issue, though the real key to solving the problem is the approach. Thinking Both Big and Small Addressing India’s energy problem cannot be done with a one-sizefits-all solution. This has been made clear in the rural parts of the country, where traditional electrical grids are in shambles. Power lines frequently stop functioning and leave those affected by its downing without power, often for long periods of time. “In our area, there are too many problems with electricity, sometimes the electric poles break down and other such issues,” Singh told ClimateProgress writer Andrew Satter. This scenario is common across much of rural India, where
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a strong committment to solar in the country older infrastructure lacks any sort of modern updates and is perpetually in a state of decay. To fix this, companies and innovators are thinking smaller. SunEdison, Tata Solar Power, and First Solar are just some of the companies who’re trying to bring solar to consumers in the form of lower-cost installations, parts, and microgrids that power single communities rather than a whole state. 21
G REEN T ECH The village of Dharani in the northeastern state of Bihar is a prime example of a microgrid lighting up a community. Powered by a 100 KW system, the grid serves 450 homes, which houses roughly 2,400 residents. The project was tackled by Greenpeace and two other NGOs—BASIX and CEED. While bringing energy to the rural communities is extremely important, the country’s efforts aren’t all small scale.
India’s potential solar revolution has support from the highest office in the country. With the swearing in of new Prime Minister Narendra Modi in late May of this year, the government reaffirmed its serious commitment to solar energy. Modi’s goal is to have every household run at least one light bulb by 2019. It’s an ambitious goal, though it looks to be entirely achievable. The government is aggressively pursuing the National Solar Mission,
Much of rural India isn’t connected to any sort of power grid at all
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September 2014
O u t of the S hadows
which would, by 2022, install 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power capacity and 2,000 MW of distributed solar power capacity. The budget for these measures will come at a price to the coal industry, as Modi plans to double the tax levied on it to 100 rupees ($1.70) a ton. Toward a Brighter Future While some implementation has been done on the small scale, many larger scale projects are still very much in progress. Across the country, there are quite a few. Solar is also gaining international attention, with key solar players in the Middle East coming to the INDIASOL 2014 convention in New Delhi to meet with Indian solar companies this October. In the immediate sense, it seems the future of solar in India may lie with native manufacturing rather than importation of solar panels. According to KMPG, the revitalization of the Indian panel manufacturing industry could save $42 billion in costs. With India looking to impose duties in U.S. and other Asian panel and cell suppliers, this could prove to be extreme fruitful. KMPG
believes the country needs incentives for manufacturing to take off. Chatila expressed SunEdison’s interest in manufacturing in India. “I think there are a lot of great conditions in India,” he said. “Many States have good policies. I am a believer in investing in India in manufacturing. If the Indian market does not evolve as I wish, I can export. Indian cost structures are very competitive.” Chatila is also against the duties, saying he believes that trade barriers don’t help industry in any country. He did, however, reaffirm SunEdison’s commitment to India, saying that if the company had to pay more for panels, it wouldn’t really matter. “I would like us to continue to be the leader. We do not see ourselves as a US company,” he said. “We are more an Indian company than any other company. We will do more, invest more.” India is currently sitting on the precipice of a major solar revolution, though its future is far from certain. With the support and current momentum, it’s hard to see India as a country that’s not shining in the light of the sun anytime soon. 23
RENE W A B L E S
From Beneath the Earth Iceland’s unique location has afforded it the chance to become a leader in the geothermal industry— and the country’s taken off running Edited by Kevin Smead
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RENE W A B L E S In an article published this July, The New York Times called geothermal energy “the forgotten renewable.” The article points to a report out from the Geothermal Enregy Association that examines the geothermal situation both in the U.S. and abroad. Ultimately, the report concluded that while the U.S. is lagging on harnessing geothermal energy, the international market is “booming.” It reports that more than 700 geothermal projects are underway in 76 countries. 16 of those projects are underway in the small island nation of Iceland, a pioneer in the use of geothermal energy. The idyllic country is known for its vast mountains and glaciers, is also known for its extremely
‘The idyllic country is known for its vast mountains and glaciers, is also known for its extremely active geothermal profile’ 26
September 2014
active geothermal profile. Iceland has found a way to harness the power of the earth, with nearly 25 percent of the country’s total electricity generation coming from geothermal. What places Iceland in a prime position to utilize geothermal energy, what are they doing currently, and what are their plans for the future? Location, Location, Location Much of Iceland’s relationship with geothermal energy comes down to one factor: location. Iceland is, geologically, a very young country. Straddling the Mid-Atlantic ridge, one of the Earth’s major fault lines, Iceland is one of the few countries where one can see the active spreading of the ridge above sea level. The two tectonic plates—the North American and Eurasian plates—move apart at a rate of about 2 cm per year. In general, Iceland is active tectonically. Iceland also more than 200 volcanoes and 30 of them have erupted since the country was initially settled. Iceland is also frequently hit with Earthquakes, though never suffers any substantial damage from them. The country is littered with geothermal hotspots,
F ro m Be n eath the E arth
While Reykjavik is Iceland’s only major city, the aluminum industy accounts for a large amount of energy consumption in the country and currently, there are more than 600 known hot springs. In Iceland, there are high and low temperature zones, depending on their location and proximity to the active volcanic zones. High temperature zones are located in the volcanic zones and mostly on high ground. In these zones, water follows the boiling point curve, with the highest recorded at 386̊ C. The low temperature
zones are located outside of the active volcanic zones and can be seen as hot springs or warm rains. This unique location affords Iceland unfettered access to some of the world’s most active geological areas and they are more certainly making use of it. Geothermal as a Hot Commodity In 2013, geothermal energy was used 27
RENE W A B L E S
‘Essentially, IDDP-1 is the world’s first magmaenhanced geothermal system, the first to supply heat directly from molten magma’
The Nesjavellir geothermal power station is just one of several across Iceland for a number of different purposes, both on an industrial and consumerfacing level. While the majority of usage is comprised of electricity generation (40 percent) and space heating (43 percent), others such as fish farming and snow melting remain vitally important. That wasn’t always the case, though. Until the early twentieth century, geothermal in Iceland 28
September 2014
was used exclusively for bathing, laundry, and cooking. While no longer exclusive, those facets of life are still powered by geothermal in an almost entirely sustainable manner. Heating greenhouses is still a vital part of Iceland’s food economy, since geothermal is used to disinfect the soil. Other direct utilizations include the manufacture of seaweed, production of salt, and cooking.
F ro m Be n eath the E arth
The niche that geothermal has really filled, though, is in electricity generation. Even for a country with fewer than 330,000 people, electricity is still in high demand. Thankfully, as demand has risen, so has supply, thanks in part to the harnessing of geothermal. In the late 1970s, geothermal began to slowly make its way into the Icelandic mainstream energy market. It wasn’t until almost 2007 that growth took off exponentially. Three new geothermal facilities got the country to its 2012 levels, in which the country produced 4,600 GWh, or 24.5 percent of the country’s total electricity production. Iceland isn’t exactly a huge consumer of electricity, but its
aluminum consumes the most by far. Accounting for 68.4 percent of the country’s energy consumption, the industry used more than 12,000 GWh in 2013. The next closest consumer is the ferrosilicon industry, accounting for 8.7 percent of electricity consumption at less than 2000 GWh. Almost all of electricity, some 99 percent, is produced from renewable sources, though the potential for geothermal in Iceland is still relatively untapped. “It’s been estimated that by conventional use of geothermal, the available power in Iceland could be on the order of 20 to 30 terawatthours per year,” Ólafur Flóvez, general director of ÍSOR, or Iceland
The Blue Lagoon, a hotspring with black sands and nutrientrich mud, is a popular tourist destination
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RENE W A B L E S Geosurvey, told Scientific American. “Currently we’re producing maybe four terawatt-hours per year.” The country is attracting industrial attention, though. American aluminum giant Alcoa is investing heavily in Iceland and Microsoft and Google have expressed interest in Iceland as well. While Iceland’s geothermal present looks relatively conventional, it’s the future that is more than just steam. Powering the Future The next step for Iceland is to make geothermal energy more widely accessible and keep its focus squarely on sustainability. Iceland’s National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun) has developed a plan to keep production feasible and avoid doing things in excess. Calling it “stepwise development.” The approach involves estimating the size of the next development step once one has been completed. This will help curb drilling and exploration costs. The Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP) is also looking for new sources of geothermal energy deeper in the earth. In 2009, they found molten lava more than a mile 30
September 2014
‘Until the early twentieth Iceland was used exclusi and cooking. While no lon facets of life are still pow in an almost entirely sust
F ro m Be n eath the E arth
century, geothermal in ively for bathing, laundry, nger exclusive, those wered by geothermal tainable manner’
Iceland is rich with landscapes such as this, where geothermal pools bubble up through the earth
underground. Now, they have been able to convert the lava to energy. Professor emeritus of geology at University of California, Riverside, told The Conversation that this could be a major breakthrough for Iceland, noting that “drilling into magma is a very rare occurrence, and this is only the second known instance anywhere in the world.” “Essentially, IDDP-1 is the world’s first magma-enhanced geothermal system, the first to supply heat directly from molten magma,” Elders continued. “This could lead to a revolution in the energy efficiency of high-temperature geothermal projects in the future.” Not all are thrilled, however. As Iceland begins to export geothermal energy and both Canadian- and U.Kbased companies begin to move in, the locals are divided on whether to keep the power homegrown, or foster international growth. As more focus is being placed on the geothermal industry in Iceland, keeping foreign investors out may be a difficult task. Already, it would seem, the day has come where geothermal isn’t the “forgotten renewable” after all—both in Iceland and beyond. 31
W A S T E M A N A G EMEN T
Digesting the Food Waste Issue Food waste is a growing concern and some of its biggest offenders are offering innovative solutions Writ ten by: Kevin Sme ad
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W A S T E M A N A G EMEN T Food waste is an issue that’s both pressing and easy to ignore. Each day, we’re confronted with food items to assess and make decisions on whether to keep or dispose of. Does that cheese smell funkier than usual? Is this bread stale? Are these bananas just a little too brown? It makes sense to throw food away when it’s necessary; you don’t want to eat something that’s going to do you harm. Far too often, however, perfectly edible food is thrown away. In the U.S. alone, 90 percent of Americans throw food away because of their misinterpretation of expiration dates. According to a study conducted by Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental action group, Americans are throwing out nearly $165 billion in wasted food each year. This is also a huge problem in the U.K. 7.2 million tons of food and drink are disposed of annually, much of which is perfectly safe for consumption. It’s costing the U.K. €12 billion a year and shows no signs of slowing. While the numbers detailing this 34
September 2014
‘In the U.S. alone, 90 percent of Americans throw food away because of their misinterpretation of expiration dates’
D igesti n g the F ood W aste I ss u e
waste are certainly staggering, it’s the costs that are harder to quantify where the real danger lies. Food waste, despite being food, is still waste and costs money, resources, and space to deal with—not to mention the toll it takes on the environment. Some of the biggest offenders when it comes to food waste are supermarkets. For a variety of reasons, supermarkets dispose of incredible amounts of edible food daily. However, while they are part of the problem, supermarkets are also looking to be part of the solution. There are several that are leading the way in effectively managing their food waste—with one supermarket turning the food it would normally throw out into energy. “Sell By,” “Use By,” and “Best Before” What’s the difference between “sell by,” “use by,” and “best before” when it comes to food expiration labels? The lack of understanding in answering this question is driving much of the issue with managing food waste. Even still, the answer is more a subjective than objective one. “Sell by” dates are for stores to know the shelf life of a product, while the “use 35
W A S T E M A N A G EMEN T by” and “best before” dates are for consumers to know when the food is supposedly no longer safe. These dates, however, are all estimates. As previously stated, throwing unsafe food away is the best interest of the person who would otherwise consume it, but often times the food that goes bad is seen as excess, which in a world of massive hunger disparity, is a major problem in itself. “We have a tendency to overbuy and overcook,” CEO of SupermarketGuru. com Phil Lempert said. “Awareness of how much food you’re wasting does help people buy properly. As prices go up, people also become more aware.” Some supermarkets have attempted to mitigate this by donating food to hunger initiatives, though
regulations on what can and can’t be donated, and whether food can be donated at all, often make this more difficult than it needs to be. U.K. supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is taking a different approach to managing its food waste: by turning its would-be wasted food into energy.
Sainsbury’s is one of the largest grocery chains in the U.K
“Sainsbury’s sends absolutely no waste to landfill and we’re always looking for new ways to reuse and recycle.”
Nothing Goes to Waste In October of 2011, Sainsbury’s signed a three-year deal with Biffa to send all of its food waste to anaerobic digestions for conversion into energy. The energy is used to power homes and businesses, while none of Sainsbury’s waste ever goes to landfill. It’s a solution to waste management that just makes sense, especially to Sainsbury’s former property director Neil Sachdev.
– P aul Crewe, Sainsbury’s’ Head of Sustainability
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D igesti n g the F ood W aste I ss u e
Sainsbury’s doesn’t send any of its food waste to landfills “Anaerobic digestion is the most efficient way to create energy from waste, so this new contract means our food waste is being put to the best possible use,” he said. “It has taken quite some time for us to get into a position where we are able to send all of our food waste to AD due to a lack of facilities in the UK. However, I am pleased to see that the waste industry is catching up with demand for this
green technology. This new contract builds on our existing leadership position on AD, making us the largest retail user of AD in the country.” In late July, Sainsbury’s announced that in continued partnership with Biffa, it would take its store in Cannock off the grid, powering it entirely using energy from wasted food. “Sainsbury’s sends absolutely no waste to landfill and we’re always 37
W A S T E M A N A G EMEN T looking for new ways to reuse and recycle,” Paul Crewe, Sainsbury’s’ head of sustainability, said. “We’re delighted to be the first business ever to make use of this linkup technology, allowing our Cannock store to be powered entirely by our food waste.” What isn’t used to energy is donated to hunger initiatives. Anaerobic digestion is an increasingly popular form of energyfrom-waste for a number of reasons including its carbon neutrality and A biogas plant is used to generate energy from the food waste
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ability to operate in remote areas. Sainsbury’s efforts in this field are already paying off, as the energy can power 2,500 homes each year in the area of Cannock. A Perfect Solution to an ‘Imperfect’ Problem The European Union declared 2014 the European Year Against Food Waste. While Sainsbury’s is inarguably the leader in this category, French supermarket chain Intermarché has
‘This turned out to be a wildly successful venture, as during the first two days of the campaign, each store averaged 1.2 tons of sales and saw an increased 24 percent average foot traffic. Though this may be a different kind of energy – the caloric kind – these kinds of initiatives are vital to the success of programs like Sainsbury’s.’
D igesti n g the F ood W aste I ss u e
a slightly different solution which involves a clever bit of marketing. The company bought the imperfect and “grotesque” fruits and vegetables from its growers that would otherwise be thrown away. These are all perfectly safe for consumption, though their appearance hinders sales. Intermarché markets the fruits and vegetables in a humorous, appealing manner (calling them The Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables) and sells them for 30 percent less than “normal” produce. To get customers to buy in, they provided sample juices and soups made from the Inglorious produce to prove their lack of difference. This turned out to be a wildly successful venture, as during the first two days of the campaign, each store averaged 1.2 tons of sales and saw an increased 24 percent average foot traffic. Though this may be a different kind of energy—the caloric kind—these kinds of initiatives are vital to the success of programs like Sainsbury’s. “Efficient energy recovery means getting the most out of energy from waste, not putting the most waste into energy recovery,” reads the U.K.’s analysis of its
Intermarche’s poster for its Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables energy-from-waste efforts. These two innovative approaches are helping fight the often overlooked issue of food waste and the energy industry at large would do well to take note, as more projects such as these are sure to sprout up. Partnerships such as Sainsbury’s and Biffa’s are lucrative for not only monetary reasons, but also put companies such as Biffa in a position to become early leaders in eliminating food waste. 39
T OP 1 0
Fortune 500 Companies Using Green Energy Written by: Kevin Smead
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top 10
Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a global security company headquartered in Bethesda Maryland. Annually, it uses 431,108,840 kWh of green energy, which makes up 24 percent of its total power usage. Its main conservation
10 42
September 2014
focus currently lies in its buildings and infrastructure. It’s trying to build greener and clean up its IT activities. It also won the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Award for 2012. www.lockheedmartin.com
09 Starbucks
Starbucks recognizes that its energy use is the single biggest impact the company has on the climate. It’s already a large consumer of renewable energy though, using 582,520,523 kWh annually, making up 67 percent
of its total energy consumption. Starbucks wants to power 100 percent of its stores using Renewable Energy Credits by 2015. It is also the winner of the Green Power Leadership Award for 2005, 2006, and 2007. www.starbucks.com 43
top 10
08 Apple
While it’s not the largest consumer of green energy, Apple is one of the most efficient. As it is, it utilizes 626,315,500 kWh of green power annually. Also, it aims to have a neutral carbon footprint very soon. It’s recently taken steps such 44
September 2014
as the purchase of several solar farms to make its data centers entirely sustainable. It’s also working to make all of its retail stores entirely sustainable, and is coming closer to that reality daily. www.apple.com
F ort u n e 5 0 0 Co m pa n ies Usi n g G ree n E n erg y
Staples If there was a “most improved� special mention on this list, it would go to Staples. From 2001 to 2011, Staples reduced its carbon footprint by 66 percent. Staples has also received numerous awards for its usage of green energy—the most recent of which was the Sustained Excellence
in Green Power Award in 2013. Staples utilizes 635,951,792 kWh of green energy, which is 106 percent of its energy consumption. This extra percentage comes from the fact that Staples has 36 on-site solar installations for some of its stores. www.staples.com
07
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Wal-Mart While it may be surprising to some, Wal-Mart is a leader in corporate sustainability. Winner of the 2009 Green Power Leadership Award, Wal-Mart utilizes 650,716,703 kWh of green
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energy annually. With more than 10,000 stores worldwide, however, this usage only amounts to 3 percent of the company’s total energy consumption. www.walmart.com
Google Google is one of the biggest proponents for green energy in the world, having been a carbon neutral company since 2007. It utilizes 737,364,727 kWh of green energy annually and its data centers use roughly half the
05
energy than a typical data center. Where it really shines, though, is in its driving of renewable energy innovation, committing vast amounts time and money to finding better sources of energy.
www.google.com
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top 10
Whole Foods Not surprisingly, a grocery store that is committed to healthier, locally-sourced food is also heavily invested in sustainable energy. Winner of countless awards for its efforts, Whole Foods uses 800,257,623 kWh 48
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04
of green energy annually, accounting for 107 percent of its total energy consumption. The company has a Green Mission Leadership Team, which helms its sustainable business practice research and implementation.
www.wholefoodsmarket.com
F ort u n e 5 0 0 Co m pa n ies Usi n g G ree n E n erg y
Microsoft Microsoft is one of the world’s largest purchasers or green energy, utilizing 1,363,216,892 kWh annually. That, along with several other initiatives in the company, has allowed it to meet its target of
reducing its carbon footprint 30 percent, using 2007 as a baseline. Ultimately, Microsoft Wants to achieve carbon neutrality and is going about making it happen by making its buildings more efficient. www.microsoft.com
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02
Kohl’s The amount of awards Kohl’s has won for its sustainable business practices is impressive. Even more impressive is that the company utilizes 1,536,529,000 kWh of green energy annually, accounting for 105 percent of its total energy consumption. The company has three specific strategies for keeping its business in the green: focusing on sustainable operations, engaging stakeholders, and keeping its supply chain sustainable. www.kohls.com
top 10
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01 Intel
Intel utilizes more than double the green energy that Kohl’s does, at a whopping 3,102,050,000 kWh annually. It uses energy from a number of different sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, and biomass. It even operates 18 on site solar panels with a capacity of 7,000 kW. “Our renewable purchase is just one part of a multi-faceted approach to protect the environment, and one that we hope spurs additional development and demand for renewable energy,” Intel’s Director of Global Utilities and Infrastructure Marty Sedler said. www.intel.com
Boulting
reaps benefits of an excellent reputation Written by: Sam Jermy Produced by: James Pepper
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B o u lt i n g G r o u p
Founded as an electrical installation company, the group has branched into engineering services, project and solutions in recent years seeing real strength in its water and utilities sector
B
oulting Group is enhancing its position in the water and utilities market. Having been successful in delivering projects in excess of ÂŁ20 million in other market sectors, it is now engaging in major seven-figure projects, including a ÂŁ2.5 million energy efficiency and asset upgrade improvement with Thames Water. This pump station, built in 1923 is an ongoing project, due for completion in 2015. It will provide a return on investment (ROI) in less than five years, and will provide efficient and reliable performance for many more years. Boulting carried out the review, consultancy, front end engineering and design and is delivering a full Engineering, Procurement and Construction project. Whilst there is a hard edge in terms of achieving optimum performance, there is also a desire to maintain the original character of the pump station.
Boulting House
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E n erg y
Annual Apprentice Intake Induction at Boulting House
This has provided a comprehensive portfolio of engineering delivery options and solutions but it is something that has spread and in recent years business has grown through looking at pump and system optimisation for the water industry. Brian Conway, Director at Boulting Group, said: “It’s really an energy-efficiency initiative some of the water companies have picked up on in recent times. If you had looked at it about 10 years ago the cost of electrical energy supply was about 2.5p per kilowatt hour and now it’s 10p per kilowatt hour, and even though we were able to get the same amount of energy savings, the ROI on the projects took a lot longer back then. In many cases, due to
Boulting Site Maintenance
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www.halton-panelcraft.co.uk
Manufacturers of:
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“Halton Panelcraft is proud of our 19 year association with Boulting Group and look forward to many more years at this exciting time” John Reading – Managing Director
Knowledge@detecon:
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B o u lt i n g G r o u p
EUROPE
the extended ROI, projects were shelved. “Now these companies are able to see a much more rapid return on their investment, and we have seen an increase in business through natural osmosis as a result.” In general, pump systems are responsible for 70 percent of a water company’s electrical bill. In the UK it is estimated the energy used by pump systems would be worth somewhere in the region of £1 billion. Much of the company growth since the 1990s has come through expansion of its engineering skillset and transferring its expertise in to other markets. Its manufacturing of automated motor control centres and specialist process control software, together with mechanical fabrication and refurbishment now account for 50 percent of the business. The remainder of the business is focused on delivering engineering projects or site-based maintenance. Energy efficiency Water companies are beginning to consider a different approach in terms of energy efficiency. Where they would have typically gone out to ‘Tier One’ contractors to do the consultancy, provide the analysis, develop the specification and so on, they now bypass this and ask Boulting to do everything. This is far more time and cost-efficient for the client, and it streamlines the whole process, reducing the time from front-end consultancy to
“A lot of what we do is improvement to the existing infrastructure, improve how it operates, the design, replace it with more efficient equipment, and modify the process control and software” – Brian Conway, Director at Boulting Group
Pump Impeller removed for redesign and efficiency improvement
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B o u lt i n g G r o u p
Pipeline construction project
commissioning of a project by about 50 percent. Conway said: “Where we have been successful in energy-efficiency services, we want to really develop that right across the UK. We have three UK water companies we work with at the moment and would like to extend that further. “It’s a massive market and there is a lot of improvements that can be made. A lot of what we do is improvement to the existing infrastructure, improve how it operates, the design, replace it with more efficient equipment, and modify the process control and software. “So we would look at all the different Tanker jetty
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aspects of the system and we’d also look at how they manage their electricity tariffs as well, so the equipment would run at the lowest electrical consumption and cost.” Typically, Boulting can get between 10 and 30 percent energy-efficiency improvement. Other six-figure projects can achieve ROI within three years, and in some cases, on smaller projects up to £30K, less than three months. Some of them are straightforward, where the group simply trains operators to enhance standard operating procedures. What has made the programme more effective is the enthusiasm of the client and management and commercial infrastructure to enable efficient delivery of the programme. The company also works closely with the Environment Agency, providing independent advice to help reduce energy consumption of existing assets often without incurring any capital cost, and significantly improving asset standardisation and efficiency throughout the northwest of England. It has provided assistance in the strategic development, both technical and commercial, which included upgrading assets and maximising interchangeability.
‘The company also works closely with the Environment Agency, providing independent advice to help reduce energy consumption of existing assets often without incurring any capital cost’
Group-wide evolution At the time of the management buyout in 1994 when Boulting had been under the ownership of East Midlands Electricity, electrical contracting equated to 80 percent of the business and it w w w. b o u l t i n g . c o . u k
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Commissioning a Design and Build 60MW MPHW District Heating Pump System
“In terms of growth, we foster relationships with existing clients and 60 percent of our business is actually repeat business” – Brian Conway
Refurbishment of a 90 year old pump station
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employed 140 people with £8 million turnover. The water sector was less than five percent of its portfolio 20 years ago. Now in the present day, the water and utilities industry is responsible for more than 30 percent, its second largest market, and very close to top market sector of the business. The company has historically been based around the Warrington and Cheshire area,
B o u lt i n g G r o u p
EUROPE
but whilst that has been the centre, it now has nine satellite offices around England with one in Grangemouth, Scotland. Boulting works out of its Bristol facility to support any of the work it does in Wales. Health and Safety standards are also important to the group. The company’s Reportable Injury Frequency Rate (RIFR) is between 0.0 and 0.2 and the industry average is between 4.0 and 6.0. It has been awarded the RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) ‘Order of Distinction’ and has received the ‘Gold Medal Award’ for the last 19 consecutive years. Well recognised training schemes have seen 26 apprentices and 14 graduates join the company, and some work towards being chartered engineers through the company’s training. “Those who don’t want to go through management, would still be considered as equally valuable contributors to the business, and not everyone’s a manager.” said Conway. “In terms of growth, we foster relationships with existing clients and 60 percent of our business is actually repeat business. If they grow, we grow.” Exports now amount to 10 percent of Boulting business and that has developed considerably over the past decade. The continued evolution of the firm is demonstrated when it conducts complete design and build of process plants for major international blue chips, mainly in Africa. “It’s a great company. It cares for its employees, and it cares for its clients.” concluded Conway.
Company Information Industry
Energy headquarters
Warrington, England, UK founded
1918 employees
850 revenue
£93 million (£60 million order book) products/ services
Engineering solutions
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S
SKA International Group
continues to raise the business profile of the toughest environments Written by: Tom Wadlow Produced by: Craig Daniels
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S K A I n t e r n at i o n a l g r o u p
Despite press coverage depicting the likes of Iraq and Somalia as notorious hotbeds of instability, the company is proving that commercial potential in such places can be extracted by offering vital fuel supply and logistics operations where many would turn and run
727 Freighter
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S
KA International Group is an expert in doing big business in difficult places, underlined by its $80-100 million investment in a stateof-the-art fuel storage facility 20km upstream from the Iraqi coast, testament to more than 10 years’ experience of operating in the war-stricken country. Having excelled in supplying and transporting fuel and equipment during the major US occupation years, the Dubai-based company, with more than 700 employees and turnover in excess of $500 million, is increasingly looking to oil and gas opportunities in Iraq and other countries across the Middle East and Africa with challenging circumstances. SKA has significant ongoing investments in Somalia and Uganda, and is raising the profile of the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport in the UAE with a 10 year agreement, where it has built and operates an Aviation Fuel Storage Facility. SKA’s capabilities include a wide range of fuel supply chain management services, aviation services, ground logistics, life support, facility
S u pp l y Chai n
SKA Bedford Trucks in Mogadishu
construction, and security services. Working as a good corporate citizen, and helping to develop business, people and communities while supporting charitable initiatives, lies at the heart of what CEO and President, and 100 percent owner Mike Douglas is vying to achieve. “Despite the negative coverage of the countries we are in there is huge potential for development,” he said. “We are already changing that negative impression and a big part of what we do is give back to the communities we do business in. “The company can continue to grow significantly in the next three to five years.”
Key Personnel
Mike Douglas CEO and President
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Providing Turn-key Rental Power Providing Turn-key Rental Power SolutionsTurn-key to the OilRental & GasPower Industry Providing Providing to Turn-key Power Solutions the Oil Rental & Gas Industry Solutions to to the the Oil Oil & & Gas Gas Industry Industry Solutions Whether you need temporary power for the operation of oilfields, the construction of platforms, early temporary production,power planned maintenance loadtest of main power Whether you need for or theemergency operation of oilfields, theor construction of systems, Aggreko has the solution. platforms, early production, planned maintenance of main Whether you need temporary power or foremergency the operation of oilfields,or theloadtest construction ofpower systems, Aggreko has the solution. Whether you need temporary power foremergency the operation of oilfields, or theloadtest construction of We offer full project planning, installation and commissioning, and 24/7 service maintenance. platforms, early production, planned or maintenance of main power platforms, early production, planned or emergency maintenance loadtest of main power systems, Aggreko has the solution. We offer full project planning, installation and commissioning, andor24/7 service maintenance. Aggreko, Power Specialists systems, Aggreko has the solution. in Oil & Gas We offer full project planning, installation and commissioning, and 24/7 service maintenance. Aggreko, Power Specialists in Oil & Gas Middle East Ltd. installation WeAggreko offer full project planning, and commissioning, and 24/7 service maintenance. PO Box 16875, Dubai, UAE Aggreko, Power in Oil Aggreko Middle EastSpecialists Ltd. T: +9714 808 6100 F: +9714 883 1825 Aggreko, Power Specialists in Oil PO Box 16875, Dubai, UAE Aggreko Middle East Ltd. T: +9714 808 6100 F: +9714 883 1825 UAE PO Abu BoxDhabi, 16875, UAEDubai, UAE Aggreko MiddleDubai, East Ltd. +971 (0)4 8086100 +971 (0)2 5549494 T: +9714 808 6100 F: +9714 883 1825 PO Box 16875, Dubai, UAEDammam, Dubai, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE Kuwait City, Kuwait KSA +971 (0)4 +971 (0)2 5549494 T: +9714 808 6100 F: +9714 883 1825 +966 8086100 (0)13 8580301 +965 23983648
& Gas & Gas
Sharjah, UAE +971 (0)6 5345999 Sharjah, UAEKSA Jeddah, +971+966 (0)6 5345999 (0)12 2727640 Dubai, UAEKSA Sharjah, KSA UAE Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Kuwait City,UAE Kuwait Dammam, +971 (0)4 8086100 +971 (0)6 5345999 +971 (0)2 5549494 +966 (0)13 +966 (0)12UAE 2727640 +965 23983648 Dubai, UAE8580301 Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, UAE Aggreko operates from Dammam, over 190 locations throughout the world. Jeddah, Kuwait City, Kuwait KSA +971 (0)4 8086100 +971 (0)6KSA 5345999 +971 (0)2 5549494 For the location nearest you, please go to: www.aggreko.com/contact +966 (0)13 8580301 +966 (0)12 2727640 +965 23983648 Jeddah, KSA Kuwait City, Kuwait KSAthroughout the Aggreko operates from overDammam, 190 locations world. +966 (0)13 8580301 +966 (0)12 2727640 +965 23983648 For the location nearest you, please go to: www.aggreko.com/contact Aggreko operates from over 190 locations throughout the world. For the location nearest you, please go to: www.aggreko.com/contact Aggreko operates from over 190 locations throughout the world. For the location nearest you, please go to: www.aggreko.com/contact 59853 AGG C2C Adipec Downstream ad (210x276)_AW.indd 1
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Doha, Qatar +974 44606178 Doha, QatarKSA Yanbu, +974+966 44606178 (0)14 3963993 Doha, Qatar Yanbu, KSA +974 44606178 +966 3963993 Doha,(0)14 Qatar Yanbu, KSA +974 44606178 +966 (0)14 3963993 Yanbu, KSA +966 (0)14 3963993
Manama, Bahrain +973 17723381 Manama, Bahrain Istanbul, Turkey +973+90 17723381 212 4652050 Manama,Turkey Bahrain Istanbul, +973212 17723381 +90 4652050 Manama, Bahrain Istanbul, Turkey +973 17723381 +90 212 4652050 Istanbul, Turkey +90 212 4652050
06/02/2 06/02/2014
S K A I n t e r n at i o n a l
supplier profile
AGGREKO
Since its foundation over 50 years ago, Aggreko has grown to become the world’s leading provider of rental power and temperature control solutions. With over 5,700 employees operating from over 194 locations, Aggreko provides 24/7 availability and service support. Aggreko offers the highest levels of performance and customer service and is truly a global force in temporary power generation. Aggreko in the Middle East Since opening its first regional office in Sharjah in 1991, Aggreko today offers round-the-clock service support and equipment availability in the Middle East through a network of twelve locations in eight countries; UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iraq. Practical Solutions More than products, Aggreko has significant experience in providing power generators, electrical testing and temperature control services, offering total power and cooling solutions. Its equipment allows the flexibility of creative and novel solutions to suit customer needs - solutions that work not just on paper, but in practice. This means offering 24-hour back-up 365 days a year and making full use of a global network of depots to ensure that the equipment is on-site in the shortest possible time. The considerable success of Aggreko is due not only to the services provided, but the way in which those services are provided. The accomplishments are a result of the application of vision and creativity to customers and giving them ideas and solutions that improves their performance – every time. By working with Aggreko, our customers can focus on their core activities, secure in the knowledge their power supply is in the hands of an expert organisation. Website: me.aggreko.com
2014 12:55 12:55
S K A I n t e r n at i o n a l
Offloading cargo
80,000 Planned number of tonnes of fuel storage available at the Port of Khor Al Zubair 70
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Khor Al Zubair Iraq represents arguably the greatest challenges but also the greatest amount of activity for SKA, which operates under nine companies across six Middle Eastern and African countries. Its current flagship investment lies at the Port of Khor Al Zubair, the first privately-owned fuel storage facility in Iraq, with a 20,000 tonne capacity, set to rise to 80,000 once phases two and three are completed. The expansion, which will take total spend to upwards of $80 million, will allow SKA to deliver more fuel to power vital industries in the future. “We have encountered some significant challenges but we are very active, supplying fuel
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The company’s aim is to handle third party imported products
and importing refined products, and keeping power stations operational in what is a very difficult time,” Douglas added. “The expansion will give us more capacity and will allow us to bring in bigger vessels which have lower freight premiums. Our plan is not only to handle our own fuel through the terminal but to handle third party imported products also.” SKA also has a testing lab at the site where Intertek conducts international fuel certifications, giving peace of mind to customers in the knowledge that their fuel is of the highest standard, something which has been problematic in Iraq in the past.
“The expansion will give us more capacity and will allow us to bring in bigger vessels which have lower freight premiums” – Mike Douglas
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“11 years in Iraq has given us the experience to manage our way through a lot of the problems” – Mike Douglas
Fuel depot
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Investing in Iraq This project is representative of a shift towards focusing on the oil and gas markets in the country following a number of huge and varied projects based around the US military. SKA handled most of the logistics freight for the US government in a six-year contract and carried out an enormous 180,000-hectare crop spraying scheme in 2006; this while being the key fuel supply chain operator. It now has a fleet of 500 trucks in Iraq moving all kinds of fuel and equipment, and is working with global oil and gas companies including BP and Lukoil. The company’s local knowledge and experience is central to its success. “Security is a major issue in a lot of our regions,” Douglas said. “But 11 years in Iraq has given us the experience to manage our way through a lot of the problems. We have a thorough security plan
S u pp l y Chai n
Trucks moving fuel
in place and an extensive evacuation procedure should the need ever arise. “Our experience and knowledge of what happens on the ground is our greatest asset – we can foresee issues before they come to us.” The resoluteness of SKA has played an important part in convincing businesses to invest in Iraq, and Douglas, himself having served in the armed forces, is an active figure at the Iraq British Business Council. This body works tirelessly to bring in investment to the country and SKA is a founding member. Ras Al Khaimah Closer to its Dubai headquarters, the company is working to improve the commercial profile of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport.
500 Number of trucks in Iraq moving all kinds of fuel and equipment
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Complete supply chain solutions Full materials handling range Over 600 mobile support engineers
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S K A I n t e r n at i o n a l G r o u p
Midd l e E a S T
A $10 million aviation fuel storage facility, recently commissioned, is the first step in attracting both cargo and passenger carriers to the airport. Douglas believes the incentive of a competitive fuel and handling package will draw in investment where before it may not have been attractive. “As the UAE rapidly expands there is a lot of congestion at Dubai International, but currently at Ras Al Khaimah there is a very low level of activity,” he said. “We are injecting some fresh ideas and the large amount of hotel developments going on also shows the tourism potential.” Somalia, Uganda and beyond Aviation is also a crucial part of SKA’s work in Africa, not least in Uganda and Somalia, arguably the most unstable nation on the continent. Here SKA has several contracts with the United Nations (UN) mainly based around life support and fuel supply, and continues to provide supply chain services to Mogadishu airport having given it a new lease of life between 2010 and 2013. SKA has operated helicopters as well as its own fixed-wing aircrafts and truck fleet in Somalia, with a significant focus now being turned towards oil and gas operations. Douglas added: “We have been on the ground for coming up four years and have developed a unique capability in terms of being able to do business. “There is a big opportunity here for oil and gas
SKA has operated helicopters as well as its own fixed-wing aircrafts and truck fleet in Somalia
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S K A I n t e r n at i o n a l
The company invests significantly in training
“We pride ourselves on having local staff and taking good care of them, giving opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have” – Mike Douglas 76
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and a lot of mineral resources which are yet to be explored. We are long-term investors, here for the long haul.” In Uganda, the company is set to begin building a 20,000-tonne fuel storage facility just outside Kampala, with operations looking to commence in 2015. The site is strategically placed on the rail and road networks from Mombasa, facilitating increased import of refined goods. SKA is also about to retain its air operating certificate, an important step on continuing work
Midd l e E a S T
here and for other UN projects in the likes of the DRC, South Sudan and Central African Republic. Building up communities An ultimate end for Douglas is to revitalise the societies in which the company works, with a big part of this revolving around employing and developing local people in the business. SKA employs more than 700 people, a mixture of former armed forces personnel, commerciallyfocused personnel, as well as local nationals. “We pride ourselves on having local staff and taking good care of them, giving opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have,” Douglas added. “We invest a lot in training and sending people abroad to become qualified – I want a loyal group to take us forward.” The company also invests heavily in the charitable sector, for example in Iraq where it supports many events run by the Amar International Charitable Foundation. By continuing to improve its own offering, SKA International Group can keep on driving commercial growth in the world’s most challenging environments where help is needed the most, ultimately uplifting the lives of communities that have endured years of hardship. Douglas concluded: “Despite the negative media headlines there is a huge amount of opportunity in African and Middle Eastern countries. The message I want to give is that we are here to stay.”
Company Information Industry
Supply Chain & Energy headquarters
Dubai, UAE founded
2003 employees
700+ revenue
Not Disclosed products/ services
Logistics
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Rock Energy Rock, Reinvented
Since the company’s change of focus in January of 2012, R to become a key figure in Canada’s exploration and produc Written by: Kevin Smead Produced by: Alex Hortaridis
Rock Energy is poised ction fields.
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Rock Energy
Rock Energy is a company that understands its position in the Canadian energy market. In January of 2012, the company went through what CEO Allen Bey calls a “reinvention.” With fresh, energetic talent and focus now specifically on oil, Rock is looking to become one of Canada’s most sought after exploration and production companies. While Rock has never been through any major financial crisis, the company realized the trajectory it 80
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was on was not the most sustainable. Seeing more opportunity in Canadian oil, Rock sold off its gas assets. Also, a capable new team was brought in to help lead in this new era. Nearly three years into this reinvention, Rock’s capitalization on the newfound momentum has paid off greatly, and appears it will continue to do so. Currently a 5,000 barrel per day company, Rock believes it can more than double this number in the next 2 to 3 years and plans on doing
USA
Mantario Battery
so by making smart, calculated decisions. Rock wishes to be a lucrative, yet predictable investment that will attract investors.
ground that we can.” This has afforded Rock the ability to play it safe when it comes to tackling projects and managing finances. A Growth-Oriented Approach “Our quarter end debt is $16.8 Taking a growth oriented approach million, which is very low compared starts with Rock’s biggest focus: the against our bank line of $70 million highest possible recovery factor. and our quarterly cash flow of $19 “With the high recovery factor, million,” Bey said. “What that shows you get longest possible reserve is that we have a lot of excess debt life, lowest possible decline, which capacity that we can be flexible with ultimately yields that predictable once we find the right project. We base of production, cash flow, can deploy capital towards it, don’t and sustainability,” CEO Bey said. need to raise any new equity, and “Everything we’re trying to do is to can weather price storms.” get the most possible oil out of the Rock’s two major projects are in w w w. r o c k e n e r g y. c a
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MEETING CHALLENGES
DELIVERING RESULTS
Every company is different, every project unique. At Weatherford, we believe in getting every job right, listening to your concerns, and working with you to meet your needs and your expectations. We don’t succeed until you do—that’s the bedrock principle of our business and the measure of our commitment. From start to finish, our resources are focused on your objectives. Contact and collaborate with us: www.weatherford.com
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southwest Saskatchewan: the Onward play in the North of Kindersley and Mantario South of Kindersley. “What’s particularly great about Mantario,” Bey says, “is we’ve got a pool producing about 3,500 barrels of oil per day right now and we’re implementing an EOR polymer flood there. Once that’s operational early next year, we’ll have about a 3300-3500 barrel per day production platform that will stay flat for the next 3-4 years. It’s a very strong foundation of cash flow.” These projects are paying off, since 2012 cash flow per share has increased more than 100 percent each year. Production per share is up dramatically as well and is expected to grow another 25 to 30 percent this year.
Allen Bey President and CEO
supplier profile
Weatherford
Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) is one of the largest global providers of products and services that span the drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention cycles of oil and natural gas wells. Weatherford is a new breed of service company—one that can provide the industry with extended products and services, more efficient operations, more powerful research and development capabilities and greater geographic diversity. Website: www.weatherford.com
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5 – Range III Top Drive Singles, 3 – Conventional Singles. Tempco Drilling has provided quality drilling services in Western Canada since 1980.
Phone: 403.259.5533 Fax: 403.255.7067 sales@tempcodrilling.com
www.tempcodrilling.com
Rock Energy Finding a Balance In order for these numbers to be possible, Rock Energy takes a balanced approach in two key areas: risk versus reward and aptly enough, its actual balance sheet. In balancing its risk and reward, Rock moved operations out of Northern Alberta, where drilling each well cost between $10 and $15 million, to Southern Alberta, where drill and abandonment costs were only $500,000. “Back in the old area, with $30-40 million a year in cash flow, you could drill 3 wells,” Bey said. “Today, we drill today over 60 wells a year. We have to have enough wells to make statistics work so we can afford to continue to explore.” Managing risk is important, as Rock’s focus on sustainable developments is entirely built on reliability. “What shareholders want is to know that they’re going to get paid every day,” Bey said. On the side of the actual balance sheet, Rock always aims to be below a 1 to 1 ratio of debt to cash flow on a long term basis. Despite having higher available bank lines, the
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company still believes in keeping the finances in balance, since they need to be ready to weather a storm. “We’re pretty confident in oil prices, but we’re seeing gas prices take a pretty big dive,” Bey said. “They’re coming back a little bit now, but you want to maintain your financial flexibility in that volatile market.” A Rock-Solid Track Record Rock Energy is looking to continue to add to its already impressive asset base. While many companies are moving away from exploration, Rock is continuing successfully as both an exploration and production company. This has worked out brilliantly for Rock, as all of its current assets were exploration discoveries the company made. Not surprisingly, Rock is going to keep forging ahead with this approach. “We’re allocating $12 million to exploration each year for the next several years,” Bey said. “We’re going to take 10 shots per year and we think that’ll yield us one or two more pools, which will continue the growth of the company. Our track record on what we already w w w. r o c k e n e r g y. c a
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have done demonstrates some confidence as to where we can go.” While Rock’s previous efforts are already noteworthy, it’s the future that looks particularly bright. The company is looking to expand to 6,000 barrels per day in the next 6 to 12 months and is continuing its exploration efforts in hopes of finding its next reliable asset. In 2 to 3 years, the company hopes to hit 10,000 to 12,000 barrels per day. Eventually, Rock hopes to switch from a growth investment to a Exceptional Service Since 1986
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dividend pay model. To do this, Rock would need to hit its 10,000 barrel per day target, among other things. “We’d need to also have a corporate decline rate that’s less than 20% and make sure the management team at that point is focused on cost control,” Bey said. To get there, Rock is developing its team to be ready to tackle any future challenges the company may face. “They have to recognize it’s a risky business,” Bey admits. “They have to have a fairly decent risk aptitude. In helping to train them, there’s still a few of us old guys still here, and we’re trying to mentor them to take our positions. We’re trying to build the next generation.” Still, working toward the future at Rock is a daily process that starts with making sure its assets are in line with its philosophies. “We want to be able to get a very predictable production base and low decline rate, so we’re making sure the assets we build are like foundation stones for the company,” Bey said. “What we can do every day is make sure we make the right decisions, build the right kind of assets, and have the right foundation stones in this company so that people will always want to own it and we can continue to grow or roll it all into the next thing.”
Company Information Industry
Oil & Gas headquarters
Alberta, Canada employees
30 revenue
$82 Million
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Sharp Energy
Fueling the East: Sharp Ener Propane Trend Sharp Energy is educating the industry on the benefits of propane as a fuel for transportation. Written by: Laura Close Produced by: Michael Magno
rgy Leading the
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Sharp Energy
Autogas Van
Sharp Energy, Inc., is the largest propane energy retailer on the Delmarva Peninsula and a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK). Sharp Energy is a member of Alliance Auto Gas network, this is a collection of stakeholders throughout the country 90
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that include propane retailers, service centers, conversion partners a finance company and equipment manufacturers. The company currently has four public sites where vehicles can be fueled for their customers; Mike Petito, Commercial & Autogas
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Infrastructure Pic
Accounts Manager, shared that they are looking to add a fifth public site within the next year. Sharp Energy also facilitates remote private fueling sites if that is what the client requires. Although Sharp Energy’s main service is propane sales, education is also a big part of the company’s strategic plan. Sharing the benefits of making the switch to propane allows Sharp to reach out to both interested transportation companies and companies that were not aware propane was a viable option for their operation. Sharing the Benefits of Propane One of the reasons Sharp Energy became a member of the Transportation Association of Maryland (TAM), was to share the benefits of propane.
“We have our own sales team dedicated towards the sales process and education, we have our own technical services coordinator that facilitates the conversions and does all the maintenance on existing public and private infrastructure. We’re moving forward quickly” – said Petito
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Sharp Energy
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TAM is an organization of transportation companies that researches and provides information on logistics and equipment. The association also brainstorms new ideas and provides a venue for study groups to discuss pertinent news and information in the industry. Sharp Energy joined TAM to help educate companies in the industry that can use propane as a fuel source in lieu of gasoline or diesel. “Education is such a big part of what we do: Reaching out to potential customers and letting them know why propane is a good choice for fuel. By purchasing propane from Sharp Energy, customers will quickly see the results of lower fueling bills, roughly 35-50%” said Petito. There are several noticeable benefits to switching to propane. It’s cheaper; you can save on average $1.25-$1.50 on each gallon by using propane as compared to gasoline. The use of propane contributes 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline as well. And because propane runs 105 to 110 octane (whereas gasoline runs 87 octane), there is less carbon build up on the engine and the oil is cleaner, allowing for the potential to extend the vehicle’s lifespan. The technology of producing propane powered vehicles has also greatly improved in the last several decades, meaning there are less hurdles to owning a vehicle that runs on propane. Ninetyeight percent of propane is produced in the US, which could eventually cut down the country’s dependency on foreign oil.
Bob Zola, President
Mike Petito Commercial & Autogas Accounts Manager
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Sustainable Infrastructure Sharp Energy is ahead of the curve in the industry. Currently, the majority of propane use as a fuel source for transportation happens in the West and South in the US. There is a growing trend, showing propane usage making its way up the East Coast of the US. To capitalize on the trend when the East catches up, Sharp Energy is now putting in the ground work and infrastructure in the area. “In my opinion, in about 5 to 10 years there will be the crescendo when – I don’t want to say it’s going to be the ‘norm’ – but I really feel that 94
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you will see a lot of public propane stations available to use,” shared Petito. “I honestly feel in the long term, you’ll actually see gas stations having propane on their fueling islands to compete with gasoline and diesel. We’re trying to stay ahead of the curve and be innovative about it and move forward with it.” The Future of Sharp Energy Sharp Energy has around 36,000 customers and ten offices located in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania. To expand their business, the company is looking to establish locations on
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Company Information Industry
Energy headquarters
Maryland founded
1981 employees
110
the western shore of Maryland and further into Pennsylvania, increasing their influence out another few hundred square miles. There are nine public fueling stations planned for the next three to five years as well. With the goal of becoming a leader in alternative fueling, Sharp Energy has dedicated personnel specifically to the cause. “We have our own sales team dedicated towards the sales process and education, we have our own technical services coordinator that facilitates the conversions and does all the maintenance on our existing public and private infrastructure. We’re moving forward quickly,” said Petito.
revenue
$86+ million
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For
The comp
CBC Pipeline, LLC.
CBC Pipeline, Safety is Key
pany has created a culture where safety is always the top priority—and everything else just comes naturally. Written by: Kevin Smead Produced by: Alex Hortaridis
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C B C P i p e l i n e , LLC .
Founded in 1996, CBC Services, Inc. has been a go-to partner for oil and gas pipeline construction, horizontal directional drilling (HDD), and station installations for over a decade. Brothers Greg, Delton, and Jeff Caskey initially founded CBC Services, Inc. as a local contracting company, but CBC expanded in 2003 and now performs full oil and gas pipeline installations throughout the United States. CBC Pipeline, LLC. is headquartered in Goldonna, Louisiana, has a regional office in Cadiz, Ohio, and establishes local field offices in proximity to 98
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its current projects. The company has completed work in Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, West Virginia, and Louisiana, as well as Ohio. While the company currently has around 300 employees, 2013 was a banner year for CBC, and while a great year is always cause for celebration, CBC actively pursues expansion opportunities, specifically through the creation of Master Service Agreements (MSAs) with potential energy partners. Keith Caskey, CBC’s Engineer and Project Manager, believes CBC’s safety record will definitely be a factor in its
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future success. “We are always striving for growth,” he said, “and we are not willing to compromise safety in the process.”
and to establish and insist upon safe practices at all times, by all employees,” Joe Porcaro, Safety Director and Lead Safety Specialist, said. Because of this, safety training Caring About Safety for CBC Pipeline employees begins For CBC Pipeline, safety isn’t just on the day they’re hired. Upon hire, an industry standard: it’s the top employees are drug tested, provided priority. CBC Pipeline believes with personal safety gear (PPE), and its maintenance of a clean safety immediately trained on all safety record gives its partners confidence protocols. It doesn’t end there, though. in its work and at the end of the day, Staying safe is a constant focus, the goal is that both parties leave because safety is everyone’s job. with a record that’s spotless. “We have an open-door policy, “It is the intent of safety to provide so employees know they can report safe and healthy working conditions, any incident at any time,” Porcaro w w w. c b c p i p e l i n e . c o m
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C B C P i p e l i n e , LLC . said. “Also, we have weekly safety communication meetings to discuss and remind employees of the potential hazards they can face daily on their job.” Along with internal safety checks, CBC Pipeline operates under OSHA guidelines. Due to rising industry standards, many of CBC’s employees are Veriforce-trained for their appropriate tasks before going to the field. CBC Pipeline is certified through Veriforce and ISNetworld, and is currently pursuing certification through PICS. “We cover the potential hazards and concerns to make sure that everyone goes home the way they show up,” Gavin Caskey, Project and HDD Coordinator, said. A Full Service Oil and Gas Contractor A clean record of safety is important to CBC Pipeline, no matter what the project. And the projects are, in fact,
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quite diverse—spanning the whole oil and gas spectrum from pipeline construction to station installation and from project start to completion. Whether installing small gathering systems, large transmission pipelines, or performing an HDD bore, CBC Pipeline’s highly experienced staff handles each project in a dependable, efficient manner. Currently, CBC Pipeline has a number of major projects underway with big players in the Utica Shale. In addition to its recently-completed 3.6 miles of 6- and 24-inch pipe in Monroe and Noble counties, CBC Pipeline is currently installing over 30 miles of various sized pipelines throughout eastern Ohio. This includes 14 miles of multiple-sized lines in Harrison County, 10 miles of 10-inch, 4 miles of 20-inch, and 1.2 miles of 12-inch pipe in Belmont County, and 5.3 miles of 12-inch pipe in Carroll County.
“It is the intent of safety to provide safe and healthy working conditions, and to establish and insist upon safe practices at all times, by all employees” – Joe Porcaro, Safety Director and Lead Safety Specialist, said. w w w. c b c p i p e l i n e . c o m
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C B C P i p e l i n e , LLC .
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Fostering Strong Relationships CBC Pipeline consistently works with a number of different partners and has built relationships based on trust and accountability. “CBC Pipeline’s mission has always been to ensure that every project is completed as safely and effectively as possible in order to provide our clients with utmost satisfaction,” the company writes. “We strive to meet each deadline while providing quality work, excellent service, and a personable experience that will bring our clients back
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Company Information
time and again.” Caskey explained that CBC Pipeline’s relationships with those it works with give it a competitive edge. “We take everything they say into consideration and try to do the best every time,” he said. “If there is any job that needs to be done, we will get it done safe and efficiently. We keep at it and try to be the best. We make sure the quality of work remains high, as well as on time and on budget.” This level of interpersonal and organizational excellence have also allowed CBC Pipeline to foster relationships with its supply chain and partners, making for a more efficient and effective completion of any given project. As CBC Pipeline enters its second decade, it hopes to continue the successes of its first, all while continuing to drive improvement and foster growth.
CBC Services, Inc. was established in Goldonna, Louisiana in 1996. Beginning as a local, family oil and gas contracting business, CBC’s reputation for quality and service carried us into new fields and locations. In 2003, in order to satisfy the needs of a growing market, CBC Services, Inc. founded CBC Pipeline-a full-service pipeline company dedicated to meeting the demands of a competitive market.
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Ocala Water Resources
Ocala Water Resources Comme Construction to modify Wastew Facility to Increase Nitrogen Rem
Ed Earnest, Water Resources Engineer, discusses Ocala W one of the Wastewater Reclamation Facilities to increase n effluent and the plans for modification and expansion of (2 so that 100% of the waste water receives increased nitroge Wastewater Treatment) standards. Written by: Lindsey Ryan
Produced by: Tom Venturo
ences water Reclamation moval
Water Resources project to modify nitrogen removal in the wastewater 2) two other city operated facilities en removal, to AWT (Advanced
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O c a l a Wat e r R e s o u r c e s
The City of Ocala’s Water Resources Department is over one hundred years old and in the early years began by modest means with manual labor, and hand dug and/or pulled a plow behind truck to begin to lay pipe and supply the increasing need for essential water and sewer utility services. In the early 1900’s Ocala bought out a private water company, developed its own power company and in 1949 built its first wastewater treatment facility to meet the increasing needs of the growing community. Ocala currently is in the master planning stages of what will the needs be in 106
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the future and how will it overcome those with limited funding resources, increasing regulatory requirements and a community that feels an economic impact. One option is a comprehensive plan that looks at the utility as one environmental engine that strives for a holistic approach by upgrading treatment systems so that they are more efficient, have less of an energy use footprint, and are still able to supply the same demand but at a lower cost and is better option for both the business and the environment. Ed Earnest, Water Resources Engineer, discusses the most recent
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project Ocala Utilities has been working on and what the plans are for the future to bring all three Ocala Utility Wastewater Reclamation Facility locations up to the state’s new regulatory requirements. Earnest graduated from University of South Florida with a bachelor of science in civil engineering and began working for with City of Ocala for twenty six years ago. 100% Recycled Water Ocala Utility Services prides itself on providing high quality and 100% recycled wastewater to the community and in 2008 they were
able to reach 100% recycled “AA” bio-solids as well. The city had in the past used Land application of class “B” Biosolids, however in 2003 the city contracted with a company to build a dryer facility at one of its wastewater treatment facilities, that uses an indirect drying process to reduce moisture and kill pathogenic organisms, and then contracts with a company called “Nutri-Source” to a distribute the “AA” Biosolids to the agriculture market for fertilizer. In 2008, they had their other two facilities set up to route to this facility so that everything is being recycled 100%. w w w. O c a l a f l . o r g
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Ocala Water Reclamation Facility
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O c a l a Wat e r R e s o u r c e s Earnest explains, “We’re 100% reuse on our water and 100% on our Bio-solids. Basically in waste water, after the treatment you separate the water from the solids so you have reclaimed water and you have what we call bio-solids and we’re able to recycle our reclaimed water 100% meaning we put it back on the ground at golf courses, baseball fields soccer complexes, and parks and a few residential re-use areas. The Bio-solids we actually treat to “AA” standards and we’re able to sell it to a fertilize company. Any water that comes through the treatment plant we’re able to recycle 100% so we don’t waste anything.” New Reclamation Facility Now that the waste water Ocala Water Resources produces is 100% recycled, the new goal is to focus on spring protection and the removal of nitrogen from wastewater. Ocala Water Resources has (3) three Wastewater Reclamation Facilities (WRFs) and though WRF #3 was built in 2003, with some modifications in 2012, it can remove nitrogen down to the level of AWT
standards that the state approves of, the other two WRFs do not. This prompted Ocala Utilities’ current project to convert WRF #2, a 6.5 million gallons per day facility, into a location that also removes nitrogen at a level that meets the state requirements. Ocala Water Resources reached out to a company called OVIVO, who originally assisted in the design of WRF #3, to confirm if WRF #2 could also be modified to remove nitrogen. OVIVO evaluated the plant and determined that it could be altered to remove nitrogen, and not only that, they could do it without having to build a new treatment system, which had been made by a previous engineering firm working with the city. “We started working with [OVIVO] directly and put together this project and we’re able to save over a million dollars in design services by doing it in house and by converting the existing basins to a “hot-dog” type Carrousel treatment design. Our consulting engineers were estimating a cost of around $18 million to do everything and when the project went out to bid it came w w w. O c a l a f l . o r g
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O c a l a Wat e r R e s o u r c e s
back in at approximately $10.5 million, so we were able to save about $8 million by converting our existing basins and using the concrete basins that we now have, and just modifying them to incorporate the new design,” says Earnest. In addition to saving money by modifying the existing basins, the St. John’s River Water Management District (SJRWMD), the Florida
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Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the State of Florida have also contributed to the funding, further reducing the cost to the rate payer. Earnest is happy to announce that, “We were able to get 31% grant from SJRWMD and DEP, along with the state granting the city an additional $750,000 toward the project costs. We’ve received approximately $4 million through grants so instead of costing the tax
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payers $10 million out of our reserves to fund the project, it’s going to cost us around $6 million.� Ocala Water Resources awarded the project to Brandes Design Build on May 6, 2014, and commenced construction on June 9, 2014. The project is predicted to be 535 days of construction and is expected to be completed by November 26, 2015.
Company Information Industry
Water and Sewer/ Utilities headquarters
Looking Forward Once WRF #2 is completed, the near future goal will then be to take WRF #1 offline, as it was built in 1949 and is an outdated facility, and reverse the flows so that all flows are going through WRFs #2 and #3 so that all the water flowing through Ocala Water Resources wastewater treatment facilities will have nitrogen removed to the level of AWT that the state approves of, and will be required to reduce nitrogen loading for Springs protection. Designs are also currently in the planning horizon to expand WRF #3 and expand that facility from a design capacity of 4 million gallons per day to design capacity of 8 million gallons per day which will assist in maintaining current total treatment capacity when WRF #1 goes off-line and will add some additional capacity for future growth. Just as was done for the current WRF #2 treatment facility improvement project, when the design has been completed, Ocala Water Resources will try to reduce costs and applying for any available grants to help with the funding.
Florida founded
Over 100 years ago employees
82 revenue
$25.6 million/per year
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CG/LA Infrastructure Inc Written by: Norman F. Anderson, President & CEO
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The North American infrastructure market is poised for take-off, ready to ride the way of three fundamental economic transformations. First, the explosion in energy production has given us a tremendous lift, with natural gas prices at less than $5 MMBtu less then 1/3 of our European and Asian competitors. Second, the tremendous growth in US exports is causing a re-design in our freight infrastructure (rail, ports, waterways, highways and intermodal facilities). Third, the increasing orientation toward transit-oriented communities - particularly among millennials - is creating driving new investments in urban mass transit (heavy rail, light rail and even streetcars) along with social infrastructure (schools and hospitals). CG/LA Infrastructure, a global market maker focused on doubling the level of infrastructure investment focuses on identifying priority projects, and ensuring that those projects go forward optimally as productively and rapidly as possible. Through our Strategic Infrastructure Leadership Forum Series and revolutionary online projects platform, GViP, CG/LA is 114
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bringing order, predictability and even imagination to the global infrastructure marketplace. Strategic Project Identification Norman Anderson, President and CEO of CG/LA Infrastructure and former project developer, founded the company to help countries and regions around the globe become more competitive and successful by making smart, robust investments decisions on strategic infrastructure projects and initiatives. Strategic project identification is the cornerstone of CG/LA’s global vision - bringing innovative leaders together from both the public and private sectors to focus on specific projects and push them rapidly forward to completion. CG/LA releases a quarterly market intelligence report, the Strategic Top 100, of the top infrastructure projects, with business opportunities in the next 3-18 months, in regions that complement the next Leadership Forum. The Strategic Top 100 is the cornerstone on which the Infrastructure Leadership Forums
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are built. The most recent report, The 2014 Strategic Top 100 North America list, shows what is actually required – in terms of financial and human resources – to rebuild the competitiveness of North America. Projects were selected over a sixmonth process, beginning with a preliminary list of over 400 projects and narrowed down using CG/ LA’s proprietary ranking model. Comprised only of shovel-ready projects with business opportunities within the next 3-18 months, the 2014 Strategic Top 100 North America is valued at US$369 billion. Download the Strategic Top 100 NA here.
The Infrastructure Leadership Forum Series As a project developer, Norman saw firsthand that the key to both infrastructure project development and business success was leadership. And the Leadership Forum - whether the Global Forum, the North American Forum, the Bahrain/EMEA Forum or the Latin American Leadership Forum - identify and recognize the dedicated and sophisticated executives who develop the strategic infrastructure that defines their country’s futures. The Leadership Forum events w w w. c g - l a . c o m
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Gen. Bostick
CG / LA I n f r a s t r u c t u r e , I n c are differentiators in the industry, gathering a community of 500+ experts around a dynamic projects marketplace. Forum events focus on 11 infrastructure sectors, from highways, to power generation to water & wastewater projects, convening a global community that includes decision makers from all aspects of a project lifecycle: financial lenders and investors, legal, design, engineering, and construction firms, as well as owner operators. Save the Date: 6th North American Strategic Infrastructure Forum On October 28-30, 2014, over 500 executives will gather at the 6th North American Strategic Infrastructure Forum at the Mayflower Renaissance in Washington, DC to meet with the sponsors of the Strategic Top 100 infrastructure projects in North America ($369 billion in total project value). The North American Forum is a dynamic 2.5 day event, focused on infrastructure development in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico,
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while facilitating business and promoting projects across the region. Key Features of the leadership Forum include: • Project Presentations: Rapid project presentations of priority projects, allowing developers to make targeted presentations focused on their needs and business opportunities. • Private Meetings: Prescheduled private meetings system allows registrants to pre-schedule up to 10 meetings with project sponsors and Forum speakers, for the second day of the Forum. • Workshops and Roundtables: Thought leader discussions and debates on critical issues, fundamental for thinking about and building great infrastructure. • Community Building: Receptions, Special Breakfasts, and especially GlobalViP allow you to build strong relationships with project developers and sponsors, and experts throughout the global infrastructure community. GlobalViP (GViP) GViP harnesses the energy of the Infrastructure Leadership Forum w w w. c g - l a . c o m
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CG / LA I n f r a s t r u c t u r e , I n c
Series, taking it online for users to access 24/7/365. GViP brings together nearly 1000 (10,000 by the end of 2014) infrastructure experts as a Just in Time resource for project managers to identify and access critical expertise - when they need it, and how they need it. GViP’s algorithms cut down project development costs by 60%, and diminish the time required to develop a project by 50%. This translates into significant costs
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savings -- and also generates productivity increases that exceed 100%. Join GViP and access this thriving community of infrastructure experts today. About Norman Anderson As President and CEO of CG/LA Infrastructure, Norman Anderson has 35+ years of competitive project identification, advising strategic infrastructure investment, and conducting regional analysis
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Company Information Industry
Energy/Construction headquarters
1827 Jefferson Place NW Washington DC 20036 USA
on energy projects worldwide. As the Founder and President of CG/LA Infrastructure, Inc., Norman oversees the development and execution of CG/LA’s proprietary analytic and regional infrastructure demand models, the successful Leadership Forum Series which selects, highlights, and hosts four regional events focused on infrastructure project investment. He is a member of both the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council on Infrastructure and the Strategic Infrastructure Initiative and is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Guarani.
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AJ Lucas:
As it Grows, Lucas Maintain High Quality and Standards
By offering solutions, and not just services, Lucas is the p industries on an increasingly global scale. Written by: Kevin Smead Produced by: Wayne Masciotro
ns its s
partner of choice in a number of
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Eastern Star Gas Narrabri
E n erg y
IF YOU WERE around for the founding of Lucas in the 1950s, you might not recognize it now. What started out as a building subcontractor is now a multi-faceted business with three distinct arms: investment, construction, and drilling—and a leader in each one. Lucas was a pioneer of horizontal drilling in Australia and is now a world leader in the highly specialized technique. It’s used this expertise to break into alternative sources such as a coal-seam gas and via its investment arm, has operations in the U.S., U.K., and around the world. Some things don’t change, though. After 50 years, Lucas is still a respected, trusted company. And while they certainly excel at the technical side of drilling, their
approach to the industry as a whole really sets them apart. A Solution-based Approach It starts with Lucas’ belief that they offer more than just services. “We’re seen very much as providing engineering solutions,” General Manager for Business Development Daniel Sweeting said. This is paramount to how Lucas operates, as it generally tackles jobs that require expertise and careful engineering. “We many companies can perform the easy jobs, such as setting up on one side of the river and coming out on the other. The jobs that we win are usually very complex and higher risk,” Sweeting said. “So, jobs like cascades, where we drill out of a Class-A nature
“Many companies can do the easy jobs, such as setting up on one side of the river and coming out on the other. The jobs that we win are usually very complex and high risk.”
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ABOUT US: Cutting Edge Grader Hire is a privately owned grader hire company, using qualified and experienced operators. Our 2 new John Deere 672GP 6 x6 Graders are fitted with 14 foot blades and are fitted with Topcon GPS systems. Both graders are new and are maintained to a high standard with regular cleaning and servicing ensuring minimal down time on projects due to breakdowns. Th The current graders were purchased in 2011 and 2012, with the recent grader being upgraded to include full mine specifications. Operators are extensively experienced with over 30 years each in the operation of plant and specialising in final trim grader operation.
PRINCIPAL PROFILE: Bruce Theil has worked in civil construction for 45 years both here in Australia and in many locations around the world. Bruce has worked to the level of General Superintendant on many projects. Bruce fully understands the needs of clients and the necessity to provide expertise and service to save money for the client while complying with safety and environmental requirements.
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supplier profile
Cutting Edge Grader Hire Cutting Edge Grader Hire is a privately owned grader hire company , using qualified and experienced operators. Our 2 new John Deere 672GP 6 x6 Graders are fitted with 14 foot blades and are fitted with Topcon GPS systems. The current graders were purchased in 2011 and 2012, with the recent grader being upgraded to include full mine specifications. Operators are extensively experienced with over 30 years each in the operation of plant and specialising in final trim grader operation. The company trades as Cutting Edge Grader Hire Pty Ltd Principal Mr Bruce Theil - Director 27 Woongoolbver Circuit River Heads Qld 4655 Contact: 07 4125 8081 Fax No:
07 4125 8323
Mobile: 0419 028 664 Principal Profile Bruce Theil has worked in civil construction for 45 years both here in Australia and in many locations around the world. Bruce has worked to the level of General Superintendant on many projects. Bruce fully understands the needs of clients and the necessity to provide expertise and service to save money for the client while complying with safety and environmental requirements. For further information regarding Bruce’s experience and work projects, please contact him directly on the above numbers.
AJ Lucas reserve and intersect a tunnel that’s 70m below the ground 3m in diameter, 2.4ks away—those are the sort of jobs that we win. Lucas has a long history of completing those sorts of jobs in Australia.” Sweeting cited “the experience that’s been built up over the last forty years” as what allows Lucas to not only take on more difficult jobs, but complete them in an efficient, smarter fashion. They accomplish this by tackling projects from several angles. “I think Lucas is really inquisitive by nature,” Sweeting said. “We look at different industries and the different technologies they apply. We seem to have quite a good history of cherry picking things out of different industries and then focusing that on our customer’s need.” This allows Lucas to tailor the
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approach based on the project. “We don’t have necessarily a solution that says, ‘Here’s the Lucas solution and that’s good for everyone,’” Sweeting said. “We look at a client’s problem and take experience from various industries and apply it to that problem. The most prevalent example of that is taking experience from HDD (horizontal direction drilling) and applying it to long inseam holes for our mining clients.” Ultimately, for Lucas, finishing a project is more than just ticking a box—it’s about finding a workable solution to an initial situation presented by a client. “We find more and more we’re not competing with other companies,” Sweeting observed. “We’re to finding solutions that fit within our clients very strict budget constraints.”
“Rather than saying ‘This is our portion of the work’ and being happy with that in isolation to everything else, we actually work with our clients to provide an end-to-end solution.” w w w. l u c a s . c o m . a u /
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“Our Knowledge and Experience, Creates Solutions”
Potholing/Strip Trenching ULS offer a fast, cost effective, non-destructive technique to expose entire services making survey, design and safe excavation a reality. Hydro-vac Excavation Vacuum excavation around sensitive services and/ or highly congested areas is the only way to go. ULS have got you covered with trucks for every size job in any location. Electronic Locations ULS use the most powerful, state of the art Radiodetection pipe and cable locators. Proven to be accurate time and time again on some of the most congested sites in Australia. Ground Penetrating Radar ULS lead the way in Ground Penetrating Radar using both Radiodetection and Ids GPR’s. On- site reporting overlayed on clients’ data or satellite imaging is available on request. CCTV (HD DVD Recordings) ULS offers state of the art technology in its crawler CCTV generating high definition reports in “wincam” with an image quality second to none.
UTILITY LOCATION SERVICES Pty Ltd is the leader in its field. Since its inception ULS has provided professional, cost effective services to many of Australia’s largest Civil Construction Contractors.
298A Jacobs Well - Stapylton Road Stapylton, Qld 4207 Email: mick@utilitylocationservices.com.au Mobile: 0418 928 786
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Drain Cleaning Root cutting, De-scaling, Debris removal. Storm water pipes , Culverts, Sewer lines any pipe any size Jet Rodding Blocked network ducts, no problem. At ULS all our trucks are capable of clearing even the most congested ducts.
Gold Coast, Qld, Australia Phone: 07 3807 3552 Fax: 07 3807 9899 ABN 79 137 521 030
AJ Lucas A Culture of Values While working to find solutions, Lucas employs a strong set of values that permeate all aspects of the business’ culture, which was born from a consolidation of several different examples. On the drilling side, Lucas began as Lucas Coal Technologies in 2000. During the next few years, Lucas purchased three other drilling
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companies. This led to four different companies with four distinct cultures all working together. “Over a period of about 2 years, we combined it all together to create one culture,” Sweeting explained. Where Lucas saw the biggest improvement was in the implementation of safety measures. “We’re quite proud of our safety record,” Sweeting said. “Currently,
supplier profile Utility Location Services Utility Location Services Utility Location Services Pty Ltd is the leader in its field. Since its inception ULS has provided professional, cost effective services to many of Australia’s largest Civil Construction Contractors. ULS’s reputation is second to none in the industry. ULS provides the accurate utility information required by Engineers, Designers, and Contractors to make informed project decisions. At ULS we take pride in the problem solving and innovative skill of our operators. No job is too large or too small for ULS to manage. Our primary aim is to work in partnership with our valued clients in the Civil Infrastructure and Mining/ Resource Sectors to achieve project goals. Website: www.utilitylocationservices.com
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Telephone 07 3715 3400 Email info@alfatest.com.au Unit 3 / 121 Evans Rd, Salisbury Qld 4107 PO Box 229 Salisbury Qld 4107
We specialise in the Inspection and Testing of materials, equipment and products for Mining, Drilling, Fabrication and Manufacturing, companies and for many other industries – in our Laboratories and on client sites. cli
AlfaTest Pty Ltd is a fully NATA accredited non-destructive and mechanical testing laboratory and is well resourced with expert engineers and technicians and the latest in testing and inspection equipment.
AlfaTest Pty Ltd is a wholly Australian owned and independent private company with more than 20 years experience in the supply of Quality Assurance Management: including testing and inspections, welder training and qualifications, spe specifications and procedures – all to relevant Australian and International standards.
Mechanical testing services include: tensile, bend, hardness, impact, load and bolt testing. We have a materials and metallography lab which conducts microscopy, microscopy and chemical analysis of materials as well as undertaking failure analysis and forensic examinations.
AlfaTest Pty Ltd (ABN 58 096 333 774)
Our non-destructive testing services include: radiography, ultrasonic, eddy current, ACFM, magnetic particle, dye penetrant and visual inspection.
www.alfatest.com.au
AJ Lucas we have a TRIFR score of about 7, which is industry best practice for our field.” Aside from reduction of costs, greater efficiency, and other benefits operating as a safe company affords, Sweeting believes it means more than that.
supplier profile
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“There’s a moral obligation,” he said. “We have people who work for us and it’s our obligation they have a safe working environment and go home as fit and healthy as the day they started working for us.” Lucas has learned the best way to achieve this begins with a deep
AlfaTest Pty Ltd.
AlfaTest Pty Ltd is a wholly Australian owned and independent private company with more than 20 years experience in the supply of Quality Assurance Management: including testing and inspections, welder training and qualifications, specifications and procedures – all to relevant Australian and International standards. AlfaTest Pty Ltd. is a fully NATA accredited non-destructive and mechanical testing laboratory and is well resourced with expert engineers and technicians and the latest in testing and inspection equipment. AlfaTest Pty Ltd works in close conjunction with the other companies of the group – AlfaTest CSG Pty Ltd (mechanical testing of polyethylene pipe), Bentech Services Pty Ltd (supply and maintenance of testing and inspection equipment and consumables) and Total Tech Training (training in non-destructive testing techniques, welder training and general engineering training). The group has an enviable network of contacts in the engineering and welding industries and a solid base of repeat clients. The combined activities of the AlfaTest group allow us to offer a comprehensive range of services to our clients and partners. Our non-destructive testing services include: radiography, ultrasonic, eddy current, ACFM, magnetic particle, dye penetrant and visual inspection. Website: www.alfatest.com.au w w w. l u c a s . c o m . a u /
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understand of what the project entails. “The fact is, if an employee understands the task they’re about to perform, the risk in that task, how to avoid it, and if we give them the skills to do so, not only will they be safe and have some control over their own safety, we’ve found that 9 times out of 10, it’s the most efficient way to do the job,” Sweeting said. “You don’t need to focus on safety by itself; you need to focus on the task and where the risks lie. By doing that, safety and productivity go along as one—they’re very much
joined at the hip.” Another major concern of Lucas’ is the environment, especially when it comes to extensive pipeline jobs. “We’re constructing on sites that we have total responsibility for so it’s very important to us that we meet those standards,” Sweeting said. While having high environmental standards gives Lucas a better chance of getting more jobs in Australia, they aim to be an exemplar for the industry as a whole. “Part of the problem is when you find a company that doesn’t
Meers PROVEN RESULTS & RELIABILITY ENGINEERING & DESIGN FABRICATION & WELDING
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Meers Contracting Services is a small family owned company who have being involved in the gas and waterline pipeline construction industry throughout Australia since late 80’s. The company provides services to the Australian pipeline construction industry mostly in the Project Land Management areas and Construction Supervision.
Fabritec Engineering is a privately owned Australian company specialising in the civil, mining, oil/gas and construction industry providing clients with practical, economical solutions.
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Proud to be an Australian Company servicing the Australian Pipeline Industry
AJ Lucas adhere to the rules and actually causes a mess, putting a blight on the whole industry,” Sweeting said. “We certainly don’t want to be the company that gives some of the industry’s detractors a reason to be extremely negative about its ability to self-regulate.” This is particularly important, since Lucas often works on leases which are owned and operated by other companies. “Whoever it may be, we need to show that we have a system where we can regulate and demonstrate our group’s performance and the ability to actually mesh and uphold the standard they have committed to the local community or the government,” Sweeting said. Working Better Together Maintaining these high standards is important to Lucas, since they work with a lot of different partners across various industries. On the pipeline side, Lucas has had a joint venture for 17 years and counting with onshore pipeline and facilities contractor Spiecapag. “Where a pipeline job maybe too big for us, or for Lucas to perform in its own right, we’ll partner with
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Spiecapag to deliver to our clients,” Sweeting said. “It’s proven to be a very successful relationship that’s been fostered and valued within Lucas for many years now.” Lucas also holds several investments in subsidiaries, one of which is U.K.-based exploration drilling company Cuadrilla. Through Cuadrilla, Lucas has partnerships with a number of different companies, making it quite important to the investment side. Lucas holds a 45 percent equity interest in the company and since 2007, has invested a net $91 billion in it. Other international partnerships include one with the China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau, and both parties are of often in talks on where they can benefit each other from the relationship. “We’re currently doing a job in Hong Kong in which Lucas actually held key positions on HDD and we’re helping them deliver quite a technically challenging HDD project over there,” Sweeting said. So, what makes Lucas a company in such high demand? According to Sweeting, it’s their willingness to deliver on a project from conception to completion. w w w. l u c a s . c o m . a u /
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AJ Lucas
Night 1 3 4 Carborough S e p t e m b e r Downs 2014
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Sweeting gave the example of a client of ten years for which Lucas only initially performed one small part of the process. “Now we do the whole lot from beginning to end,” he said. “We give them forward budgets for each portion of the work, a timeline for completion, and we actually complete the total package of the work, commissioning the work ourselves and handing it back over to the client.” The process doesn’t end there, however. “We continue to monitor performance for them over time,” he continued. “Rather than saying ‘This is our portion of the work’ and being happy with that in isolation to everything else, we actually work with our clients to provide an endto-end solution.” More and more companies are taking notice of Lucas’ solution-based approach to operations, as well. While it hopes to maintain its high quality and standards in the short term, the long term outlook is to expand internationally on a more permanent basis, rather than just for a project. We’re being pursued by companies from South Africa, China, Russia, and Europe, to actually provide more directional drilling solutions as opposed to just exploration solutions,” Sweeting said. “We’re looking at all those now and looking at which may be best for us.”
Company Information Industry
Energy headquarters
Queensland Australia founded
1950 employees
X400+ revenue
$350 Million products/ services
Founded in Sydney in the 1950s, Lucas was at first a highquality building sub-contractor. Subsequently, Lucas has nurtured its engineering intellect to supply specialist, niche engineering, construction, and drilling services to the key sectors of energy, water & waste water, resources (specifically coal) and public infrastructure.
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TAG Oil:
TAG Oil: Canadian O New Zealand Run
Merging the best of Northern and South Written by: Ian Hanner Produced by: Wayne Masciotro
Owned,
hern Hemisphere exploration 137
TAG O i l
Itaque consed quam aspero et modite volu aborept.
BY BLENDING PRODUCTION styles from Canada and New Zealand, TAG Oil has managed to find a sweet spot for operations in the Southern Hemisphere. TAG Oil was founded in Canada in 2002 by Alex Guidi with the express purpose of exploration in New Zealand. While trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the company invests nearly 100 percent of their capital in the development of projects in their host country. Though a relatively small company in the world of oil production, Chief Operating Officer Drew Cadenhead says the company has no problem 138
September 2014
competing in their niche market. “We are the most active explorer in New Zealand and have had good exploration success over the last few years,” Cadenhead said. “A very strong financial position [has us] positioned well for future growth into the next few years.” Cadenhead’s optimism is not without merit. TAG Oil has seen tremendous growth in the last decade. TAG Oil was “relatively inactive” for the first seven years of its existence, according to Cadenhead, who used to be the Chief Executive Officer. “We were just JV partners with
A u stra l ia
Itaque consed quam aspero et modite volu aborept.
some other companies, so once we took control of things ourselves and we were getting much more active operationally, I switched from CEO to COO,” he said. “I relocated myself and my family back to New Zealand to run all of our operations here. Our CFO at the time, Garth Johnson, took over the role of CEO up in Vancouver.”
Cadenhead’s expertise comes from several decades of experience working for various exploration companies in both Canada and New Zealand. He also holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Geology from the University of Calgary. Now tasked with the direction of TAG Oil’s operations in New Zealand, he’s putting his skills to work.
“It is something that’s very important to us: our perception as a good corporate citizen; as a very safety and healthoriented company. Our record is impeccable here and it’s very important for us to maintain that record.” w w w. t a g o i l . c o m / d e f a u l t . a s p
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energy services ltd
TAG O i l
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“Our niche here in New Zealand is to run our company as a small nimble junior company-- sort of like a Canadian model, not surprisingly,” he said. “What we found was that there were a number of Majors down here, [such as] Shell and some of the big Australian companies, mainly focusing offshore. No one was really focusing on-shore where there’s some really nice oil. In particular, shallow oil plays, so really kind of up our alley as far as what we were familiar with as Canadians working in Calgary.” One of TAG Oil’s strongest plays is in the Taranaki Basin. The only
supplier profile
sedimentary basins in New Zealand to have been commercialized to date, the company has invested heavily in the region with three plants and a wholly-owned network of pipelines just east of the field. From there, everything ties into their mother facility, the Cheal plant. The drilling operations in that region produce between 2,300 and 2,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, securing a steady cash flow. According to Cadenhead, TAG Oil will be producing in that region for years to come having only drilled roughly 25 percent of the company’s total acreage.
TAG Oil
Horizon Energy Services Ltd, a specialist oil and gas service provider based in New Plymouth, New Zealand has held the operations and maintenance contract for TAG Oils Cheal Production Station and well sites for over seven years. We currently supply a full operations team to TAG, including an onsite Production Manager, Operations and well testing Technicians, permit issuers and safety personnel. In addition to providing personnel support, our extensive expertise has also been pivotal in the development of a document management, HSE and permitting system, operational procedures and training regime to complement TAGs own infrastructure. Our people and processes have developed along with TAGs growing operations, and we continue to work alongside each other in a very seamless and synergistic way. Website: www.horizonenergy.co.nz
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HG Tubulars (Canada) LTD.
HG Tubulars (Canada) Ltd is a distributor of casing and tubing in Canada and worldwide. We have our manufacturing facility in Hebei Province, China which produces API casing, tubing and couplings. We are proud to supply Tag Oil with their tubular requirements.
High Quality Tubular Products at the Best Price CONTACT US: Tel: 001 403 266 6367 Fax: 001 403 266 6341
Email: info@hgtubulars.com www.hgtubulars.com
TAG O i l
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“If we were to stop drilling here today, the oil would keep flowing for about another 10 to 15 years,” he said. “They’re nice long reserve life, index fields. They produce very well.” Speaking about new drilling operations in the region, he added, “These wells will cost us about $3 million to drill and complete and tie in and we’ll get a net present value out of these wells of somewhere between $10 to 30 million. It’s really a great little play for us.” The success of smaller scale, but very stable operations in shallow plays like these, has afforded the company the ability to develop higher risk operations. With reportedly zero debt and about $50 million in reserve, TAG Oil is looking to explore deeper targets in the region. According to Cadenhead, there are numerous reservoirs situated at depths of between 4,000 and 5,000 meters. With larger pool sizes, he estimates the value of each of these wells would be closer to $20 million. With stable cash flow from the Taranaki Basin, the company has been able to turn its attention to
other regions yet to be developed, such as the East Coast Basin. “[The East Coast Basin] clearly has a working hydrocarbon system,” Cadenhead said. “We know that because there’s 300 or 400 oil and gas seeps where oil and gas is actually gurgling out of the ground. So we know the kitchen is working there and we recognized that about five years ago and secured a very large land base-nearly 2 million acres.” He estimated it would take about three years to gather enough data and drill enough exploratory wells to prove commercial viability, but according to Cadenhead, several independent engineering assessments have indicated that the company is sitting atop reserves in the billions of barrels. “It just remains to be seen if it can be cracked,” he said. “We’re the only ones trying to crack it. It’s one of the main reasons the shareholders in TAG are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for a hit over there, as well as the good work that we’re doing in the Taranaki Basin.” The small staff size at TAG makes the company’s successes thus far
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CONTINUING TO GROW & DIVERSIFY Taranaki Civil Construction Ltd is a family owned business that is proud to carry out all site works and road construction for TAG Oil Ltd.
Tel: +64 6 7566080 Email: admin@tccl.co.nz
www.tccl.co.nz
TAG O i l
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even more impressive. With only 25 employees in New Plymouth, TAG’s revenue for the 2014 fiscal year was just over $2.3 million per person. Over the last five years that the company has been growing, the staff has been hired on one-byone, with only two people leaving the company in that time span,
according to Cadenhead. “We have a lot of fun here,” he said. “It’s a really loose atmosphere and because it’s such a small group, we don’t get bogged down in red tape and paper work. We just yell at each other down the hallway instead of sending memos around. We chat around the coffee pot. It really is a
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TAG O i l small family type of [operation] here.” As a foreign entity operating in another country, TAG Oil has to be extra careful about their perception as good for the community. With a very active role sponsoring both local academic and sporting organizations, the company tries to make it clear that they’re trying to give back to their host country. The process isn’t easy though. Cadenhead pointed out that in recent year, the oil and gas industry has come under scrutiny from the public
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in a way that it hasn’t before. “It’s probably one of the biggest challenges for us, to tell you the truth, and one of the biggest risks is getting permission and consent to drill wells,” he said. “It’s something we put a lot of effort into and I can honestly say many, many more times the effort than we [put into it] just four or five years ago. It just wasn’t a consideration. It has become a consideration. And that’s not just here in New Zealand; that’s a global phenomenon.” He added, “It is something that’s very important to us: our perception as a good corporate citizen; as a very safety and health-oriented company. Our record is impeccable here and it’s very important for us to maintain that record.” The natural gas produced by the company doesn’t just benefit New Zealand by introducing jobs and taxable revenue. Since TAG Oil doesn’t own a facility to liquefy natural gas, all of the
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natural gas produced in the country is sold in New Zealand without the added costs accrued by shipping overseas. Meanwhile, the company’s crude oil is shipped to primarily Asian markets such as China, Japan and India, which require oils with very low sulfur content, and sold at a premium. From there the company imports cheaper oil back from the Middle East to refine into gasoline and diesel for use in New Zealand. “We’ve got the choice of either consuming that oil here or shipping it offshore,” Cadenhead said. “There’s an insatiable thirst for oil in the Southeast Asia part of the world. It’s a great place to find oil. It’s a great place to find high quality oil in particular. As I said, we’re netting back on our oil sales here probably close to $80 a barrel right now.” Cadenhead said he could see the company taking a number of paths in the decade to come. Most exciting would be proving commercial viability on their unconventional plays in the East Coast Basin. “If the unconventional play starts to work for us and we can have success with the proof of concept of being able to flow hydrocarbons from those multi-billion barrel reservoirs that we see over on the East Coast Basin, that’s a completely different ball game,” he said. “Most likely, TAG, at the size that we are, would get bought out by a Major at that point.”
Company Information Industry
Oil and Gas headquarters
Vancouver, Canada founded
2002 employees
25 revenue
$57,546,899 (2014) products/ services
TAG Oil is a Canadianowned exploration and production company for both oil and gas that operates exclusively in New Zealand. By merging the styles of both countries, the company has been able to solve problems no one else has, becoming the busiest explorer in New Zealand. With a small staff size, the company is able to stay highly-adaptive to an evolving energy market and act fast to capitalize on growth opportunities.
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Energyworks Limited
Energyworks Limited’s New
After securing new investment for future growth, Energyw that will expand the Company throughout Australia and N Written by: Laura Close Produced by: Wayne Masciotro
d:
w Strategic Plans
works has introduced new initiatives New Zealand.
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Energyworks Limited
Front view of headquarters New Plymouth, New Zealand
ENERGYWORKS LIMITED, A market leading provider of engineering solutions to the energy sector in New Zealand, secured new investment to the business in January 2014. As a new shareholder, Direct Capital is providing additional capital to support Energyworks’ growth initiatives. The investment was made alongside the existing 150
September 2014
owners, CEO Allen Clarke, and Executive Director Dallas Chadwick, both of whom who continue to be significant shareholders in the Company and continue to manage the business. The additional capital will enable Energyworks to continue its investment programme into new premises, additional people,
E xp l oratio n
new systems, and new capabilities which will support Energyworks’ ongoing growth. As to the future, Energyworks has identified a number of growth and strategic initiatives, which include 1) expanding into Australia and other geographies, 2) substantially increasing its paint and blast solutions for customers on the back of its recently commission and purpose built industrial coatings facility, 3) increasing the range of specialist engineering services that Energyworks provides, and 4) continuing investment in new systems and capabilities,
“We’ve been investing heavily for the last 2-3 years in integrating multiple management systems to optimize our efficiency,” said Ian McGrath, CSO Chief Specialist Officer (QHSE/HR).
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Energy sector services specialists with 35 years’ experience delivering industrial cleaning, waste disposal, corrosion protection and transportation solutions, Intergroup can help you solve your industrial services challenges.
Installers of Insulation and Fire Protection Systems Ph: 64 6 755 1647 A New Zealand owned Freight Forwarder and Customs Services Company, proud to be New Plymouth based servicing our local clients.
Forman Insulation is a leading NZ installer of insulation systems, sheetmetal cladding and passive fire protection products.
Accredited IATA Cargo Agent Over 25 Years Experience
Phone: 64 6 759 8104 Fax: 64 6 757 3151 Email: alpha@alphacustoms.co.nz 330 Devon Street East, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Email: pieter.voorwinde@forman.co.nz Web: www.forman.co.nz
EnergyWorks Limited
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particularly around health, safety, Safety Management Practices (ACC and environmental performance. WSMP) certification to tertiary level. “Our continual improvement Growing the Company commitment does not just include To accomplish these three major meeting requirements for the goals for their new strategic plan, certification, but exceeding those Energyworks is focusing on the requirements and not just for the continual improvement of the clients who we work for, but to push company’s management system us beyond the local and industry certification. “We’ve been investing competition,” shared McGrath. “We heavily for the last 2-3 years in hope it will enable us to provide not integrating multiple management just an internal quality benchmark systems to optimize our efficiency,” for the company, but also external said Ian McGrath, CSO Chief recognition in terms of increasing Specialist Officer (QHSE/HR). our competitiveness and ability to They have several certifications influence the winning of tenders.” from the international certification recognition organisation, Bureau Moving to Australia Veritas, including ISO 9001 (Quality) As part of the strategic plan, and 4801 (Health & Safety). Energyworks is looking towards Energyworks is also in the process re-entering the market in Australia of adding ISO 14001, which relates and establishing a base in the to the environment. In the last 12 to country. Geographically, the 18 months, the company has also east side of Australia will provide increased their ACC Workplace the most opportunities for the
“We hope it will enable us to provide not just a quality benchmark for the company, but also an external benchmark in terms of increasing our competitiveness and ability to influence the winning of tenders.” w w w. e n e r g y w o r k s . n e t . n z
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More than good ideas
Steel Pipe and Fittings Specialists PipesNZ offers a comprehensive stock of Pipe and Fittings. We specialise in large diameters and heavy wall thickness, API, ASTM and AS/NZ compliant with a “cut to length service”. We offer fittings in a number of different designs, schedules and pressure ratings.
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EnergyWorks Limited company because of the strong Gas Transmission infrastructure and the Coal Seam Gas market. “The infrastructure there has been well established over a period of years and the anticipated need, which we are looking to provide, is the ongoing project contracts and on-going maintenance of those facilities,” commented McGrath. “As part of that process we are looking to appoint a general manager in Australia to formally set up and establish the business in Queensland That may include establishing our own infrastructure or an acquisition of an established small business operating in that environment. At the moment, all options are being considered.” Current and Future Projects Energyworks has just completed the workshop fabrication and site installation of five modules for Todd Energy on the Mangahewa C Development. Those new facilities are for gas supply to the existing Todd Energy production station. The project was started in November of 2013 and was completed in May 2014. A pipeline construction project in
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Auckland is Energyworks’ current project. It involves constructing 7.6 kilometres of 6-inch gas distribution for their client, Vector. The pipelines are being installed to support a dairy factory development project, which will create 120 local jobs. Due to the high quality of work the company completed on the Mangahewa C Development project; Energyworks has also been awarded the Mangahewa D, E, and F well-site development work. Energyworks also has a project in Australia with their client Jemena, for the construction of two scraper stations inland from Gladstone in Queensland. Energyworks is building the structural supports and pipework at their New Zealand facility, exporting it to Australia and installing it onsite for the client. Defining Qualities When asked what he thought defined Energyworks and set it apart from others in the industry, McGrath had several answers. “Our ability to manage and execute a wide-range of project and maintenance work for our clients is really distinguished by the quality, w w w. e n e r g y w o r k s . n e t . n z
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Energyworks Limited
EnergyWorks Limited
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skills and experience of our people. We like to solve our clients’ problems and provide them with solutions. Our success has been built on key relationships with a range of significant clients within the Energy Sector” Other important characteristics that Energyworks provides are world class facilities at their New Plymouth site, a quickly scalable work force and a niche expertise in pipeline construction. “Most important though, and something that we actively promote inside the business is that our company demonstrates an attitude, ambition and desire for excellence that drives continual improvement within the company,” said McGrath. “I think that is recognized by the clients we work with and that provides them with a huge amount of assurance in terms of our intent.”
Company Information Industry
Energy, Construction headquarters
New Plymouth, New Zealand founded
1972 employees
200 revenue
$50 Million
“The infrastructure there has been well established over a period of years and the anticipated need, which we are looking to provide, is the ongoing maintenance of those facilities now that they’re established,” commented McGrath.
products/ services
Energyworks provides mechanical maintenance and project services to Dynea including stainless steal piping and mechanical work.
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ABCE: Brazilian Association for Electric Power Companies The oldest and most traditional eletric power association Written by: Alexei Macorin Vivan | Produced by: Danilo Stefanelli 159
ABCE
T Carlos Ribeiro, XIX Legal Symposium
Alexei Vivan, XIX Legal Symposium
he Brazilian Association of Electric Power Companies – ABCE is the oldest and most traditional Brazilian electric power association with 78 years since its foundation and represents electric power generation, transmission and distribution companies. The associated companies of ABCE are the largest State owned and private group of companies of the Brazilian electric power sector. ABCE has a corporate structure of an Associated Members Meeting, a Board of Directors with Carlos Ribeiro as President and an Executive Board with Alexei Vivan as CEO. ABCE also has three committees (Legal-Regulatory, Environmental and Tax). ABCE has also teaching activities with courses and seminars about the electric power sector. The Power Electric Legal Seminar is in its 20th edition. The course about Electric Power Fundamentals for Non-engineers, the Electric Power High Executives Meeting – ENALTESSE and the course about Electric Power Accounting for nonAccountant are foreseen to occur in 2014. There is also the annual Physics and Regulatory Aspects of the Electric Power Sector Course. For 34
“The hydroelectric impact is lower than the one caused by other sources of electric power generation considered its potential and capacity of generation”. – Alexei Macorin Vivan, Chief Executive Officer of ABCE 160
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years ABCE has being delivering the Eloy Chaves Medal which awards large, medium and small electric power companies with good practices to prevent and reduce labor accidents. Brazil has the largest hydrographic basin of the world with the highest hydroelectric generation potency. More than 90% of the Brazilian electric power generation comes from hydroelectric. ABCE has worked searching solution for the complex
ELOY CHAVES award Created in 1980 by ABCE to reward eletric power companies all over Brazil
Due to his appreciation of workers and greater company’s assets that the name of Eloy Chaves (1875-1964) was chosen to name the award. The politician and businessman of the energy sector was a pioneer of social security due to the Law Eloy Chaves, of 1923, that favored workers from São Paulo rail network and it was the basis of the INPS in Brazil (National Social Security Institute).
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ABCE
Book of ABCE’s 70 years
electric power scenario with low rain, low level of the water hydroelectric reservoirs and reduced hydroelectric generation which has demanded the most expensive thermoelectric generation. ABCE has deeply acted before the National Congress during the process of conversion of the Presidential Decree (Medida Provisória) 579 into Federal Law 12783/2013 which has defined the new rules for the electric power concession renewal and for the purchase and sale of electric power to the captive and the free energy markets. One of the great achievements of ABCE during such process was the acceptance by the Federal Government to indemnify the electric power transmission companies for the assets they built before May 2000. However, such indemnification has not being paid yet. According to Mr. Vivan, ABCE CEO and energy specialist attorney, “ABCE defends all sources of electric power generation, specially the hydroelectric power plants with large water reservoirs, in view of its electric power generation 162
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potential, clean, renewable and cheaper source, that allows accumulate water for dry seasons, waterways, flood control, irrigation and gives reliability on the electric power generation system. Mr. Vivan recognizes that all sources of energy generation causes environmental impact, however “the hydroelectric impact is lower than the one caused by other sources of electric power generation considered its potential and capacity of generation.” ABCE also presides the Electric Power Sector Environmental Forum – FMASE which is the main entity that discusses the environmental and sustainability issues before the Federal Government and the Nation Congress. ABCE states that some premises are indispensable to unlock investments in the Brazilian electric power sector as the legal stability (to avoid frequent change of laws), the fulfillment of contracts, the economic and financial contractual equilibrium, the adequate power electric tariffs and the predictability of the environmental licensing process. “The Brazilian Federal Government has pursued electric power tariff reduction what is beneficial for population and favorable for the Brazilian industry competitiveness. Nevertheless, it is necessary to pay close attention to the fragile equilibrium between low tariffs and electric power generation security/reliability. The pursuance for the lower tariff at all cost avoids investments when the venture return does not compensate the business risk to invest”, ends Alexei Vivan.
Company Information Industry
Energy h ea d q u a r t e r s
São Paulo, Brazil founded
April 3rd, 1936 N u m be r o f m e m be r s
26 companies and group of companies Ma n a g e m e n t
President of the Board: Carlos Ribeiro Chief Executive Officer: Alexei Macorin Vivan
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