Scandinavian sunrise REC

“DSME is a new client for Apply with a significant international field development portfolio. It is very motivating for us that they have chosen Apply and to know that delivery of a quality product on schedule will position us for winning future work.”

Another recent project in home waters saw Apply Leirvik take responsibility for the living quarters outfitting and completion for Kvaerner Stord, the topsides contractor to ConocoPhilips for the Eldfisk 2/7 S Project. Eldfisk is one of the largest oilfields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The contract was for the complete outfitting of a new ten floor living quarters module with an area of some 5000m2 .

Global reach

For projects further afield Apply Leirvik has developed invaluable experience in working with local partners. One example is its current partnership with Canada’s North Eastern Constructors Limited (NECL) to supply the living quarters module for ExxonMobil’s Hebron Field, offshore of Newfoundland. The Norwegian company’s prime responsibilities are project management, engineering, procurement and construction supervision for the sevenfloor module, which will combine steel for its lower floors and aluminium for the upper floors. Some 20 senior personnel and specialists from Apply Leirvik and Apply Emtunga have been working in the St John’s project office of NECL and all construction work is being carried out at the Bull Arm yard in Newfoundland. Delivery is scheduled for December 2014.

Lars Solberg says, “This contract has been a breakthrough in our international strategy, giving us a broad experience in international working and an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the quality of our employees. Being the preferred LQ provider for ExxonMobil is a great honour for the entire organisation.”

On the other side of the world, Apply Leirvik’s Swedish subsidiary Apply Emtunga has just been awarded an EPC contract for living quarters By BP Exploration for its Shah Deniz Stage 2 development in the Caspian Sea. Assembly of the $32m module will be carried out at the ATA fabrication yard near Baku and is due to be completed in 2017. This module will be the eighth living quarters module delivered to BP and its partners in Azerbaijan since 1997.

“The key to our success is that we are experts in our field and we stay with what we know,” says Lars Solberg. “We are the only company that specialises entirely in living quarters and we take the business very seriously. We know that designing and constructing these facilities is complex and demanding; many companies that thought they were pretty straightforward structures have not survived. And our particular expertise in aluminium modules is increasingly valued as contractors and field operators all over the world come to recognise their advantages. n

SCANDINAVIAN SUNRISE

With more than 15 years of experience, REC is a leading global provider of solar energy solutions. Its highperformance products and services are helping meet the world’s growing energy needs. Julia Snow spoke to Luc Graré, senior vice president for sales and marketing, to learn more about the fast-paced solar markets.

REC’s high-performance solar panels are renowned for meeting the highest quality standards and providing stable power output over the lifetime of the product. Core products are multicrystalline solar panels and solar energy solutions, augmented by extra services around installation, planning and support. The company is listed on the Oslo stock exchange, and an operating headquarters in Tuas, Singapore, where the integrated production facility is located. Worldwide the company employs 1600 staff and showed revenues of USD 647 million in 2013.

To establish a solar energy company located at the northern edge of Europe may sound like a contradiction in terms, but in 1994 REC’s founder Alf Bjørseth saw that hydro power in abundance and a long tradition in the metal industry would support his business case. His idea was that solar cells made from multicrystalline wafers would become the leading technology in a growing business field. A few years later Mr Bjørseth went into partnership with a local ammoniac production facility to produce solar wafers, and production started in 1997.

In the beginning the main market was off-grid, but soon solar home systems were ordered for projects in South Africa, and later in Japan and Germany, where major support programmes for grid-connected solar energy were launched. World-class facility in Singapore

When REC wanted to build a world-class integrated solar panel manufacturing facility, over 200 possible locations were evaluated, before the decision fell to Singapore. In June 2008 REC committed to investing NOK 13 billion in the Singapore wafer, cell and solar panel plants in Tuas View, which opened in 2010. The fully automated factory ensures consistently high quality throughout all production steps from wafers and cells to solar panels. Production picked up quickly with 820 MW of solar panels in 2013, up from 647 MW in 2011. And expansion is already on the cards, as Mr Graré explains, ”Only last week our board took a decision to upgrade the