Twe september14

september 2014

more than business

www.totalworldenergy.com

Deepwater Production is on the up It has been reported that deepwater production is to double by 2020 and a central part of that production for all companies is going to be the FPSO unit. There are currently over 200 FPSOs operating around the world so Total World Energy talks to Alastair McGregor of Omni Offshore Terminals and finds out more about the FPSO market and how the company is helping it grow.

Enagรกs

Spanish underground storage

Bestra

Offshore engineering from Norway

Baku Shipyard

Targeting the Caspian region

Atlantica Tender Drilling From West Africa to Brazil

Provider of drilling, sidetracking and workover services, on land in Russia and offshore in the Caspian Sea Provider of drilling, sidetracking and workover services, on land in Russia and offshore in the Caspian Sea

www.eurasiadrilling.com

Last month, one of my colleagues told me that he was going to have solar panels installed on the roof of his house. At first I thought this was a good idea and sounded pretty normal – everyone’s doing it aren’t they?

Then I heard more about the cost and process involved and I thought again, is this really worth it? I know every company is different but energy is such a precious thing and to utilise it in the wrong areas, even with the right intentions, is a waste.

This all comes from my number one question surrounding renewables – if more solar, wind, hydro and other renewables keep cropping up, why does energy constantly get more expensive?

My colleague told me that he would eventually get more money back through sales of his excess generation back to the grid and this money would repay the initial (substantial) outlay. But for me it all seems rather difficult and unnecessary. It did make one thing evidently clear to me – traditional energy sources; oil, gas, coal, nuclear are still needed in a big way and this won’t change anytime soon.

With this is mind, this month we talk to a number of key players in the ‘traditional’ energy industries. Baku Shipyard in Azerbaijan, a relatively new yard that is set to take the offshore industry in the Caspian Sea by storm and the state gas transmission company Croatia who are looking to build on already excellent coverage statistics. Then there is Omni Offshore Terminals whose innovative nature again proves that although renewables are popular and important for the future, traditional sources cannot be overlooked and still have a huge part to play. We always want to hear your thoughts about renewables and traditional energy sources so get in touch online @TWEmagazine

Joe Forshaw editor@ecp-ltd.com

EDITOR Joe Forshaw SUB-EDITOR Harriet Pattison WRITERS Rosie DeWinter Colin Chinery Tim Hands Roland Douglas Christian Jordan Helen Lake STUDIO DIRECTOR Martyn Oakley DESIGNER Eleanor Horner

RESEARCH DIRECTOR Chris Bolderstone PROJECT MANAGERS Rick Liddiment Ben Richell Kieran Shukri Jodie Rettie SALES DIRECTOR Andy Williams SALES MANAGER Daniel Marshall SALES EXECUTIVE Daniel Gillespie

ACCOUNTS Mike Molloy Jane Reeder MANAGING DIRECTOR David Hodgson OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Chris Bolderstone FINANCE DIRECTOR Scott Warman

2a Ardney Rise, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 3QH, United Kingdom If you would like more information about ways in which Total World Energy can promote your business please call +44 1603 411568 or email | editor@ecp-ltd.com East Coast Promotions Ltd does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in articles by attributing writers and/ or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher. © East Coast Promotions Ltd 2014

PAGE 3

Contents EDITOR’S PAGE

3

NEWS

6

Traditional versus new energy

All that’s happening in the energy industry

EnTREPRENEUR

14

Innovation

16

Omni Offshore Terminals

18

Baku Shipyard

26

Fluxys

32

Atlantica Tender Drilling

38

Enagas

42

Bestra

48

Plinacro

54

Reinstein

60

Gate Terminal

72

Future Power

80

Gadget Box

82

China’s energy giant

Using gravity as energy

Offshore’s Omni presence

Shipyard of choice for Caspian region

Growing the European gas network

West Africa to Brazil and everything in-between

Rosa María Nieto tells us about underground storage

Norwegian engineering at its finest

Marin Zovko talks Croatian gas

Efficiency is the key

The key is at the gate

Solar floating on water?

Futuristic exoskeletons for the shipyard

PAGE 4 MAR 14

CONTENTS

18

26

26

48

54

16 PAGE 5

# twenews Shell announces Marjoram-1 gas discovery in deep-water Malaysia The Marjoram-1 well is located

Shell last month announced further

Malaysia,” said Andrew Brown,

exploration success in Malaysia

Shell Upstream International

180 kilometres off the Malaysia

with another gas discovery at

Director.

coast in Block SK318, in 800

the Shell-operated deep-water

“We have a long history in the

metres of water. Earlier this year,

region, and the addition of new

Shell announced the Rosmari-1

“Our strategy to expand

natural gas resources this year

gas discovery, also in this block.

our heartland areas through

ensures we are able to continue

technologically advanced

to provide cost-effective, reliable,

Shell with an 85% interest, with the

exploration is delivering tangible

cleaner energy options for the

remaining 15% held by PETRONAS

success in deep-water in

future.”

Carigali Sdn Bhd.

Marjoram-1 well.

Block SK318 is operated by

Robert Davies - Shutterstock

PAGE 6

NEWS

Circle Oil finds oil off Tunisia

Circle Oil Plc, the Middle East and Africa focused oil and gas exploration, development and production company, has announced the preliminary results of drilling of the well EMD-1 in the Mahdia Permit, offshore Tunisia.

The El Mediouni-1 well (EMD-1) is located within the north central area of the Mahdia Permit in a water depth of 240 metres, 120 km east of the port of Sousse. EMD-1 was spudded on 8 June 2014 and drilled to a TD of 1,200 metres MD in the Upper Ketatna carbonates. The stratigraphy encountered in the well was exactly as prognosed and very good light oil shows were encountered both in the Lower Birsa carbonate primary target and the Upper Ketatna carbonates secondary target over a combined interval of 133 metres.

Circle Oil has said that the strong hydrocarbon indications encountered in the Birsa and Ketatna carbonates confirm the existence of a working petroleum system in the Mahdia Permit for this and

other prospects. The robustness of the El Mediouni trap has also been proven. The losses incurred within the target formations give further confirmation of high quality permeability, the company says.

The gross oil zone interval in the Lower Birsa is 77 metres and the Upper Ketatna has a minimum interval of 48 metres, subject to confirmation by logs. Using known reservoir and fluid parameters from equivalent formations in the Gulf of Hammamet, the internally estimated most likely recoverable prospective resources discovered by the EMD-1 well are approximately 100 MMBO. During the drilling of the target carbonates, severe mud losses occurred and multiple remedial operations to restore circulation were performed. This included the pumping of numerous CaCO3 pills, conventional lost circulation material and large volumes of sea water. The hole conditions in the well deteriorated rapidly and multiple attempts at open hole logging by wireline and tough logging conditions

equipment failed. Ultimately the decision was taken to terminate further efforts and suspend the well.

Circle Oil has been granted a six month extension to the Mahdia permit to January 2015. It then has the right to elect for two additional renewals of the permit for 3 years each with a commitment of one well per period.

Commenting on the results of the EMD1 well Prof. Chris Green, CEO, said: “We are extremely pleased to add this potential large discovery to our portfolio in Tunisia. It is unfortunate that the hole conditions became untenable so quickly and we were unable to conduct a full log evaluation of the hydrocarbon column in the well. Nevertheless we intend to take our appraisal effort forward on the Mahdia Permit as quickly as possible following this proof of the El Mediouni petroleum accumulation and will provide further updates of our plans in due course. We look forward to working with ETAP on the next stage of this project.�

PAGE 7

# twenews Aquaterra Energy unveils new ‘revolutionary’ Riser Monitoring System Aquaterra Energy has launched a unique Riser Monitoring System (RMS) which the company believes will revolutionise the integrity management process and deliver superior reliability and accuracy of data acquisition for the offshore oil and gas industry.

The RMS design utilises a combination of direct riser strain measurement, subsea data logging and riser analysis processing algorithms to generate accurate, real time operational guidance on optimising drilling and workover operations in water depths of up to 100m.

Eric Doyle, Regional Director – Europe at Aquaterra Energy, said: “Heightened sensitivity around health and safety and project critical risks associated with riser fatigue have resulted in an urgent need for innovation in riser integrity management, driving our innovation in this field. This new RMS will assist our clients with precision planning of maintenance activities and deliver real potential for safe asset life extension.

“It combines rapid data processing and high fidelity output with proven analysis expertise, to offer our clients a leading edge solution to integrity management.

The solution is delivered through the use of a bespoke, standard length, riser joint, which replaces a standard riser joint in the stack up, with preinstalled data acquisition and logging hardware, resulting in virtually zero

PAGE 8

impact on operations.

“The integration, complexity and practicality of the data handling in the RMS is unique to Aquaterra Energy and the accumulated strain data can either be stored locally or transmitted back to surface for live evaluation.”

A full scale prototype of the RMS unit was developed by Aquaterra Energy in the structures laboratory of the University Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge and, in partnership with the University, all elements of the system have been tested and verified to ensure maximum reliability.

Dr Chris Burgoyne, Head of Structures at the University of Cambridge, said: “This is an interesting use of sensing technology for the offshore oil and gas industry and the structures group is happy to be working with Aquaterra Energy on such an innovative application.”

Aquaterra Energy’s RMS uses pre-processed computationally intensive data which ensures that analysis, including the usually time intensive component fatigue utilisation determination, is rapid and that a full range of potential input conditions, tabulated in a multi-dimensional matrix, is provided. Measurement, evaluation and specification of key variables, specific to each strain cycle contained within the measured data, allow an accurate representation of the critical boundary conditions

to be produced. This subsequently enables comparison with the pre-processed data, as well as directional fatigue assessment for each constituent component along the full riser length.

The system’s four strain gauge devices facilitate superior reliability and accuracy to alternative data acquisition methods. The gauges are protected from accidental damage by a casing which also contains the logging hardware, in combination with modular battery pack expansion slots, which facilitate up to five years logging time.

Doyle concluded: “Unlike conventional methods, abutment to the riser is by a specially developed subsea epoxy resin, achieving one of the products key objectives – measuring the riser and not a clamp. This improves riser stain measurement accuracy whilst eliminating the need for welding which causes damaging fatigue hot spots.”

The development of this RMS is illustrative of Aquaterra Energy’s approach to delivering innovative outcomes to offshore challenges.

The expertise and attention to even the smallest detail that our team employs in delivering such solutions, is intrinsic in all our riser engineering work, and highly valued by our clients.”

The RMS is fully compliant with DNV-RP-F206 and ISO 13628-7 specifications and certified to ATEX Ex ib IIB T4.

NEWS

Siemens: Order Placed for 67 Dudgeon Offshore Wind Turbines Siemens Energy has received an order from the Norwegian energy utilities Statoil and Statkraft for the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in the UK. Siemens will manufacture, deliver, install and commission 67 Siemens direct-drive wind turbines rated at 6 megawatts (MW) each and equipped with a 154-meter rotor.

Installation will start in early 2017.

The combined value including a fiveyear-service contract is approximately GBP 500 million – nearly 650 million Euros.

The Dudgeon offshore wind project

is located 32 kilometers north of the city of Cromer in North Norfolk.

Dudgeon offshore wind project is owned by Statoil (70 percent) and Statkraft (30 percent). Statoil holds the responsibility as operator beginning from the construction phase. With an overall capacity of 402 MW Dudgeon will provide clean power to more than 410,000 UK households.

“We are proud to convince more and more customers about the advantages of our 6-megawattsoffshore machine,” said Dr. Markus

Tacke, CEO of the Wind Power Division of Siemens Energy. “With Dudgeon we extend our project pipeline for this new turbine. This gives us the opportunity to further ramp up production capacity, which is a precondition to bring down the costs for offshore wind.”

Wind power and energy service are part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio. Around 43 percent of its total revenue stems from green products and solutions. That makes Siemens one of the world’s leading providers of eco-friendly technology.

© Robert Fruehauf - Shutterstock

PAGE 9

# twenews

Ensco wins jack-up rig contract in Malaysia Ensco, a UK-based offshore drilling contractor, has secured a three-year contract for its ENSCO 52 jack-up rig.

The ENSCO 52 jack-up, of the F&G L-780 Mod IIC design was contracted with Murphy Oil company in Malaysia.

In its fleet status report issued Monday, Ensco revealed that the day rate for the contract was set in high $90.000s up from the previous day rate of mid $80.000s with the same client.

Furthermore, the rig owner used

PAGE 10

the opportunity to report on the rig’s safety record ENSCO 52 saying that the rig recently surpassed three years without a Recordable Incident.

Malaysia is Murphy Oil’s main asset base producing more than 40% of the company’s total 2013 net production.

Murphy holds majority interests in seven separate production sharing contracts (PSCs): Block K, Block H, Block P, SK 309, SK 311 and SK 314A, and three gas holding agreements in PM 311.

In 2013, Murphy’s Malaysia net production was about 86,000 boepd, and the company booked total proved reserves 125 MMBO and 406 BCF. The U.S. based oil company is reportedly looking to divest around 30 per cent of its Malaysian assets.

Industry players such as Japan’s Mitsubishi and Mitsui , India’s ONGC and Oil India, Vietnam’s Petrovietnam and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation have all reportedly shown interest in making a swoop for Murphy’s equity in Malaysia.

NEWS

Oil exports begin from Gazprom’s Gulf of Ob field In August 2014 the oil product tankers SCF Yenisei and SCF Pechora, operated by OAO Sovcomflot, have begun transporting the first oil from the Novoportovskoye Oilfield, located in the Gulf of Ob, in the Far North, Russia.

Gulf of Ob is the largest bay of the Kara Sea. It is located at the mouth of the Ob River and bordered in the west by the Yamal Peninsula. The harsh Arctic climate means that the Gulf of Ob is packed with ice until July, with the bay beginning to freeze over once again in October.

SCF Yenisei is currently loading oil while SCF Pechora is being prepared to start cargo operations shortly. Both vessels are under charter to Gazprom Neft.

SCF Yenisei and SCF Pechora, with a deadweight of approximately 47,000 tonnes each, are the largest vessels currently operating in this area of the Far North. Both these Russian-flagged oil tankers have a high ice class (1A).

Their voyages will include transits along the Northern Sea Route. During their operation, experts from SCF Group will continue to study this high latitude route. They will also work on arrangements for long-term operations supporting large-scale projects, involving the export of hydrocarbons from the Yamal Peninsula, for Gazprom Neft LLC. Evgeniy Ambrosov, First Deputy General Director of OAO Sovcomflot, noted: “The start of oil exports from

the Novoportovskoye Oilfield, using Sovcomflot’s ships, forms part of the company’s strategy to steadily increase the provision of transportation and logistics services supporting the largest oil deposits located in the far north of Russia. SCF Group also continues to develop the use of high-latitude Arctic routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.

“This year, the company plans to make a number of commercial voyages along the Northern Sea Route, continuing to accumulate experience in the transportation of large cargo consignments via Arctic routes, using our high-tech fleet and experienced crews to address the unique challenges faced by domestic oil and gas companies.”

© Merkushev Vasiliy - Shutterstock

PAGE 11

# twenews Keppel delivers ‘Dukhan’ jack-up to GDI, Qatar Bumi Armada has announced the signing of a contract with eni Angola S.p.A. for the chartering, operations and maintenance of a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) for deployment at the Block 15/06, East Hub field located in deep water offshore Angola.

The contract is for a firm charter of 12 years with options of 8 yearly extensions. The estimated aggregate value of the contract for the firm charter period is approximately USD3.0 billion (equivalent to approximately RM9.6 billion), with a further aggregate contract value of USD0.9 billion (equivalent to approximately RM3.0 billion) if eni Angola exercises all the extension options.

The FPSO is expected to start

PAGE 12

operations in the Block 15/06 field in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Commenting on the signing of the Contract, Hassan Basma, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Bumi Armada said, “The Contract for the Block 15/06 field marks Bumi Armada’s largest FPSO contract to date, in both contract value as well as the VLCC vessel which we will be using for the conversion, and clearly marks our entrance into the top tier of global FPSO players. Work on the FPSO for the 15/06 field has already commenced in April with the award of the LOI. We are confident of delivering the FPSO on time and on budget in Q4 2016.”

Bumi Armada will be using a VLCC class tanker for this FPSO

conversion. The FPSO will utilise an external turret with 18 risers and umbilicals connected to the turret.

The FPSO will also have a storage capacity of 1,800,000 barrels while having a crude oil production rate of 80,000 bopd oil production, 120,000 bwpd water injection and 120,000 MMscf gas handling capacities. The 4th Generation FPSO will have a topside weight of 15,000 tonnes and will be moored at a water depth of 450 meters.

The FPSO for the 15/06 Field will take Bumi Armada’s total FPSO fleet to 9 vessels (including an LOI for the Madura BD field) and increases the order backlog to RM33.3 billion (comprising RM21.7 billion of firm contracts and RM11.6 billion of optional extensions).

NEWS

Samsung Merges Its Heavy Industries and Engineering

© Samsung Village Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has officially announced that it will merge with Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd, the first and largest engineering company in Korea.

The merger between Samsung Heavy Industries and Samsung Engineering was decided during their board of directors meeting on September 1 to create a “world-class total solution provider for shipbuilding and onshore and offshore services.”

The merger ratio will be fixed at 1:2.36. Therefore, Samsung Heavy Industries will issue new stocks so that the shareholders of Samsung Engineering can exchange their shares for the Samsung Heavy

October 27, 2014 and complete the merger process on December 1, 2014.

Through the merger, Samsung Heavy Industries will gain engineering, procurement, and project management capabilities, which are the strengths of Samsung Engineering, and establish a stable foundation for the growth of its offshore plant business.

Meanwhile, Samsung Engineering, which has focused its business in onshore hydrocarbon plants, will be able to diversify into high valueadded projects such as onshore LNG and offshore plants by securing Samsung Heavy Industries’ offshore

Procurement and Construction) company. Their goal is to grow into a world-class total solution provider, increasing their combined revenues of 25 trillion in 2013 to 40 trillion won in 2020.

“The two companies will be reborn as the world’s most competitive plant company based on our world-class manufacturing facilities, fabrication experience, and outstanding technical manpower in the onshore and offshore businesses,” said Dae-Young Park, President and CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries.

Choong Heum Park, President and CEO of Samsung Engineering said: “We will emerge as a total solution

Industries’ shares and receive 2.36 Samsung Heavy Industries shares for every Samsung Engineering share they own.

The two companies plan to hold a special shareholders meeting on

plant fabrication capabilities, which is recognized as one of the best in the world.

The merger will give the two companies a chance to become a global top-tier EPC (Engineering,

provider that caters to the diverse needs of our clients by combining the expertise and technologies we have each accumulated as individual companies in the plant, shipbuilding, and offshore industries.”

PAGE 13

Cleaning up Chinese energy Editorial: Christian Jordan

Li Hejun of Hanergy Holding Group is an entrepreneur with serious ambition. His expertise in mechanical engineering have helped him to grow one of China’s foremost clean energy companies, and amass an impressive personal fortune along the way.

Being an entrepreneur usually coincides with the fundamental goal of business profit. People get into business to make money. One way or another, if you are an entrepreneur you are likely to be in the money making game.

Of course, money can be made in almost every industry around the world.

Even in the smallest of sectors, there’s always a canny individual or group who manage to make a niche commercially valuable.

And the energy industry is no different. We have seen in the past that entrepreneurs are the drivers of business and in all of the different sectors of the industry, entrepreneurs help create wealth, create employment and create opportunity.

This month’s example is no different.

Li Hejun of Hanergy Holding Group. He’s a self-made success and the 47 year old was recently added to the prestigious Forbes list of global billionaires.

A renewable energy specialist, Li has seen exponential growth of Hanergy in

PAGE 14

the last few years.

Headquartered in Beijing, the company was formed in 1994 and focuses on solar energy but Li himself has interests in solar, wind and hydro power.

A big contributor to his personal gain has been the Chinese government’s investment in renewable energy over the past decade. Last year the government announced that it would pay higher than expected prices for solar power.

Further positivity was realised, especially in the share price, after the company announced it would buy thin-film solar technology and shares in German company Solibro GmbH for $45 million. Eventually, Li and Hanergy bought Solibro from Q-Cells for an undisclosed amount, at the end of 2013.

His estimated net worth stands at $7.3 billion and along with his successful solar business, he owns the largest privately held hydro power plant in the world in Western China.

At last year’s Forbes Global CEO Conference in Bali, Li said that he expects half of the world’s energy to come from renewable sources by the middle of the century, quite a prediction from the man who is originally from Guangdong Province, one of China’s most important economic regions.

In the Guangdong Province, a hilly area made up mostly of Hakka people, residents are famous for their frugality and hardworking nature. This was evident in Li’s early career where he sold electronics, mainly calculators. Upon starting up his first business, where he was lent 50,000 yuan by a former university lecturer (Guo Kai – Jiaotung University), his hardworking side was again demonstrated and, although he eventually failed in logistics, he paid back the loan in full.

“He wasn’t somebody who talked a lot; he went out and did things,” Guo Kai told Forbes magazine.

Li graduated from university with a mechanical engineering degree and his

Entrepreneur

first break in hydro power came when he helped with the construction of a dam across the Dongjiang River and this led to the building of the Jin’anqiao dam which was connected in 2011 and brings at least 2.4 million kilowatts to the grid. Today, his company has 10 hydropower dams, 18 solar power plants, two wind power sites and over 10,000 employees in 14 different countries.

Like any true entrepreneur, Li is not happy to sit still. He is always on the lookout for growth and this was demonstrated in January last year when He purchased US companies MiaSole and Global Solar Energy.

These purchases, along with the Solibro acquisition, have positioned Li and Hanergy as a global leader in copper indium callium deselenide, or CIGS, thin-film technology, a sector where Li hopes to take on the leaders who include First Solar.

And all of this is not just of personal benefit to Li. Think back to the Beijing

Olympics of 2008. Remember the smog that dominated headlines before the event kicked off? China is still in a situation where its pollution levels are almost out of control parking fresh health concerns for global onlookers.

Measurements of air pollution in China, including ozone and PM2.5 (measured by the density of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in size), were measured at the start of 2013 and the results came back as ‘off the chart’, higher than the maximum 755 μg the US Embassy’s equipment can measure. It has even been reported that smog from China has reached as far as California. This pollution is a result of China’s fast industrialisation and its power sources of imported oil and coal fired power stations. As far back as seven years ago, the World Bank said that 16 of the world’s most polluted cities are in China.

And all of this makes Li’s ambitions even more important and even more noble. It has been reported that a

strategy for the company going forward will include the installation of thin-film technology onto single buildings, creating mini power stations that don’t draw from the grid. Li is a vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and this will only help him to achieve his goals of a cleaner China.

But perhaps the most important thing about Li, and what makes him the perfect example of an energy entrepreneur, is his ambition to succeed even after achieving so much. Li himself has even admitted, he no longer needs to work. “I could stop working… I like golf,” he told Fobes in an interview.

The Jin’anqiao Hydroelectric Project generates $500 million a year of free cash flow for a Hanergy arm but nevertheless, Li wants to continue working, continue improving China’s energy mix and continue creating opportunities for people all over his country – signs of a truly great entrepreneur

PAGE 15

The simplest of energy now powering safe light where it’s needed most Editorial: Joe Forshaw

Around the world there are approximately 1.5 billion people without reliable access to proper electricity. As the global population grows, this figure will grow with it.

This of course means that people have to turn to other energy sources to light their homes - sources such as kerosene - which is dangerous, expensive and bad for the environment. However, GravityLight could be the innovation to provide a real alternative to kerosene.

As renewable sources of energy become more and more popular throughout the world, there is still a fundamental problem that exists – renewables such as wind farms, solar parks or biomass facilities feed straight into a national grid; but what happens if you don’t have access to the grid? What about in less developed nations where the grid does not cover the entire population? And what about more

PAGE 16

developed nations where the grid fails to keep up with demand from a growing population?

Clearly a solution is needed that provides safe, fast, cheap renewable energy to a single person or home and that solution is looking like it could be closer than ever before in the form of GravityLight.

GravityLight is an innovative product

developed by British inventors Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves of industrial design outfit, Therefore.

The pair were responding to a challenge set out by international charity SolarAid, which tasked inventors with creating a LED lantern for under $6.

Inspired, the pair created Deciwatt, a venture to put their ideas into practice.

The main aim of the challenge was to

Innovation

come up with an alternative to kerosene lamps which are dangerous, polluting, expensive and unsustainable.

At its core, GravityLight is a very simple device. It produces only a deciwatt or two of power but is clean, infinite and importantly, free.

Imagine a wind up torch but more sophisticated and less effort-intensive, the GravityLight uses gravity power to produce light. A weight of between eight and 12 kilograms is attached to a hook on the end of a cord. The weight then uses gravity’s energy and is pulled downwards turning a set of small gears and a small generator which powers an LED bulb. When the weight reaches the floor it will have created enough energy to power the light for 30 minutes (on a low setting – 15 minutes on high setting). At this point, someone will need to hoist the weight back to the top of the cord, taking all of three seconds.

Initially, the inventors found that the problems included small parts breaking all too easily and the weight cord often being over or under loaded. This was quickly resolved and now a red light will flash if the device is loaded incorrectly.

Also, the gears have helped make the GravityLight more safe replacing the original bearings which were weak and would become faulty under pressure.

In a TED speech, Jim Reeves said: “Nearly a third of the world’s population live off-grid without access electricity. I found this statistic incredible, I had no idea this was the case. Many of these people are not rural or remote, they are urban, they have electricity available if they could get connected but they can’t afford it.

“When you’re off-grid, what do you do for lighting? There are so many things that we take for granted, it’s hard to imagine what life would be like off-grid.

The likelihood is you’ll use kerosene and SolarAid are trying to eradicate kerosene lighting from Africa. They’re not giving away lanterns, they’re building a network of entrepreneurs to sell and distribute their products to people who rely on kerosene.

“But SolarAid had a problem – their products were too expensive. They were out of the reach of the people they wanted to reach most. They needed to find a way to make a product for $6 so that they could change the game.”

Reeves said they started by looking at what was available and what it cost to make and the instant problem was batteries. Batteries were just too expensive for the $6 budget and they are also unsustainable. “We almost had to say to SolarAid, ‘this can’t be done’ and

we don’t like saying that,” he said.

After the prototype was developed, extensive field trials were needed. Reeves said that estimates suggested they would need around $55,000 for the trail – money which they didn’t have. So, they turned to crowdfunding. This was a great decision seeing the target reached within four days. “It snowballed; people got it,” said Reeves.

At the end of the crowdfunding campaign, GravityLight has raised $400,000 and a large network of connections with people willing to help. “We employed the extra funding to accelerate the development from prototype to working product.”

The device was improved and could now also power other products – periphery lights, radios etc. It seems like the problem had been solved.

GravityLight could provide instantly available power and light, anytime.

Time Magazine called it one of the best 25 inventions of 2013, CNN called it one of the top ten revolutionary innovations of 2013 and it won the Aid Innovation Challenge AidEx in 2013. But most importantly, among all the accolades and awards the device has garnered, it is helping people who really need it and proving that there is an alternative to kerosene

PAGE 17

Offshore’s Omni presence Editorial: Colin Chinery

In its 26 year history, sector global leader Omni Offshore Terminals, part of Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, has delivered 23 conversion projects with two FPSOs and 21 FSOs of varying complexity. Headquartered in Singapore, its operational up time is phenomenal - 99.99 per cent. “It’s about focusing on our core competence and delivering sustainable, economically viable projects,” says CEO Alastair McGregor.

Versatility and time to first oil have made floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels a favoured operational component for offshore oil and gas operators.

The number in service or available for deployment has increased 96% over the past 10 years, and the PAGE 18

International Maritime Associates estimates a further 140 to 150 will be needed if all 132 currently visible projects proceed to development.

And with converted FPSO vessels a perfect match for marginal fields or small reserves where capacity required is low, Alastair McGregor,

CEO of Omni Offshore Terminals, leading provider of FPSO solutions and asset management, is unsurprisingly bullish.

“The future of the business looks very, very good.”

Part of Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, Omni designs, builds, owns and

Omni Offshore Terminals operates offshore units globally. And in the 26 years since it was founded, the Singapore-headquartered company has delivered 23 conversion projects with two FPSOs and 21 FSOs of varying complexity across mooring systems, operating environments, sub-sea installation, power generation and other specialised equipment.

Usually based on a converted oil tanker hull, a FPSO is equipped with hydrocarbon processing equipment for separation and treatment of crude oil, water and gases arriving on board from sub-sea oil wells via flexible pipelines.

It is a concept that allows companies to produce oil in more remote areas and in deeper water than is economically possible with other technology such as fixed piled structures.

Storage capacity for the treated crude oil produced is equipped with an offloading system to transfer the crude oil to traditional or shuttle tankers for shipment to refineries, rather than pipeline transportation to shore.

CONVERSIONS DOMINATE “While we are more than happy to build new, the reason why conversions are dominant in the industry is time to first oil. If you go for a new build, you will not generally meet the oil company’s time schedule,” says McGregor.

“Occasionally you will see a new build, but these typically are done by the oil companies directly, answering a need where there is an exceptionally long schedule and the field development programme is worked around the delivery of the FPSO. “We very much pride ourselves on completion on time - which is of exceptional importance to the oil companies – and, along with this, our up time operational performance,” says McGregor.

“And here we have a phenomenal record - a 99.99 per cent operational up time since 1988. It’s one of our core strengths and a very powerful marketing tool that we use when talking to prospective clients.”

Established with the aim of extending the useful life of tankers from the wider sailing fleet, Omni

launched two floating storage and offloading vessel (FSOs) projects in 1990 - one of which is still operational with an oil major.

“It’s quite unusual to find such an asset operational for such an extended period of time, and this underlines the strength, quality and nature of the service and conversions that we operate.

MARKET LEADERS “In the mid-2000s we were recognised as the market leader in FSOs and looked to expand into other areas while working primarily on our core competence.

“So we investigated moving into the FPSO business using all the competences we had in the FSO sector but adding the production element on board. Our first contract began in 2006 and went into service in 2008 - in a harsh environment off the coast of New Zealand.

“Not only have we moved into FPSOs, we have also expanded the capability of what equipment we put on vessels, tailoring for the specific needs of our clients whilst maintaining

PAGE 19

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a very close working relationship with them.”

FPSOs have many advantages over other production floaters, including field storage capability and deployment in locations economically inaccessible to pipeline infrastructure.

“The outlook for the industry as a whole is very, very positive - and particularly for Omni given our track record and success rate” Water depth is not a constraint – FPSOs operate on shallow to ultradeepwater fields and in environments ranging from the benign to the harsh.

They are also less weight sensitive than other floating production

PAGE 20

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systems, while the extensive deck area of a large tanker provides flexibility in process plant layout.

“We are the largest providers of FSOs in the world, but that doesn’t necessarily make us the largest providers overall of FSOs and FPSOs because we don’t try to be everything to everybody.

“We are not an engineering house; we stick with our core competence and look at the mid-sized FPSOs 60,000 to 70,000 barrels.

“An ultra-deep 250,000 barrels production is not an FPSO that we would typically look at since the risk/ reward ratio is not commensurate to the Omni business model. Those who play in those very high-end projects have often had difficulties in recent years. And that’s not where we want to be.”

BOILER-SUITED CEO Alastair McGregor terms his career

background “unusual. Originally I was an engineer, studying first at Imperial College in London. Later I went to the Management School at Cranfield, and as a result moved into the financial world and became a banker with Salomon Smith Barney.

“It was while I was there that I became, for five or six years, an adviser to the Omni Group before actually joining it in 2003 as Chairman and CEO of Tank Pacific and Tank Pacific Offshore Terminals. So I have always been in charge of Omni. From my perspective, one day you will find me in a boiler suit in a shipyard and the next day wearing a business suit in a boardroom talking to financiers.”

A defining Omni characteristic is the skill sets of its management team.

“We don’t try to be everything to everybody; we know our strengths and we work on those strengths with our customers. We try to create tailored solutions rather than ‘this is

Omni Offshore Terminals what we have done before; let’s just copy it.’ That’s not our approach.”

Headquartered in Singapore – location of the bulk of tanker conversions – and with offices in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, Omni’s operational reach extends from Brazil to the South Pacific, with a concentration in South East Asia.

“We have been in Australia, the Middle East, Angola, and Cameroon for example, so there’s a real diversification. In some cases we operate the platforms on behalf of a client as well.”

LOCALISATION AND OMNI TRAINING Localisation is a strategy shaped by corporate preference and in some cases national legislation. “We will open a local office, move people there from our central office and recruit local people. In some geographies, we have a nationalisation programme where we have to take a certain percentage of local nationals typically 80 per cent - good examples being Thailand and Malaysia.

“In these scenarios we recruit ahead of the vessel going operational, bringing people into our existing fleet of assets and then moving them around the world so they understand our operational philosophy.

“We have this 99.99 per cent record, and it’s of the utmost importance. If one part of the oil chain goes down, the whole oil field stops.

And to achieve that high number we have to train the personnel on board.

“We then slowly integrate them into the business so we are satisfied there’s no deviation from our standards, and typically it takes two or three years to get to that 80 per cent local national level.”

End of project redundancies are minimised. “If someone is trained in our systems, policies and procedures then obviously we don’t want to

lose that knowledge. So we offer employment in other locations, trying always where possible to use our own people - who are fundamental to the success of the business.

“It’s all very well me being head of the company, but it’s the individual in the oil field and working asset that can have as big an impact on the reputation of the company as me.

“We also have a very integrated approach between our project and our operations teams. There’s no sudden hand over. Part of the operations team is involved with the projects team from day one, and this creates a seamless transition as the vessel becomes operational.”

While the deep water trend is

becoming the predominant factor in West Africa and Brazil, McGregor points to its drawbacks and the continuing viability of shallower water locations such as in South East Asia and parts of Africa.

“We are happy to look at deep water, but to make the economics work in a deep water field the sheer volume of oil needs to be a lot bigger. As such, the production facilities generally need to be larger and thus you need economies of scale to repay all the capital costs.

“If you look at a Brazilian FPSO project, you are looking at a $1 billion asset. You can equally find smaller FPSO projects that are equally of interest that are $400m assets. So it’s not a matter of picking one over the other.”

PAGE 21

CHINA: NO THREAT Oil companies are turning increasingly to China for services and equipment, attracted by lower costs and newly acquired expertise.

And the first four months of 2014 saw South Korean shipbuilders overtaken by Chinese yards for new orders. But McGregor sees the China factor as an opportunity and not a threat.

“In the early period China was the provider of the steel work, blasting, coating and pipe work, but not necessarily the fabrication of the on-board processing modules which would be shipped in. However, over the recent period, China has started to take more of that work and adding fabrication.

“But we have good experiences in China – where we have done three conversions - and equally very good experiences in Singapore.

“At Omni we never compromise on the quality of service we provide. So it’s not about being biggest and best for everybody. It’s about focusing on our core competence, and delivering sustainable, economically viable projects that work for our clients and continue to grow the Omni business model”

Availability is an issue since a yard can only take on so much work because conversion is very, very labour intensive, with perhaps several hundred people working on board at any one time.

“But China is not a threat, and we will continue to look there as well as Singapore. For us, competition among the yards is good because it maintains prices at a competitive level. And if the price is too high, it could mean a field development doesn’t happen.”

Offshore oil production and environmental concern are inseparables, and in July the announcement that the US Government was taking the first step toward oil and natural gas exploration off the Atlantic coast was condemned by environmentalists. For Omni, environmentalism is an underlying

Gall Thomson is the market leader in the design, manufacture and application of Marine Breakaway Couplings (MBCs). It is the only range of MBCs on the market that is backedup by a proven field record spanning the last 35 years and more than 250 recorded successful activations.

The Gall Thomson Marine Breakaway Coupling has now become the “Industry Standard” worldwide. It has been designed to prevent pollution and protect the hose transfer system from damage in the event of a tanker breakout or an excessive and damaging pressure surge generated by the accidental closure of the export tanker manifold valve; or the failure and slamming shut of the hose end butterfly valve.

Mr Jack Gall Thomson was the original inventor of the Marine Breakaway Coupling in 1978 and Gall Thomson has been supplying MBCs since 1980. Since then, Gall Thomson has supplied more than 1700 units throughout the world, including all major (and the vast majority of minor) companies operating offshore terminals.

Gall Thomson MBCs are employed in all types of offshore hose transfer systems such as SPM CALM buoys, SALM terminals, FSOs, FPSOs, CBM/MBMs and Articulated Loading Platforms; where they regularly prevent catastrophic oil spills, costly hose damage and terminal downtime.

Gall Thomson has been working with Omni Offshore for many years and its MBCs are in use on the vast majority of Omni’s vessels. The company is very proud to be associated with Omni’s latest projects such as Manora and Nong Yao and is very much looking forward to a continued, mutually satisfying relationship between both companies for many years to come.

The company is currently following up on many projects throughout the world which will include Gall Thomson Marine Breakaway Couplings. Following the recent acquisition of Gall Thomson by Signum Technology, it has now moved to a new state-of-the-art design and production facility in Great Yarmouth, UK. This huge investment, including new CNC machines, will help consolidate Gall Thomson’s technical and commercial market leading position.

PAGE 22

Omni Offshore Terminals

ABS Classed SPM Calm Buoy – Designed, Built, Installed & Hooked Up by ESPL for OMNI Offshore Pte Ltd in Gulf of Thailand, July 2014

Calm Buoy for Murphy Oil, Malaysia, 2008

Equatoriale Services Pte Ltd, [ESPL], Singapore, part of Swiber Group is proud to have worked with Omni Offshore Terminals Pte Ltd in the Manora Project.

The work scope involved design, ABS Certification, construction, Installation of the SPM Calm Buoy, Subsea Tie-in, Risers Installation & Hook Up of FSO in Gulf of Thailand, about 45m MSL. Complete in-house detail design, fabrication at partner yard, use of own fleet and diving / subsea spread and most importantly, involvement of personnel with thorough experience in all aspects of SPM systems has led to the completion of a well-managed project, classed under ABS. “We are excited to have been awarded another similar EPCI of SPM Calm Buoy in Nong Yao field, Gulf of Thailand, about 75m MSL, engineering & fabrication for which are underway.

We have successfully completed numerous projects in SE Asia & ME for other reputable clients like Samsung, Petronas, etc.

Calm Buoy(s) for Petronas, Malaysia, 2012

With facilities like

Spread Mooring for OMNI, Indonesia, 2006 Contact: info@equatorialeinternational.com 12 International Business Park #02-03, Swiber@IBP, 609920, Singapore

• Own fabrication yard in Tuas, Singapore • Ready & Proven SPM Calm Buoy Design • Own fl eet of 10 construction, DP, Crane, Dive Support vessels • Ex-stock for long lead items like Main Bearings • Own SAT system & aux. equipment like 500t Chain Tensioners • Experienced design team & crew, strong QA/QC & HSE policies We are able to deliver cost effective solutions, customised to meet project requirements on time, worldwide,” says Jean Pers, CEO of ESPL. PAGE 23

principle, says McGregor.

“I think there’s an overriding drive within the industry to improve health, safety, and the environment, and Omni is an important part of this.

ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES “For example, we have operated in one of the most sensitive areas in the world - off the coast of New Zealand - and where there are only two producing oil fields. On board the FPSO and platforms you could watch seals and whales.

“If we weren’t environmentally sensitive, there’s no way we would have been allowed to work in New Zealand. We worked very closely with the local authorities, our clients and the

local communities to ensure that everyone was comfortable with what we were going to do out in the oil field.

“They after all will be the people who will see the impact if anything goes horribly wrong.

You have to ensure they too have confidence in what is happening.

“On every project you attempt to learn and improve standards across your entire business model. The whole health, safety and environmental regime is continuously under review and under improvement, and in our company we are constantly monitoring and striving for continuous and demonstrable improvement.”

Meantime, the future of the Omni Group is “looking very, very good,” says McGregor. “W ith

a lot of activity in the drilling sector over the last few years we are seeing a very strong pipeline of prospective projects coming through to us. It almost replicates what we saw between 2006 and 2009.

“We have already delivered one project this year, have another in the yard and are having discussions on a further two, either of which would mean conversion works would commence in 2014.

“Typically we try to do two projects a year - we have done as many as three - but we are very selective; we want to look for those where the risk/reward ratio is right. We don’t want to be everything to everybody.

“Knowing our core competence, we identify

Alastair McGregor PAGE 24

Omni Offshore Terminals specific projects which fit our capabilities, in many cases with clients with whom we have a very long standing relationship.

“The outlook for the industry as a whole is very, very positive - and particularly for Omni given our track record and success rate. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised in a year’s time if we are approaching the point where we would have to say we couldn’t take on any more work.

“At Omni we never compromise on the quality of service we provide. So it’s not about being biggest and best for everybody.

It’s about focusing on our core competence, and delivering sustainable, economically viable projects that work for our clients and continue to grow the Omni business model.”

PAGE 25

Flying start in Caspian home waters Editorial: Colin Chinery

Within months of its opening, the Baku Shipyard in Azerbaijan this year scooped a $378 million contract from BP Exploration to design and build a Subsea Construction Vessel. A case of the right place at the right time for this rising new “local star” in the remote but oil and gas-rich Caspian region.

The opening of the Baku Shipyard in Azerbaijan last September 2013 was a moment when timing and location went in lockstep.

Baku, largest city in the Caucasus region, and at 28 metres below sea level the lowest lying national capital in the world, projects out into the

PAGE 26

Caspian Sea, one of the oldest of all oil producing areas, and according to the US Government’s Energy Information Administration, location of the world’s seventh biggest oil and natural gas reserves.

Today the Caspian has become one of the world’s leading hydrocarbon

provinces, the development of its oil and gas fields and onshore pipelines making Azerbaijan a focal point of the global energy market.

Baku Shipyard’s General Manager, KC Lam, shares on the rationale of developing a new shipyard in Baku, “With all these oil and gas activities in the Caspian region, which continue to grow, it was clear that the industry needed a modern yard equipped with both marine and offshore facilities to provide shipbuilding, repair and related services.

Strategically located along the East-West energy corridor of the Caspian Sea region, the new 71.4 hectare yard is a joint partnership between State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR – 65% shareholding), the Azerbaijan

Baku Shipyard Investment Company (AIC – 25% shareholding), and Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine (10% shareholding). Keppel Offshore & Marine is responsible for the management and operation of the yard.

LANDMARK CONTRACT It took two and a half years to build, opening in the same week that BP announced a $45 billion landmark international project – the Southern Gas Corridor - to export natural gas from the giant Shah Deniz field passing through seven countries to Europe.

Seven months later, in April, the BP link re-surfaced when Baku Shipyard won a $378 million contract from BP

Exploration - operator of the Shah Deniz gas field development to design and build a Subsea Construction Vessel (SCV).

Scheduled for completion in April 2017, the Caspian flagship vessel will install the field’s subsea structures over 11 years up to 2027, providing essential support for Stage Two of the biggest subsea production system in the region.

With a 1,200-meter waterfront, the yard’s $470-million phase one development could perform up to 100 repairs and

conversions a year, with average annual steel output of 25,000 tonnes.

A second phase plan, yet to be finalised, envisages the construction of a graving dock and further facilities for larger marine and offshore projects.

TRACK RECORD Keppel Singmarine (KSM), which is a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine, has a track record in building complicated diving vessels similar to SCV and also a host of other specialized vessels such as Anchor Handling Tugs (AHTS),

PAGE 27

Tenglee Marine & Engineering Pte Ltd (TL) was established in 1993; together with Yong Cheong Marine & Engineering Pte Ltd, Yong Ming Marine & Engineering Pte Ltd and Hong Yat Steelwork & Engineering Pte Ltd, it combines its resources to cater for shipbuilding, marine repairs and specialised engineering works for the marine & offshore industry in Singapore. TL is recognised as one of the most reliable and competent steel hull fabricators in Singapore and has been granted resident contractor status by the Keppel Group of Shipyards (Keppel Singmarine, Keppel O &M and Keppel FELS) and PRM Offshore Heavy Industries.

Since its establishment 20 years ago, TL has taken an active role in the oil & gas industry, constructing more than 18 supply vessels, taking part in 7 jackup-rigs and even Southeast Asia’s first construction of an icebreaker for Lukoil between 2006-2008. With its team of highly trained personnel, TL has maintained its reputation of delivering top quality vessels as well as always on time.

In 2012, TL also set up operations in Baku, Azerbaijan in support of the oil exploration activities of SOCAR (the national oil Company of Azerbaijan). It is now currently building several marine offshore vessels in Baku, including a semi-submersible and an upcoming subsea vessel for pipe-laying.

Apart from Azerbaijan, TL has broken into the Brunei market with its local partner ZHMD Engineering Services SDN BHD in 2013. Together, we have been granted the rights to tender for all Brunei Shell Petroleum contracts and our foremost goal is to set up a shipyard locally. TL also intends to expand into Mexico and Brazil, notwithstanding our invitation to partake in the China market in Nan Tong.

Contact: Director – Ray Teng 994 502 789 278 ray.teng@tengleemarine.com PAGE 28

Teng Soon Kiat Founder

Baku Shipyard Platform Support Vessels (PSVs), and ice-class vessels etc.

In the case of SCV, the two (2) hull strips are being built in KSM whilst the Bow Block and Superstructure are built in Baku Shipyard LLC (BSY) almost concurrently in order to meet the critical delivery date of April 2017.

KSM struck steel on 9 June 2014 whilst BSY struck steel on 15 Aug 2014.

“At the management level we have evaluation processes in place to ensure our staff are groomed and hopefully retained within the company and where they will have a career” “One of the reasons BSY subcontracted to KSM in Singapore for part of the work was because of its expertise and background in building similar kinds of vessels,” says Mr Lam, who with a 20 year background in the marine and offshore industry, and a Keppel executive since 1989, joined Baku Shipyard in April 2014.

“In this way, we are able to utilize the required experience, expertise and track record in many ways to support this project.

“So while it is challenging to build a vessel for the first time with subsea construction and support facilities and complexities such as automation and dynamic positioning, these are taken care of by our shareholder (KOM) and its Singapore subsidiary

(KSM).”

The Shah Deniz SCV is designed

by Marine Technology Development, the ship design arm of Keppel O&M, and includes dynamic positioning, a 750 metric tonne-main crane for 600 metres-deep subsea operation, an 18-man two-bell diving system, two work-class remotely operated vehicles, a strengthened moon pool, two engine rooms, and a deadweight of 5,000 metric tonnes at 6.5 metres draft.

In its first seven months Baku Shipyard has already completed a variety of projects including the construction of two pontoons, an anchor handling tug, and the

yard’s own floating dock, some in partnership with Baku-based sister organisation Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC) - a 16 year old partnership between SOCAR and Keppel, and the first international rig construction, repair and conversion yard in the region. Other prominent on-going project is the construction of 3 units of 80-men Crewboat for Caspar.

Currently BSY employs close to 980 people, comprising of a mix of local and foreign nationalities to tap on various skillsets.

“And with stiff skills competition from other yards and employers, we have started a series of training

Our core business comprises wide range of comprehensive services such as ship repairing, steel work, piping, electrical, mechanical, hydaulic and pneumatic tubing jobs in FPSO offshore, marine and Mobile Drilling Units, repairs, control system design, farbication and installation onboard the vessel.

We are specialist for all kinds of offshore marine solutions.

SBM GROUP OF COMPANIES SINGAPORE ADDRESS: 5 SOON LEE STREET, #04-41 PIONEER POINT, SINGAPORE 627607.

Tel: +65 6710 4933 Fax: +65 6710 4934 BAkU, AZERBAIJAN ADDRESS: City mansion, 153, Azadlig Avenue, Baku AZ 1106, Azerbaijan.

Tel: (+994 51) 9488811 Fax: (+994 12) 4998582

mail@sbmgroupsg.com | sbmbaku@gmail.com

www.sbmgroupsg.com PAGE 29

PAGE 30

Baku Shipyard programmes, one of which is inhouse for people like welders and fitters”.

“Another approach is to send Baku Shipyard supervisors to our subsidiary in Singapore for on the job training, immersing them in the right environment where the work is on-going and they pick up supervisory and related skills. And we compliment this training and local expertise with foreign subcontractors - also from Singapore - bringing in a pool of experienced personnel.”

“At the management level we have evaluation processes in place to ensure our staff are groomed and hopefully retained within the company and where they will have a long term career.”

ICON MISSION Proximity and topography means

that the yard’s business focus will be almost exclusively from clients within the Caspian Region. “BSY’s business strategy is to focus on the Caspian region market. There is no competitive advantage for BSY to compete in the international markets, as companies may not have reasons to build in the Caspian and bring any vessel out of Caspian through the restrictive Volga-Don Channel.,” says Lam. Part of the Unified Deep Water System of European Russia, along with the lower Volga and the lower Don, the Canal is the most direct navigable connection between the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov and out to the world’s oceans.

And as the thrusting new entrant in these prized and secluded waters, Baku Shipyard is part of Azerbaijan Government’s plan to develop its oil & gas industry to

the fullest. This augurs well with Keppel O&M’s ‘Near Market, Near Customer’ strategy, enabling it to unlock synergy in its Caspian operations, given that it already has another yard, Caspian Shipyard Company, in the region.

And independent projections are highly promising. According to the Singapore Stock Market News, this ‘captive market’ means “Keppel will be ahead of its competitors in bids for any contracts in the Caspian region requiring local content elements. Other Asian yards may miss the opportunities due to the lack of presence and yard proximity.”

Baku Shipyard is unique, says Mr Lam “in the sense that it is a modern, brand new yard. We aspire to become the iconic shipyard in the Caspian region. And this is our mission.”

TTS Shiplift and Transfer System Tel. +47 64 90 79 10 info@tts-hs.no www.ttsgroup.com

PAGE 31

At the heart of European gas transmission

Editorial: Roland Douglas

Fluxys has become one of Europe’s most important gas companies and its work to develop its existing network is proof that gas has a vital role to play in the European economic zone. After winning prestigious awards, partnering with other big-name players and expanding its LNG facilities, Fluxys is looking strong as gas continues to become more and more important.

In the energy industry today, when you mention the words “clean energy” people automatically think of wind turbines and solar panels. It is often forgotten that natural gas is in fact a very clean source of energy – the cleanest of all the fossil fuels and a vital contributor to economies around the world. Supplies are abundant, extraction is easier compared to deep oil or fracking, and the gas transportation and infrastructure industry is established and safe.

PAGE 32

The European Commission has stated “at a time when European reserves are being depleted and consumers’ appetite continues to increase, natural gas is becoming critically important to the EU.” The supply of gas, especially in Europe, is constantly a topic up for debate by politicians and with uncertainty in Ukraine and Russia, the Commission has put affordable and reliable supplies amongst its most important objectives saying:

“Member States and the European Commission (EC) consider that the creation of an efficient and well functioning internal market for gas may be the most potent response to the challenges and uncertainties of tomorrow. A reliable, transparent and interconnected market could address a variety of complex issues including security of supply and global warming.”

But what actually is natural gas?

Simply put, natural gas is a fossil fuel

fluxys formed when layers of buried plants, gases, and animals are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in natural gas. It is a hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting of mainly methane, but it also commonly includes differing amounts of other higher alkanes and even a smaller amount of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulphide. Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or close to other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates. Petroleum is another resource and fossil fuel

found in close proximity to natural gas. Before natural gas can be used as a fuel, it must be processed to remove impurities, including water, to meet the specifications of marketable natural gas. Estimates suggest that the world uses around 3.4 trillion cubic meters of gas every year and at that rate we’ll use it all up in the next 250 years.

According to 2011 estimates, the USA is by far the world’s biggest consumer of natural gas, followed by Russia and the EU and China. And in the EU the transmission of natural gas to customers is big business, as we have discovered in previous issues, with companies like GRTgaz,

Enagás and Fluxys providing much employment and contributions to GDP. This movement of gas is vitally important and TSO’s like these need to work together to maintain secure, stable, reliable and cost effective gas supplies around the continent. Fluxys, headquartered in Belgium, aims to bridge the markets so that suppliers can move natural gas flexibly from any border to their customers and between gas trading places.

The company’s strategy is focussed around three core activities; transmission, storage and LNG terminalling.

And this strategy involves growing

PAGE 33

Engineering of linear transport by pipeline and cables From feasibility to as-built

www.anteagroup.be

Antea Group advises you in all project stages

infrastructure, developing people and remaining competitive on price as the company explains: “Fluxys’ focus is on security of supply, well-functioning markets and tariffs that are as competitive as possible.

“Fluxys wants to play an active role through profitable long-term investments, not least in the consolidation process under way in the European market.”

“To implement its strategy, Fluxys values the development of its employees’ know-how and builds strong alliances with solid partners.”

The company is one of Europe’s most advanced TSO’s and is always planning upgrades and improvements to its system and pipeline and, importantly, its LNG capabilities.

LNG Walter Peeraer, Fluxys Managing Director said during an interview

PAGE 34

with the Energy Delta Institute (EDI) that Fluxys would continue to invest in LNG with the hope that the industry as a whole will develop.

“Fluxys is a gas infrastructure company and as such we operate not only pipeline and storage but also the LNG terminal of Zeebrugge,” he said. “Zeebrugge terminal is well known in the LNG world. We own and operate the terminal based mainly on a long term contract which assures the coming flow of revenue for the terminal. It’s a fully regulated terminal but its flexible regulation based on a price capped and cost plus system.”

Fluxys announced recently that it would expand and extend the Zeebrugge terminal, adding a second jetty for loading and unloading of LNG carriers, enabling the facility to increase capacity

and further develop into a hub for supplying LNG as fuel for ships and long-haul trucks. Once the construction works are over in mid-2015, the terminal will have an additional LNG loading/unloading capacity of 14,000 m3/hour.

Expansion of the terminal will be handled by TS LNG, a joint venture between SENER and Techint E&C. TS LNG will carry out all project related activities, being also in charge for project management, procurement and construction, as well as for construction and commissioning management. The company brings a strong portfolio of completed projects including the GATE terminal in the Netherlands and the Dunkirk terminal in France.

“We are a partner in the greenfield Dunkirk LNG project where we have a 25% share but also we participate in the operating

fluxys company on a fifty-fifty basis with EDF which is the majority shareholder of the Dunkirk LNG terminal,” Peeraer told the EDI. Importantly, a project to connect the Dunkirk LNG facility; being labelled the ‘new gas entry point for Europe’; to the GRTgaz grid in France and the Fluxys grid in Belgium is already being planned.

The new pipeline will allow for the transportation of eight billion additional m³ of natural gas to Belgium and elsewhere in Europe from the Dunkirk LNG terminal, strengthening security of supply and diversification of sources while offering a wider basis for natural gas trading in the region.

GROWING LNG Just two years ago, in 2012, LNG accounted for around 25% of the gas imported in the EU. And since then, this figure has been growing and Fluxys has been a part of this growth.

“There are many small-scale LNG players promising opportunity for growing LNG in the European markets,” Peeraer told the EDI. “It can really contribute to reducing the environmental impact on the maritime side but, like any business activity, it’s a chicken and egg issue; we need infrastructure and different partners ready to invest in small scale LNG, in the vessels.

As Fluxys we are ready to do everything and invest. We can facilitate the business by investing in infrastructure.

“This is what we are doing and this is clear as we are well into our plan of building a second jetty at the LNG terminal in Zeebrugge in order to accommodate all types of vessel. Secondly, we are looking actively to different projects in order to promote small-scale LNG in cooperation with Gasunie.

“We are ready to invest in this,

we are ready to facilitate this and bring all the partnerships; builder of small-scale vessels, LNG user, and shipper and supplier; to make this business grow.”

And it’s not just investments into infrastructure where Fluxys are helping to grow the LNG industry.

It’s also with the signing of new contracts which will bring LNG into Belgium through the Zeebrugge terminal. The company recently signed an agreement with Yamal LNG where the two organisations detailed parameters of cooperation on the transhipment of LNG from a plant in Russia to the Zeebrugge terminal.

Yamal LNG is building a natural gas liquefaction plant with its first train scheduled to be commissioned in 2017. The transshipment platform in Europe will be an integral part of the logistical chain enabling LNG supply from Yamal to reach the Asian-Pacific countries when winter navigation is closed at the Arctic Ocean’s Northern Sea Route, thus ensuring year-round LNG supplies to this region.

“If we succeed in attracting transshipment operations to the Zeebrugge LNG terminal, this would be an important project for Fluxys and the port

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of Zeebrugge. It would bring along a considerable investment at the terminal, link the facility to an additional source of LNG and entail a significant volume of ship movements as well,” Peeraer said. In another advancement of LNG technology, Fluxys announced in February that it would partner with Eric Mattheeuws, a large European transportation company, to invest in a brand new LNG filling station for fuelling haulage trucks.

Both companies see LNG as a sustainable alternative fuel for trucks in Belgium.

“Transporters are holding off on switching to LNG for lack of filling stations and no filling stations are being built because there are no customers. By joining forces with transporter Eric Mattheeuws, we are breaking this vicious circle and lowering the threshold for other

transporters to make the switch to LNG as a sustainable alternative to diesel,” said Peeraer. Eric Mattheeuws, who have made their intentions on sustainability clear, recently won the Green Truck Award at the Transport and Logistics Awards 2014.

The company said: “The switchover to LNG means a drastic reduction in emissions from the trucks and has considerable financial advantages as well. With Fluxys’s investment in the LNG filling station, the logistics supply chain is now complete. We have developed a unique partnership with Fluxys, Eni, Volvo Trucks and Romac Fuels to promote LNG as a valid alternative to bio-petroleum.

The initial tests are very promising.

If, six months after opening the filling station, you read about additional investments being made, then you can be sure that LNG has

begun its conquest!”

And it wasn’t just Fluxys’ new partners who have been winning awards recently. Fluxys itself was named, in January, as the TSO of the year at the European Gas Conference in Vienna.

WINNING IN EUROPE Peeraer said of the award: “This award is a tremendous thumbs up for all the men and women of Fluxys in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and France and their commitment to develop our company as a genuine European TSO. It is also an encouragement to continue on our trail of building strong partnerships in the industry and to keep focused on connecting markets, gas trading places and gas sources.”

The award is quite the coup for a company like Fluxys and celebrates dedication, triumphs

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and excellence of TSOs TRAC 3623-006 AD Fluxys 151L x 112H - v2.indd pioneering innovation, inspiring others and achieving growth in the European gas market. And just two months after picking up this award, Fluxys announced another big deal for its European development; the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Sna S.p.A that further develops the Strategic Alliance of 2012 aimed at pursuing opportunities in Europe through projects enhancing the flexibility and security of supply in the European gas infrastructure. The two companies have agreed to assess and evaluate the set-up of a jointly controlled company for the integrated management of the companies’ international assets across Europe.

“By joining forces Snam and Fluxys would become a reference

player in Europe, interconnecting 1 markets as envisaged in the blueprint set forth in the Third Energy Package. Combining our European activities would create value for both the market and our shareholders,” Peeraer said.

All of these developments fit in line with Fluxys vision of being able to ‘build bridges between markets so that suppliers can transmit natural gas flexibly between gas trading points and from any border to their customers’. So what about the future? Peeraer is firm in his belief that gas will be the energy of the future but hopes for support for gas producers from governments in the short term.

“This is a difficult time for the generation of electricity from natural gas due to the volatility of the electricity price and, as

a first step, some regulatory 3/09/14 10:01 intervention could be needed to help to facilitate the life of power producers producing electricity from gas but in the long-term I still think natural gas is the energy of the future.

“As an infrastructure company, we follow the market closely.

Electricity prices are volatile and gas for power plants is squeezed between volatile and subsidised renewable power and very cheap coal. This is an issue today and I think that in the short-term the government should look at a scheme to help power producers on the gas side to be part of the game because I still believe that natural gas is the real partner to renewables if we want to achieve the CO2 directorate of the European Commission,” he told the EDI.

PAGE 37

Into the golden triangle Editorial: Colin Chinery

Directed from its Texas base Atlantica Tender Drilling designs, fabricates and operates safe and efficient tender drilling units. And with its main market outlined by the South Atlantic’s Golden Triangle, the fast expanding global specialist has now made a significant and potentially key footprint in Brazil.

Atlantica is the ancient continent that millions of years ago connected parts of West Africa and Eastern South America. At its shortest point, 1600 miles of ocean now separates these land masses, and for Atlantica Tender Drilling the deep seabed of this

PAGE 38

Golden Triangle topped by the Gulf of Mexico, is its primary marketing area.

Houston-based Atlantica (formerly Bassdrill) designs, fabricates and operates safe and efficient tender drilling units, currently managing and part-

owning one tender drilling barge operating off the coast of West Africa, and another off Brazil - the semi tender ‘Beta’, under contract to Petrobras, bound for its P-61 tension leg wellhead platform (TLWP) in the Campos Basin.

The Petrobras deal says Atlantica

Atlantica Tender Drilling Contracts Manager Chris Young, amounts to “a new relationship for Atlantica.

“Petrobras has never used a tender assisted rig before, and it allows them to use a smaller tension leg platform (TLP) than would be the case if they had a platform rig on it.

BRAZILIAN OPPORTUNITIES “And for Atlantica it’s new in that it’s in deeper water with a semisubmersible tender rather than a barge. The traditional market for tender assisted drilling was in South East Asia, and it’s been growing in West Africa where we are getting a lot of inquiries from various operators for tender assisted rigs.

“Total is our main client in West Africa and has been there a long time. But Brazil is new, and so it’s very much an opportunity for us there, and Petrobras have told us that if it works then they will be doing several more.”

Atlantica offers cost-effective solutions to the offshore drilling market with tender assist designs, used to drill on platforms where

space and safety issues restrict the use of traditional platform rigs; its target market, oil companies with weight-bearing wellhead platforms serving multiple wells that can only be accessed by either a platform rig or a tender assist.

“The whole justification for tender assisted rigs is that you have just the mast sitting on the platform, which means the platform can be smaller and less expensive,” says Young.

In developing these designs Atlantica has the advantage of a core management team vastly experienced in the fabrication and operation of modular offshore rigs an expertise resulting in the creation of well-designed vessels, effective equipment packages; rigs that are safe, efficient and economical.

With tender barge Alpha operating, and tender semi Beta about to be deployed, and two additional vessels already ordered – the Gamma, scheduled for delivery next spring, and the Delta, another semi-submersible tender, also due for delivery in 2015 - the company is quickly becoming a strong

competitor for state-of-the-art tender vessels.

And with Norwegian private equity investor HitecVision among its backers, the company also has the financial strength to handle projects of any size; resourced and positioned for further expansion in this specialised niche market.

A ‘Customer First’ ethos is one key factor driving Atlantica’s growth.

Another is its highly competent and motivated teams and their ready access to cutting edge management systems.

These in turn are supported by a management leadership team and the core operational values of safety, dependability, accountability, honesty, ethics, integrity, dignity, respect and personal development.

Is the relationship between supplier and client closer in tender assist drilling - Atlantica and Total for example - than in conventional drilling? Director of Marketing Franck Soule is in no doubt.

“Without question. If you want to succeed in this type of project you have to be very close to your client, and for a simple reason;

PAGE 39

you have two vessels working very close to one another and a system to harmonise their motion. So there has to be a lot of interface to manage between our equipment and the client’s platform.”

A strong commitment to personnel safety always takes precedence should business priorities come into conflict, with Atlantica a firm believer in the Zero Incidents Philosophy (ZIP). ”Everyone associated with our operations is explicitly empowered with ‘stop work authority’ to suspend operations if they are uncomfortable or feel that too great a hazard exists.

“In this they will be supported by management for their efforts,” says Young, who, with over 40 years of experience in the drilling industry – largely in the deep water sector - and most recently as Senior Director of Marketing-Worldwide Contracts with Pride International, joined Atlantica late last year.

CREW CHANGE Young’s pedigree characterises what has been called the ‘Great Crew Change’, the older generation of geoscientists and petroleum engineers now approaching

PAGE 40

retirement age, and companies scrambling to cope with a pool of potential talent too small.

A recent survey by recruitment consultant, Hays, found that skills shortages are by far the main concern for oil and gas employers worldwide. “The demographics are

terrifying,” says Hays director of engineering, Greg Lettington.

Young agrees – with variations.

“Deep water is the growth market in offshore drilling, with companies

only skilled personnel there’s a big training effort on in the industry.

These new rigs take people with different skill sets than is the case with some older rigs, and finding people is becoming tougher for everybody.

“Our rigs are not really deep water rigs in the sense that they are not dynamically positioned with subsea Blowout Preventers and so forth. And that’s where there is really a shortage of people. Tender assisted rigs are on platforms with the well head at the surface. Since we aren’t involved with sub surface BOPs we are not looking for that skills set, and finding good people is simpler for us.”

Global oil companies are increasingly turning to China for services and equipment, attracted by lower costs and a newly acquired expertise that is challenging more established rivals. Atlantica is no exception.

“We are building our rigs in

like Transocean and Pacific building these $700m drill ships and semi submersibles. This is where the frontier is and they are making big finds.

“And of course it’s sucking up a lot of people, and since they hire

China because it’s a lot less expensive. Currently the Koreans lead the world in ship building; they build quality, are highly organised and know what they are doing.

“China is new to the business

“The traditional market for tender assisted drilling was in South East Asia, and it’s been growing in West Africa where we are getting a lot of inquiries from various operators for tender assisted rigs”

Atlantica Tender Drilling and doesn’t yet have the quality of the Koreans, but its progressing.

It’s taken more effort on our part to get the quality right, but they’ll eventually catch up to the Koreans.

“The level of detail and outfitting required for drilling rigs is pretty great and the Koreans have set up almost an assembly line. However the Chinese are now building some, and as the Koreans did, will get better as time goes on.”

DEEP WATERS With offshore oil and gas drilling moving further and deeper as energy companies seek to find sources of production in low-risk areas, Soule sees this as a long term trend with advantages for the tender assist rig segment.

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of the former. But deep water will become increasingly popular in the tender assist market because it is a way to minimise the capex in deep water compared with what is involved with subsea architecture.”

Atlantica Tender Drilling emerged last year from its former name of Bassdrill as part of a larger rebranding reflecting its growing strength, and the position of the Texas- headquartered business as an increasingly global provider of tender assist drilling vessels.

“The only thing that changed is the name,” says Young, “and the same people are here. Atlantica represents where we see the market - the margins on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean - and maybe in certain applications in the North Sea. That isn’t to say we wouldn’t take a job in South East Asia, but right now the Golden Triangle is our focus 4:14 PM

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Rosa María Nieto, Director of Underground Storages

Over land or sea, Enagás can store gas In recent years, Spain has invested heavily in its gas capabilities, both in its ability to import liquefied natural gas and in its national gas transmission system. As the country imports nearly all of the gas that it consumes this system is vital to day-to-day operations of many businesses and individuals. But once gas reaches Spain, the next consideration is storing it. Rosa María Nieto, Director of Underground Storages of Enagás tells Total World Energy that investments into underground storage are helping the company become a benchmark of knowledge and innovation in Spain’s sector.

PAGE 42

Enagas Q: Do you feel that Enagas is close to achieving its vision of “becoming a national and international standard bearer in the development and management of gas infrastructures, promoting their use by offering innovative services that contribute to sustainable development”?

Ye s , a f t e r m o r e t h a n 4 0 years of experience, Enagás has become a benchmark of knowledge and innovation i n t h e s e c t o r. T h e c o m p a n y has maintained its company fundamental purpose (supply security in Spain, gas infrastructure network maintenance, necessary investments, etc.), while it has become a company with an international perspective and important future challenges inside a n d o u t s i d e o u r c o u n t r y.

At the same time, Enagás contribute to sustainable development by increasing energy efficiency and by launching new sustainable and innovative services to its clients like, for instance, reloading ships b u n k e r i n g . R e c e n t l y, Enagás has won the Prize “Good Practice Competition”, awarded by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and focused on innovative solutions for customers. This prize recognizes Enagás’ good

practices in new vessel reloading operations, allowing the company to go beyond the traditional model of unloading ships at regasification plants.

Q: What is the next step for the Yela Underground natural gas storage facility? Can it be expanded? Is the company working on similar projects in the region?

Brihuega, in the province of Guadalajara. Its strategic location in the centre of Spain makes it a key infrastructure project for g u a r a n t e e i n g s u p p l y. I t i s in the process of injecting cushion gas, therefore its working capacity is still in progress until it will eventually achieve 1bcm.

Enagas is not currently working on other projects in the region.

T h e Ye l a u n d e r g r o u n d storage facility was put into operation in 2012. It is located in the municipal area of

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Q : W h a t a re t h e m a i n d i f fe re n ce s b e t we e n o p e ra t i n g a n a t u ra l sto ra g e fa c i l i t y ove r l a n d a n d i n t h e o ce a n?

Each storage facility has its own particularities, which differ not just by being in the land or offshore, but by the features that each facility may have.

Yela underground storage is a saline fossil aquifer 2,300 meters below the surface of the Earth.

Gaviota storage facility is l o c a t e d i n t h e B a y o f B i s c a y, e i g h t k m o ff C a p e M a t x i t x a k o , north east of Bermeo (Biscay).

It is in a depleted gas field, located at a depth of 2,150 m i n f r a c t u re d l i m e s t o n e .

Serrablo Gas Storage, located within the Huesca

PAGE 44

Region, is the first depleted gas field transformed into a n u n d e r g ro u n d g a s s t o r a g e in Spain, once the field p ro d u c t i o n c e a s e d i n F e b r u a r y 1989.

A l s o , t h e l o g i s t i c s a re q u i t e d i ff e re n t ; t h e o ff s h o re re q u i re s s h i p s , h e l i c o p t e r, s t a ff l i v i n g o n b o a rd a t l e a s t d u r i n g weekdays, etc.

Q: What progress has been made with the Gaviota expansion project?

The project is in standb y, h o w e v e r E n a g a s i s accomplishing a first step in order to renew some equipment and to make some technological improvements.

Q: What have been the main challenges faced by the Gaviota platform since it was acquired by Enagas in 2010?

The operations have continued in the same way as with the previous o p e r a t o r, s o t h e r e i s n ´ t any relevant challenge in that sense. The most significant difference is the launching of the mentioned project to renew some installations.

Q: Will the company look at opening similar facilities, over water, in the future?

Currently there aren’t plans to open similar facilities by Enagás.

Enagas Q: Are underground storage facilities going to be the future for natural gas storage in Spain?

Q: Is the Serrablo underground storage facility still vitally important to the Huesca region?

Spain imports practically all the gas it consumes, and its storage capacity is limited; approximately 10% of that of neighbouring European states. Also, gas capacity in Spain is only enough for 20 days o f s u p p l y, f a r f r o m t h e rates of other European countries.

Nevertheless, Spain has a large number of regasification plants, which allows managing supply risk and seasonal variations in demand.

Serrablo underground storage facility is key not only for Huesca region but for the whole Spanish Gas System. It is necessary to store large quantities of gas in order to adjust offer to demand and face consumption peaks brought on by seasonal variations, i n t e r r u p t i o n s i n s u p p l y, etc.

Enagás underground storage facilities has been designed and developed to the highest s t a n d a r d s o f s a f e t y.

There are 627 storages worldwide, including one below the town of Berlin.

Q: What does the future hold for Serrablo?

Is there a plan for expansion at this storage facility?

Q: Is it possible for Enagas to claim ‘green’ production?

Can a company with such a vast infrastructure ever be environmentally friendly?

Enagás is not planning to develop new storage expansion projects for Serrablo underground s t o r a g e f a c i l i t y.

Q: What would you say to people who claim that underground storage facilities are unsafe?

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The Yela underground storage facility, already put into operation, is located in the municipal area of Brihuega in the province of Guadalajara. Its strategic location in the centre of Spain makes it a key piece of infrastructure for guaranteeing supply.

PAGE 46

Enagas Our commitment in this area is strong. For the type of business we develop, we mainly work on preventing the impact on the environment.

Enagás takes into consideration biodiversity protection of the areas where it operates.

We ensure we appropriately plan and locate facilities, restoration and replanting of areas affected during pipeline construction and we ensure we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, from the design stage, that cause changes in the

physical conditions of the ecosystems where plant a n d a n i m a l s p e c i e s g ro w.

As an evidence of t h i s e f f o r t , E n a g á s ’s carbon footprint has recently been certified in accordance with the UNEEN ISO 14064 standard, which is another step f o r w a r d i n t h e c o m p a n y ’s drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure transparency in its dealings with stakeholders. Enagás is listed on the most prestigious indices, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) or FTSE4Good

E n a g a s i s t h e Te c h n i c a l Manager of the Spanish Gas System and the main carrier of natural gas in Spain. It is also certified as independent TSO European Union, which homologates the company to gas transmission network operators of other European countries.

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High quality, flexible solutions Editorial Tim Hands

With its head office, sales department and project management in Norway, Bestra is a flexible supplier of products and machinery to marine, offshore and industry, and specialises in turning complex concepts into high quality, complete solutions, with the quickest of delivery times.

With its name an amalgamation of those of its founders, Bestra came about in 2004 as a result of a collaboration between Nils Stray and Jim Berentsen, with the view to creating a sufficiently efficient supply chain,

PAGE 48

one which would be able to meet the demands of a burgeoning global market.

Billed as a company with a ‘winning spirit’, it has since never stopped seeking ways in which to improve its

operations, aiming to make possible even the most apparently impossible challenge.

“It is not a fancy story at all,” jokes CEO Nils Stray, on the subject of Bestra’s formation. “Both myself and

Bestra my partner had experienced a fairly hard life in Norwegian industry, and we both recognised that Norway was not a competitive industry any longer.

We saw this, though, as a lucrative business opportunity: to establish from scratch in a low-cost place, and build up our know-how from there. That was

the main reason for the start up.”

Its choice of location was also a carefully considered aspect of the plan, as Stray explains; “We located our fabrication in Estonia and our head office in Norway, and logistically this works very well, in part due to the two countries’ proximity. This was all

actually done completely from scratch; we bought the piece of land in Estonia, built the building and employed personnel numbers one, two and three, and since then we’ve had ten years of organic growth.”

As the holder of the largest quantities of both oil and natural gas reserves

PAGE 49

in Europe, it subsequently falls on Norway to provide the majority of those resources which are consumed on the continent, third in the world’s natural gas exporters only to Russia and Qatar, and the 12th largest net exporter of oil in 2013. According to the Oil & Gas Journal (OGJ), Norway’s proven crude oil reserves stood at 5.83 billion barrels as of January 1, 2014, which represents the largest oil reserves in Western Europe. These are all located offshore on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), which is then divided into

PAGE 50

three sections: the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea. The bulk of Norway’s oil production occurs in the North Sea section of these, while smaller amounts also take place in the Norwegian Sea, with new exploration and production activity currently occurring in the Barents Sea. “I would say that we have developed the company in quite a different way to many others,” explains Stray, “and particularly with regards to this combination of management in Norway and production in Estonia, which has

proved extremely successful for us.”

A TURNKEY SOLUTION With the world, both of industry and in general, inevitably becoming ever more complex and demanding, Bestra aims to address what it has identified as a too frequent lack of quality suppliers who are not only flexible and easy to work with, but who also are able to maintain a constant dialogue throughout the project. Stepping in to rectify this, and with the expertise to offer such a diverse range of solutions

Bestra to the customer, Bestra’s team takes care of the project from start to finish, and its many customers are thus relieved of the typical stress associated with anything of such importance, left instead with more of the crucial, increasingly rare, time to devote to other tasks.

Stray expounds on the reach the ten years of growth and development has so far afforded the company: “Our customers are global, and it’s easy to reach them from our base in Norway – while many of our customers are Norway-based, 80% of our products have a worldwide destination, Brazil or Asia for example, where we export our products from here in Europe.”

Flexibility and openness to changes is a large part of the company’s culture, giving it the ability to offer quick responses and manage complicated projects in a short period of time. Bestra offers the highest level of expertise in its diverse fields of manufacturing, this much is undeniable, but perhaps most refreshing about its unique approach is an insistence that this can be achieved without being, in a word, boring. As such, team spirit plays a significant role throughout, with Bestra’s challengeloving and solution-oriented personnel proud to undertake the company’s work, while maintaining a sense of fun in everything it does.

GROWTH It is an approach which has clearly worked, and has one which has enabled Bestra to recently establish Bestra Technology Oy, together with MEC Insenerilahendused OÜ in Tallinn, Estonia. The ownership split sees Bestra and MEC holding a 51% and 49% stake respectively, offering structural design, analysis and engineering services, with the company already established and working on new projects.

“For many of our customers, we just do the fabrication,” explains

Stray, “but, like anyone, we are always looking to create new links in the industry. The MMO market has undeniably become more and more interesting for us in recent times. It is a growing market, and one which is stable, and this is another key driver behind Bestra Technology.”

Keen to expand on the potential that this collaboration holds, Stray details how this goes some way towards not only strengthening Bestra’s current position, but also in achieving its aim of always seeking improvement. “The cooperation with MEC to establish Bestra Technology will contribute to make Bestra a more

complete supplier in the markets in which we operate today, as well as give new opportunities to all of us. We are very pleased to welcome the new and highly skilled employees to the Bestra team.” Working in partnership with another company in this way certainly represents a new challenge for Bestra, “but so far we are entirely satisfied with the cooperation – it has, so far, definitely been a win-win for both parties,” states Stray.

Also seeing expansion this year was Bestra’s own production facility, with 600 square metres added in March to the company’s previous capability. This was primarily driven

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by Bestra’s need to expand in line with demand, as Stray explains: “If you look at the development of the company, we are undeniably quite customer-driven, and the market demands more than our capacity enables us to deliver at the moment.

Secondly, though, we have also developed a good engineering department now, which gives us the potential to deliver other products to more sectors of the market than those on which we focus today.”

Characteristically, as soon as this extension had been finished and put into operation, plans began for further growth, which will see the company’s office facilities in Viljandi expanded in line with the increase in demand for Bestra’s services. Stray also outlines another of important developments which Bestra has orchestrated in its country of manufacture: “In Estonia, we have been very much © Shell PAGE 52

“The cooperation with MEC to establish Bestra Technology will help to make Bestra a more complete supplier in the markets we target today”

focussed on building an industrial park, something which has been held in high regard by the Estonian government. We have created this industrial cluster in the middle of nowhere, which has massive signification in terms of development potential for a relatively small country such as this.”

In terms still of future expansion, the growing focus on renewable technologies is something which has certainly not escaped Bestra, and is certain to become of central priority for the company. “We think we will have to provide products to this market in the future – we can definitely see the trend which is emerging, and although it might be quite a slow process, we are undoubtedly moving in this direction.

If we can use existing knowledge and technology and apply it to a new field like this one, well, that would be a dream for us.”

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MJC Metal has its headquarters in Esbjerg, Denmark, from there a large number of international companies are serviced. A substantial part of the activities are targeting the oil industry’s activities in the North Sea. All processes in MJC Metal are onshore based and often take place in our own workshop. MJC Metal has, by virtue of highly qualified employees and a unique machine park, the skills to perform complex machinery.

We have a very high level of service, which among other things means that we are solving tasks based on customer specifications. We often see very complex issues with high tolerance requirements, says Production Manager Tommy Georgsen.

Our expertise has been developed in order to remain a long-term and reliable supplier in the oil industry - but is also used in parallel to a number of other customers. Overall, we cover a wide range, from one-off production to the production of large series.

complete package offering With plans for further growth, we are always on the look-out for new clients, says CEO Jørgen Nordstjerne Schmidt. Therefore we strive to always be best in class, and offer a complete package to our clients. Together with our local partners we have the possibility to offer a complete package, from rough-machining to coating, including inconel or other cladding, heat treatment, final machining, 3D measuring and a full “as-build” documentation package. High competences and accountability are key elements of MJC Metal.

Renovation or new build MJC Metal is a key player when critical components from the North Sea are to be renovated. There are many vital and expensive parts, which can have their lifetime extended significantly through a renovation process. This is one of the company’s core competencies.

In addition to critical renovation, MJC Metal also produces new components based on customer specifications, which are often very complex issues with high tolerance requirements in special highalloy steels.

“We are proud to make a difference for our clients, both in cost and lead time.

MJC Metal has in recent years invested in state of the art equipment, which has improved our lead times significantly” - Jørgen Nordstjerne, CEO

Stenhuggervej 13 6710 Esbjerg V. Denmark Tlf.: +45 7514 0400

www.mjc-metal.dk

• Advanced machinery • The most skilled industrial technicians • From single pieces to serial production PAGE 53

Ensuring security, reliability and scope of natural gas supply Croatia Editorial: Joe Forshaw

Plinacro Ltd is the state owned gas transmission system operator in Croatia. As the gas transmission system operator, Plinacro Ltd is in charge of transmission and transit of natural gas; management (supervision and control), maintenance, development and construction of the gas transmission system; non-discriminatory access to the transmission system when it is financially, technically and technologically reasonable and justified; balancing the quantity of gas in the transmission system and connecting with other gas systems.

As the only operating TSO in Croatia, the company has many responsibilities and to date it has managed to operate with much success, even during the tough economic climate. Total World Energy speaks to Plinacro Board Chairman, Marin Zovko to find out more about recent developments that are further bolstering the strong reputation of this important European energy organisation.

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Plinacro Q: What has the feedback been like since the commissioning of the Kutina-Dobrovac gas pipeline in May? By the construction of the gas pipeline Kutina-Dobrovac a bigger part of the previous gas pipeline system on this area has been replaced, including the gas pipeline Janja Lipa-Zagreb, the first gas pipeline constructed in the Republic of Croatia. Due to their wornout state, operating pressure of the mentioned gas pipelines was reduced as well as their efficiency. Construction of the gas pipeline Kutina-Dobrovac increased the transmission capacity as well as security, reliability and a scope of natural gas supply in this part of Croatia.

Q: Considering the company has invested 600 million euro ($820.7 million) in all major gas mains in the country over the last 10 years, building over 1,000 kilometres of new transmission infrastructure, is there much more that can be done in order to bring about 100% gas coverage in Croatia?

prepared the Croatian gas transmission system for the integration of Croatia into the European gas flows and gas market through taking part in the new projects which will provide gas supply from the new routes and sources, transit of gas to the neighbouring countries as well as additional connection to the gas transmission systems of the neighbouring countries. Implementation of these projects, first of all the Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline, is to provide complete gas coverage across Croatian territory.

By completing this large developmentinvestment cycle, Plinacro has

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Marin Zovko Q: What has the reaction been to the commissioning of the Kutina-Dobrovac pipeline in the SisakMoslavina and PozegaSlavonia counties? Were these areas previously under-serviced?

As I have mentioned before, construction of the gas pipeline Kutina-Dobrovac provided increase of transmission capacities as well as security, reliability and a scope of natural gas supply to Sisak-Moslavina and Pozega-Slavonia County. Even earlier, supply of gas to the mentioned area was provided but the completion of the mentioned gas pipeline took security and reliability of supply to a much higher level. This gas pipeline is 32 kilometres long with pipe diameters of 200mm and maximum operating pressure 50 bar and its construction took just over one year.

Q: It has been reported that the country’s infrastructure capacity has

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the ability to “meet the long-term needs of the local natural gas market.”

Do you agree with this and how much has Plinacro contributed to this?

Plinacro has contributed significantly to the construction of energy infrastructure in the Republic of Croatia and in the longer run it created conditions enabling the Croatian market demand for gas to be met in full.

Q: Explain more about other recently completed projects. Apart from the Kutina-Dobrovac pipeline, what other projects have been successfully completed recently?

Construction of the IV section of the gas transmission system of Lika and Dalmatia (Benkovac-Dugopolje) can be considered final activity within our ten-year development plan which was strongly oriented to the construction of the gas transmission system in the

Republic of Croatia. In addition, in order to make performance of activities of supervision, management and maintenance of the main gas pipeline network easier and create even better preconditions for reliable and secure gas transmission, Plinacro will construct six new business-technical facilities throughout Croatia. Two of them have already been completed, in Vodnjan and Čakovec, and the facility in Dugopolje is in the final stage of completion. The remaining facilities will be completed in the coming period.

Q: What plans are being made for the future? Where is the company’s focus going to be in the next 12 months? What projects are underway right now? E.g.

Ionian-Adriatic Pipeline project, interconnection with Slovenia on the route Lučko-Zabok-Rogatec, LNG terminal on the island of Krk?

At the moment, Plinacro is focused on the preparatory activities for a large number of projects. In our focus are the projects related to the new interconnections with Slovenia on the route LuÄ?ko-Zabok-Rogatec and a system of compressor stations which are of great importance for the reliable gas supply of Croatia and the wider region.

Their completion is anticipated for 2018 and the planned investments equal around EUR115 million. In addition, we have been working on the preparation of a number of projects, the scope and implementation dynamics of which depend on implementation of the strategic supply projects such as TAP/IAP, LNG and the South Stream.

Q: Tell us more about the recent award collected by yourself for Manager of the Year? Are you proud and is the company proud?

The above mentioned award was established by the Croatian Energy Federation, an umbrella national non-government organisation for issues concerning energy, renewable energy sources, promotion of energy efficiency and environmental protection and was awarded for the first time this year. It is great pleasure for me that my work has been recognised but even greater because I consider this award to be also award for the company Plinacro, that is, confirmation of our successful business activities.

Q: Tell us more about the workforce employed

by Plinacro? How many people currently work for the company? Will this number grow as demand for energy changes?

What sort of people are

recruited?

Is it mainly engineers with experience in the industry?

Plinacro has been trying to recruit and keep quality employees and provide further development of their competence since we are aware of the fact that their work, innovativeness and expertise are one of the most valuable resources of the company and the basis of its long-term growth and development. At the moment there are 280 employees and almost half of them are university-trained. Among them there are engineers from different branches; petroleum engineers, mining engineers, geologists, civil engineers, mechanical engineers; with wideranging experience in the energy

sector as well as numerous experts of other profiles such as economists, lawyers and other professions. As for employing new staff it will depend on further business activities, that is, future needs within the business activities.

Q: Can you give us an update on the Okoli Underground gas storage project? What has been done with the site since acquisition in 2009?

What plans are in place to improve this facility?

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For the time being Croatia has only one underground gas storage with capacity of 553 million cubic meters of gas, located in Okoli, a place 50km south-east of Zagreb and operated by Plinacro´s daughter company Podzemno skladište plina d.o.o.

(PSP).

When we talk about the most important activities of PSP in the previous period we need to point out reconstruction and modernisation of the storage facility, carried out immediately after Plinacro acquired PSP Okoli, and which provided pre-conditions for the increase of exit capacities by up to 20%. At the moment PSP has been investing in the modernisation of the underground storage in Okoli, so the international tendering for carrying out works on the project of constructing two new wells and laying down connecting gas pipeline, which is to connect these new wells to the existing system, has been just concluded.

Planned completion of works has been anticipated in 2015. Project of replacement, that is, modernisation of the existing moto-compressor station is in progress and the aim of it is to increase existing injection capacity and provide reserve injection capacity, enhance security of supply for consumers, reduce emission of harmful gases and operative costs as well as to increase competitiveness of the storage facility and provide better © Shell PAGE 58

flexibility in providing services. At the same time, investment activities of PSP have been focused also on the forthcoming commencement of the mining-workover activities and the additional measurements at the hydrocarbons field Grubišno Polje.

The above mentioned needs to be done in order to confirm the existing and gain possible new information about this gas reservoir, which is a precondition for commencing construction of a peak gas storage facility on that location.

Q: Considering the ongoing global focus on switching to renewable energy where possible, does Plinacro feel under pressure to perform efficiently in the future?

Does the company consider gas as an important resource in the country’s future energy mix?

I would not say we feel any pressure, however, we have been following thesis of the strategies for energy development of the Republic of Croatia and the European Union. Currently, the percentage of gas in the total consumption of primary energy equals no less than around 30% and I believe that due to its complementarity to other renewable energy sources it will continue to be of great importance,

especially because of strategic geopolitical position of the Republic of Croatia, having in mind the new supply routes such as TAP/IAP, LNG and the South Stream.

Q: Considering the positive business results achieved in 2013, does the company expect similar positive results in the future?

As a well-structured and organised company, from its foundation till today, Plinacro has been placed in the group of the most stable Croatian state-owned companies. This was confirmed also in the last year by our financial results as well as timely and successful realisation of all business plans. Namely, in 2013 our gross profit was 80% higher than in the year before.

Measures of business operation rationalisation have been carried out strictly and continuously and a special attention has been given to the cost management.

I honestly believe that also in the future, in the first place thanks to expertise, experience and work of its employees, Plinacro will successfully achieve all set goals, and remain a driving force of the Croatian energy system development by opening significant development possibilities for the entire Croatian economy.

Plinacro

Construction of the IV section of the gas transmission system of Lika and Dalmatia PAGE 59

technical feature

Efficiency Improvement of an industrial power plant in the pulp and paper industry Optimisation of the Industrial Power Plant of a Pulp & Paper Mill In paper manufacture, energy is the decisive production factor. Where a considerable amount of energy in the form of steam and power is consumed, this must be provided as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. A reason why many enterprises in the pulp and paper industry already opt for their own power plants operating in combined heat and power mode (CHP). However, the power plants often do not work at the efficiency level they could achieve with optimised parameters. The following article presents a feasibility study conducted to identify potential areas of energy efficiency improvement in the pulp and paper mill’s in-house power plant, and its implementation. The project was carried out for the pulp & paper mill Kartonfabrik Buchmann GmbH by the specialised power engineering specialists of Reinstein GmbH.

Although the energy input for the production of one ton of paper has been reduced by more than half in the past 50 years, and meanwhile only 3 066 kWh/t are consumed in the form of steam and electric powerš, paper manufacturers still face great challenges with regard to energy efficiency. According to industry figures, the mean share of energy costs in total production costs is approximately 12%.

Energy is a decisive production factor, and the constantly increasing expenditure on this resource presents a permanent threat to the economic efficiency and existence of enterprises. (Fig. 1).

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Reinstein

Energieeinsatz pro Tonne Papier

energy demand per ton of paper

Quelle:

Source:

VOP Verband Deutscher Papierfabriken e.V.

VOP Verband Deutscher Papierfabriken e.V. [German Pulp and Paper Association]

Fig. 1: Energy demand in paper production The pulp & paper industry is one of the most resource intensive basic industries. To counteract increasing costs for electric power and fuel such as oil and gas, manufacturers have already taken a range of energy efficiency enhancement measures:

• • •

optimisations of the production process itself have been implemented, e.g. more efficient components and procedures, renewal of systems or components 72% of the companies utilise the combined heat and power principle in their own power and process steam generation² the kind of fuels used has often been converted to regenerative and environmentally-friendly alternatives; for example, the waste materials created in the production process are being used for energy generation.

However, investigations show that there is certainly still considerable room for further improvement. More efficiency enhancement potentials exist throughout the entire process chain.

1. The initial situation The pulp & paper mill Kartonfabrik Buchmann GmbH situated in Annweiler, Germany, ranges among the leading manufacturers of cartonboard fabricated from recovered paper and fresh fibres. The board machines produce about 240 000 tonnes of cartonboard per year.

Buchmann employs 325 people and focuses on environmental protection and sustainability. Processes and systems are consequently advanced and optimised in order to protect resources and minimise emission.

For this purpose, Buchmann maintains a consistent energy management system. The company uses the combined heat and power generation method, and the possibilities of heat recovery. Operating around the clock, two natural gas fired power plant units generate the process steam required for the cardboard production (Fig. 2).

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HKW Strom & Wärme Prozessdampfschienen kalte Reserve Kartonfabrik Strom öffentliches Netz

CHP Unit power & heat process steam headers cold standby pulp & paper mill power public network

Fig. 2: Plant layout of Buchmann Pulp & Paper Mill Simultaneously, gas turbines and steam turbines generate a major part of the required electrical energy of up to 15MW. Therefore, only a minor portion has to be obtained from the public network. A standby unit is available for primary steam generation in case of emergency.

A detailed review of the facility - which covered exclusively the power plant sector and not the cardboard production itself - was to be conducted to identify potential areas of energy efficiency improvements, which were to achieve the following main goals:

• increasing the mill’s own power generation capacity (reduction or elimination of external energy demand) • further reduction of thermal loss • fuel savings through improved fuel utilisation • changing from water cooling to environmentally-friendly air cooling • reliability enhancement and improved incidence control • improved recording of operation parameters and further automation of plant control.

2. Challenge and general procedure Energy consumption in pulp & paper mills is highly complex, and measuring as well as control devices, which are required to identify the consumption of steam and electric energy, are partly missing at the individual consumers. If optimisation potentials are to be recognised and evaluated, all plant components and the production process are to be systematically analysed. This challenge was also faced in the present case.

The efficiency enhancement measures were implemented in three consecutive process phases (Fig.3).

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Reinstein

1

Potential Analysis

2

Execution of a Tailored Feasibility Study

3

Implementation of the Efficiency Improvement

Analysis Workshop

on Efficiency Improvement

Measures desired by the Client

Fig. 3: Project implementation based on Reinstein’s three-phase-approach Sections 2 to 4 of this article cover the first two phases, whereas phase 3 is described in Section 5 below.

In Phase 1, first the technical and economic project goals were determined in a client workshop. Reinstein’s project team consisted of five engineers of the process engineering, steam turbine, gas turbine, boiler, and electrical, control & instrumentation sectors.

Afterwards, a detailed inventory was prepared, which required interviews with the client’s experts and executives involved. Their long-term experience in the plant operation allowed weak points to be quickly identified.

In addition to analysing the documentation available, Reinstein collected its own measuring data in order to determine the process steam and electric power demand. Finally, the machinery and components, including steam turbine, boiler, generators, electrical equipment, control & instrumentation systems and water supply system were given close scrutiny.

In Phase 2, the enhancement proposals resulting from the analyses and inspections were firmed up.

Over a prolonged period of time, a multitude of production conditions and plant operation modes including specific incidences could be reviewed. In the process, basic data for the design of components were determined. For example, material balances and energy balances were assessed by means of heat flow diagrams.

Finally, the technical specifications for the proposed improvements could be developed, and budget quotations for the individual work packages obtained.

When the budget quotations were available, they were reviewed and evaluated technically and economically. Ultimately, this profitability analysis formed the basis for the client’s investment decision.

Four efficiency enhancement scenarios were investigated, and two of them, involving comparatively low investment cost, crystallised as the most economical alternatives.

3. Results of the study The industrial power plant at the Buchmann Pulp & Paper Mill has been designed to operate exclusively in combined heat and power mode, which means that a high fuel utilisation rate, and simultaneously a maximum power-to-heat ratio are to be achieved. In addition, the industrial power plant should be capable of controlling incidences resulting from the cardboard production process (such as a sudden break in the paper web).

The weak points identified included:

• • • • •

inadequate development of the combined heat and power generation systems - part of the steam energy is still destroyed in reducing valves instead of being turned to energy in a steam turbine avoidable heat loss at the boilers weak points at the steam generators and excessive steam temperatures that cause inefficiency suboptimal unit configuration and inadequate interaction of components outdated control & instrumentation systems which, moreover, are not of redundant design.

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Combined heat and power generation (CHP) The decisive factor for the profitability of a power plant is the facility’s degree of efficiency.

With the heat produced by the combustion of one energy medium, conventional thermal power plants generate exclusively electrical energy and achieve efficiencies of approximately 60%.

Power plants utilising the combined heat and power principle (CHP) also use the waste heat for energy generation. This technology allows efficiencies of up to 90% to be achieved, since it utilises electric power and heat energy simultaneously (Fig. 4).

The heat generated may, for example, be used as district heating for households, or as process heat for production. Because of the high process steam demand in its production process, the pulp & paper industry is an ideal application for the CHP technology.

Luft

Air

Gas

Gas

Gasturbine Generator Gas-Luft-Gemisch Wird In Turbine Verbrannt Kessel Rauchgas

Gas Turbine Generator Gas-Air Mixture Is Combusted In The Turbine Boiler Flue Gas

Wasser

Water

Wasserdampf

Steam

Dampfturbine

Steam Turbine

Strom

Electric Power

Prozessdampf

Process Steam

Fig. 4: Combined heat and power generation principle Reinstein recommended to its client a package of different measures, part of which could also be implemented independently of each other. These included the use of a new steam turbine, the enhancement of the most important boiler, and the improvement of its efficiency through a considerable temperature reduction of its exhaust gases at the stack. An upgrading of the larger gas turbine by a conversion to low-NOx combustion was planned, which would reduce environmental burdens caused by nitrogen oxides.

Minor improvements were made to the water-steam cycle and to the control & instrumentation systems.

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Reinstein The study proved that an optimal configuration of the industrial power plant would be able to increase the mill’s own power generation by up to 2.5MW. The thermal loss, which was already at that stage at a low level, could be further reduced from the current 20% to 10-15% of the fuel input. Moreover, an expansion of the existing control and instrumentation systems would simplify the control, render it more transparent, and facilitate incidence control.

In addition, the study showed that reduced fuel costs and a smoother operation of the facility would allow the necessary investment to be already amortised within approximately three to five years. Moreover, financial advantages under the CHP subsidisation programme could be expected.

4. Conclusion regarding Sections 1 to 3 above In in-house power plants of pulp & paper mills - like in other sectors -, a multitude of optimisation measures can already be implemented with experienced and well-trained employees. However, the detailed specialised knowledge and expertise of external consulting engineers allow additional aspects and details to be considered that may be overlooked by internal staff. For the project result, it is of prime importance that, using a dedicated methodology, the know-how of the client’s operating team is first surveyed and recognised, and then the internal and external points of view, and existing and newly recorded data integrated in an overall analysis.

With every common step taken within the scope of the feasibility study, increased knowledge was gained by both parties, whereas decision uncertainty was reduced. As a result of the study, the profitability of the investments could be estimated fairly accurately investments which are worthwhile even in facilities that are already operating very economically, as they allow pushing the efficiency limits even higher.

Energy is the decisive factor in paper production; the in-house power generation in Buchmann’s own power plant could be significantly increased.

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“Reinstein’s engineers supported us from the initial feasibility study and fully served our interests as expert consultants. All services were completed on schedule, and even below budget.”

Armin Lehmann, Technical Manager at Buchmann GmbH, Annweiler, Germany

5. Summary of technical data established during the analysis and feasibility study stages, and implementation of the efficiency improvement measures desired by the client As stated above, the pulp and paper industry is one of the most resource intensive basic industries. Therefore, a lot of factories have their own industrial power plants (so-called IPPs) that utilise the combined heat and power principle (CHP) and achieve high efficiencies. Efficiency is defined as the ratio of economically utilised energy to the overall energy input. The CHP technology allows efficiencies of up to 90% to be achieved, since it generates electric power by also utilising the waste heat energy for the generation of the process steam required for paper production.

5.1 Summary of Goals In 2010, Reinstein’s engineers were tasked by Buchmann with the implementation of the feasibility study. This was focussed exclusively on the power plant section of the facility and not on the cardboard production itself. The entire energy generation situation was to be thoroughly reviewed with a view to enhancing the efficiency of the in-house energy production. During the study, first the goals of the scheme were defined:

5.1.1 Meeting the process steam demand The structure of the facility is the result of historical development, and it is no longer optimally configured at this stage. The improvement measures were to increase the steam generation reliability. The main task of the improved facility would be the provision of the steam actually required for the two cardboard machines, which may always be subject to considerable fluctuation.

5.1.2 Meeting the power demand The total power requirement of the facility is 15MW. For technical reasons, only 6MW can be obtained from the public network. At the end of the project, the total power required was to be generated locally.

5.1.3 Control of incidences The outdated control and instrumentation systems of the original facility did not always allow optimum management of paper fabrication incidences, for example in case of a sudden break in the paper web. A lot of control functions had to be carried out manually. Buchmann hoped that as a result of the measures taken, interruptions in production caused by disturbances in the electrical power supply would be eliminated. This included an increased automation level, which would also allow an improved recording of operating parameters.

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Reinstein 5.1.4 Environmental protection / sustainability The overall fuel demand - natural gas in this case - was to be reduced and the degree of utilisation to be increased. Another requirement to be fulfilled was the protection of resources through the change from water cooling to environmentally-friendly air cooling.

5.2 Layout of the original facility As stated above, with its two cardboard machines, Buchmann GmbH produces more than 240 000 tons of cardboard per year. The generation of energy in the form of process steam and electric power is provided by a complex industrial power plant, which has been equipped over its more than 100 years of corporate history with five units. Together, these units form the so-called “Annweiler IPP”. The power plant, designed to operate exclusively in combined heat and power mode, partly did no longer meet the latest state of power plant technology (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: Basic diagram of the original IPP before implementation of the measures

HKW Luft Kessel Dampfturbine Kartonproduktion

Chp Unit Air Boiler Steam Turbine Cardboard Production

Druckreduzierstationen

Pressure Reducing Stations

Stromversorgung Gesamtanlage

Power Supply, Entire Facility

Kartonmaschine Nebenanlagen (Entgaser, Wasseraufbereitung etc.) hier nicht dargestellt

Cardboard Machine Balance Of Plant Items (Such As Degasifier, Water Treatment System, Etc.) Are Not Shown Here.

The individual CHP units consist of the following components (for reasons of presentation, balance of plant and ancillary items such as degasifier, demineralisation system, feedwater tank, etc. are disregarded here ):

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•

CHP Unit 5 was set up in 1975 and modernised later on. It is the basic unit for the supply of the factory with electric power and steam. The unit, which was initially fired with heavy oil, consists of a power boiler and a steam backpressure turbine, which can achieve a power of up to 6MW with the current process steam demand. In 1997, a 4.5MW gas turbine (topping turbine) was provided upstream of the boiler, which is now fuelled by natural gas. The system generates steam at a pressure of 110bar and a temperature of 530°C. Only this unit is equipped with a well-developed water-steam-cycle; therefore, the overall facility is almost exclusively controlled via this unit (technical control room).

•

CHP Unit 3 consists of a 3.6MW gas turbine and downstream heat recovery steam generator, which generate steam at 45bar and 450°C. The live steam generated there at a rate of 8.5t/h is immediately fed via pressure reducing stations to the process steam headers. The unit was modernised in 2007 to the present configuration.

•

CHP Unit 4, built in 1967, serves for “cold standby” steam generation in case of emergency. This unit can still be fired with heavy oil; the existing turbine is no longer operational.

•

CHP Units 1 and 2 have been shut down and decommissioned.

5.3 Optimisation approaches Initially, the weak points of the overall facility were identified and documented in the study. The following areas turned out to offer the highest potential for efficiency improvements:

• In CHP Unit 5, the arrangement of the superheaters (where the steam is heated further) remained unchanged in the boiler itself when the unit was converted from heavy oil firing to natural gas firing (topping turbine). This gave rise to a very high flue gas temperature at the stack, which caused efficiency loss.

• The CHP system was still inadequately developed; part of the steam energy was still destroyed in reducing valves instead of being turned to electric power in a steam turbine.

• The steam backpressure turbine of CHP Unit 5 operated far below its design values and thus with a low efficiency.

• Since the modernisation of CHP Unit 3 in the year 2007, the downstream generation of condensation energy had not been implemented in this unit. Therefore, the in-house power generation in CHP Units 3 and 5 was not sufficient for operating the factory independently of the public network.

• To achieve a comprehensive integration of all functions required for the operation and monitoring of the power plant, some improvements were found to be necessary. The operation and monitoring of the overall power plant process was found to be rather complicated and only to be managed by experienced staff familiar with the particularities of the systems. Control and instrumentation systems were not designed redundantly as is common practice today. Thus, individual faults causing considerable operational malfunctions were unavoidable.

• Therefore, the unit configuration and the interaction of components were to be optimised.

5.4 Measures implemented In the report on the results of the feasibility study, a package of different measures was recommended to the client, part of which could also be implemented independently of each other.

After completion of the profitability review, Reinstein GmbH was tasked with the implementation. The following measures were implemented (Fig. 6):

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Reinstein

Fig. 6: Basic diagram of the IPP after implementation of the measures

• In CHP Unit 5, the existing gas turbine was replaced by a module of higher capacity, which now increases the power output by approximately 0.5MW to a maximum of 5.4MW. The new system uses the state-of-the-art low NOx combustion technology, which reduces burdens on the environment caused by nitrogen emission (1).

• Various measures were taken to increase the efficiency of the boiler in CHP Unit 5; mainly by significantly reducing the exhaust gas temperature at the stack. The arrangement of the superheaters was modified and they were partly replaced (2).

• The steam turbine of CHP Unit 5 was redesigned to meet the actual steam demand and replaced by a new one (“DT7”, with gearbox, generator, and auxiliary systems). The steam generated in CHP Unit 3 is now also routed to the new steam turbine in CHP Unit 5. The new system supplies process steam to the mill’s 8.5bar header as well as to the 3.4bar header.

A “destruction” of steam energy in the reducing valves is now eliminated. These combined measures have increased the power to 11.5MW (3).

• In order to enhance the reliability of the process steam supply, the boiler of CHP Unit 4 was connected to the components of CHP Unit 3 (45bar system) (4), serving as a standby unit.

• Hardware and software of a state-of-the-art, computer-aided PLC process control system were installed, which will allow the complete facility to be monitored and controlled in a simple and safe manner.

• Additional improvements have been made to the water-steam-cycle; approximately 75% of the existing piping systems were renewed, which also contributed to the goal of enhancing the power plant efficiency.

5.5 Conclusion Even for facilities already operating with a high degree of efficiency, investments are worthwhile which further increase the energy efficiency and adjust the technology to the latest state of the art. They provide economic and ecological benefit, especially in resource-intensive sectors such as the pulp and paper industry. For extensive optimisation programs, it is advisable to draw on the knowledge and experience of specialised consulting engineers, who work in close cooperation with the plant owner and elaborate tailored solutions.

The combination of the individual measures allowed the pulp and paper mill’s in-house power generation capacity to be increased.

Now even excess electricity is produced, which may be sold in the market if this is economically reasonable.

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The thermal loss, which was already low before the measures were implemented, was reduced from approximately 20% to 10 to 15% of the fuel input.

The upgrading of the existing control and instrumentation systems enhances the transparency and convenience of the plant control, and allows quicker management of incidences.

From an economic perspective, Buchmann’s investments will be amortised by fuel savings and a smoother operation within approximately three to five years. The completion of the project is scheduled for the second half of the year 2014.

About Reinstein Reinstein GmbH are consulting engineers specialised in conventional power plants and renewable energies. Reinstein’s services cover the entire lifecycle - from planning, construction, commissioning and operation up to decommissioning. Reinstein’s team provides consultancy in optimisation, reorganisation and change management and assists you in taking strategic decisions, and throughout their implementation.

Since 2012, Managing Director Dr.-Ing. Marc Reinstein is a lecturer in Project Management at the University of Saarbrücken, Germany.

¹ VDP Verband Deutscher Papierfabriken e.V. [German Pulp and Paper Association] ² VDP e.V.

www.reinstein-energy.de

Dr.-Ing. Marc Reinstein

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THE ENERGY OF THE FUTURE. INTELLIGENT SOLUTIONS FOR EVERY FACET OF YOUR ENERGY SUPPLY. There are many ways to generate heat, steam and electricity from the most varied energy carriers. We, Standardkessel Baumgarte, know them – and also find new ones.

In this case, experience is our best investment. Thanks to the experience of more than 160 years, we have a unique and wide range of process know-how. No matter whether the supply of high-quality components or the construction of sophisticated complete plants is involved – or whether tailor-made solutions for after-sales services and contracting are in demand - we are the right partner.

Therefore it is no wonder that power supply companies, municipalities, municipal utilities and industrial companies rely on our competence.

As a strong group of companies, we are driven by one thing in particular:

Ideas full of energy.

Within the Reinstein optimisation project, Standardkessel Baumgarte Service improved the boiler efficiency and adapted the emission values to the new 13. BImschV (IED 2010/75/EU). Furthermore the steam temperature control was modernised by spray attemperators. Former damages due to flue gas imbalances will be avoided in future by a new superheater design.

Our engineers are ready to modernise your boiler too.

More information and references available at www.ideas-full-of-energy.com or Phone: +49 203 452 460

STANDARDKESSEL BAUMGARTE - Power plants, plant operation, and services for generating electricity, steam, and heat from residues, primary fuels, waste heat, and biomass.

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The future is at the GATE TERMINAL Editorial: Colin Chinery

GATE TERMINAL on the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, was the first import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Netherlands. Now, with its operational capabilities expanded, further developments in sight, and LNG taking an increasing role on energy’s centre stage, GATE TERMINAL is positioned to develop as a major hub for north western Europe.

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Fifty years on from the world’s first commercial shipment of LNG, the threat of Russian restrictions on gas flow through the Ukraine has pushed energy security to the top of the European agenda.

Europe imports 40 per cent of its gas from Russia - 60 per cent through Ukrainian pipelines – and the EU executive is looking at new and alternative sources such as the Caspian Sea and Mediterranean.

A front leg in this stand-apart strategy is to step up imports of liquefied natural gas - gas that is cooled into liquid form at 160 degrees Centigrade, reducing it to one-six-hundredth of its original size. Transported by tanker to specialised handling locations it is converted back into a gaseous form for delivery to users.

GATE Terminal As a partial deliverance from major source dependency, the EU move would be a long-term tactic.

But along with other developments in the LNG market, the potential for GATE TERMINAL, the first – and currently underused - LNG import terminal is encouraging.

Opened in late 2011, GATE TERMINAL– ‘Gas Access To Europe’ – adjoining the Port of Rotterdam, combines the receiving and unloading of LNG carriers at its two jetties with gas storage in three large containment tanks.

In place is a supporting network of circulation pipelines and a

process area where the LNG is regasified (cooled) and broken down into smaller quantities for further distribution.

Location and function means that GATE TERMINAL is able to reenforce the security of LNG supply in north western Europe while providing a continuous supply of natural gas through the Dutch transport network.

KEY EUROPEAN HUB Built by the state-owned gas infrastructure company Gasunie and Netherlands-based liquid bulk tank storage company Vopak,

the GATE TERMINAL was seen by the Dutch government as part of its strategy to hold on to the Netherlands position as a key European gas hub.

While Europe has abundant capacity for LNG imports, particularly in Spain, pipeline bottlenecks in the Pyrenees could make it difficult to move gas from Spanish ports to central Europe.

The Rotterdam facility would not face that problem. GATE TERMINAL can regasify and pump out 12 billion cubic metres a year and Gasunie says its network is capable of moving all of the

© Shell PAGE 73

terminal’s production into Germany (much of GATE TERMINAL’s gas already flows south and east as far as Austria and Hungary).

“In principle the GATE TERMINAL was developed as an additional access point for entry into the European gas grid, a regasification terminal only.

Security of supply was a very important issue then as now,” says GATE TERMINAL Managing Director Dick Meurs.

“Another factor was the diversification of gas sources into the system, a key element for customers since it enables them to have more options available.”

Timing is a capricious enterprise partner however. Six month before GATE TERMINAL came on stream, a tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Japan took the lives of tens of thousands and causing a catastrophic failure at the Fukushima 2 nuclear power plant.

Three of its six reactors melted down in the biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, leaving the world’s third largest economy reliant on LNG to fill its energy gap.

Since then plans to phase out nuclear power in the next few decades have made the role and importance of LNG increasingly important in Japan’s energy strategy. ”Fukushima changed the global energy market a lot,” says Mr Meurs. “With Japan buying into LNG, LNG prices went up significantly, and for Europe in general this brought a change in the market dynamics.”

For GATE TERMINAL and other European terminals it has meant a high level of unutilised capacity. But now the dynamics are changing again. Gas prices

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on the world’s largest market, the USA, collapsed following the development of indigenous shale gas.

“In principle the GATE TERMINAL was developed as an additional access point for entry into the European gas grid, a regasification terminal only.

Security of supply was a very important issue then as now”

And last month global prices for LNG dropped to their lowest level since the post Fukushima nuclear crisis – 40 percent down on 12 months - as low summer demand in the northern hemisphere was met by rising Asian output.

SECURE AND GREEN With European facilities operating at one third capacity, governments are looking at increasing LNG imports to buttress supply security as changing conditions are making LNG competitive as well as

environmentally more attractive.

GATE TERMINAL developed originally as a shipping-focussed import terminal. But since last year it has also been an export terminal, with new facilities for small vessel berthing and reloading LNG in support of small scale market and global trading developments.

Now with the commissioning of a truck loading station, GATE TERMINAL can not only send gas through the Dutch pipeline network, but also transport LNG as clean alternative to traditional fuel for both shipping and road transport.

“The growing market for LNG as a fuel for maritime uses and heavy duty road transport is one that has developed since GATE TERMINAL opened and becoming more and more significant,” says Mr Meurs.

“Last year we adapted the terminal to enable our customers to load ships and also accept small coastal tankers that distribute LNG to the Baltic and Scandinavian area.

“And since the beginning of this year we have been operating our truck loading station enabling our customers to distribute LNG into north western Europe by road.

“This puts the GATE TERMINAL more into the position of a genuine LNG hub, not only delivering gas into the grid but also distributing smaller parcels of LNG to other parts of Europe and larger ones to other parts of the world.

“Now we must see to what extent the market will grow - and how fast - to support further investment.

We still have our core group of five major European energy suppliers - Dong Energy, EconGas, RWE Supply and Trading, Eneco and E.On Ruhrgas – and we are now developing additional customers, especially on the trucking side.”

GATE terminal

YOUR REPUTATION IS MINE.

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At Vinรงotte we want to help guarantee the reputation of our industrial and regular clients when it comes to quality, safety and the environment.

As independent and impartial service provider we offer inspections, testing, certification and training in these fields. With more than 140 years of expertise we offer more than 130 services (electricity, hoisting apparatus, pressure equipment, civil engineering, safety in the work place, environmental protection and radiant protection) in a variety of sectors.

The Vinรงotte group has an annual turnover of 201 million euros and 17 offices worldwide. Our headquarters are situated in Vilvoorde, Belgium.

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Port of Ngqura

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FUEL FOR THE FUTURE In January Primagaz Benelux loaded the first trailer of LNG at GATE TERMINAL. Logistics partner Primagaz provides propane to more than 30,000 private clients and businesses across the Benelux region – and the deal is seen as another milestone in the development of small scale LNG, confirming its appeal as the fuel for the future.

Vopak is the world’s largest independent tank storage service provider, operates 79 terminals

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with a combined storage capacity of more than 31million cubic meters in 29 countries - in Britain, the deep sea ports of London, Teesside, Windmill, Barry in South Wales, and Thames Oilport.

The majority of Vopak customers are companies operating in the chemical and oil industries. Japan and South Korea are the world’s top two LNG buyers, together with India and other Asian gas importers, taking some 70 percent of global exports of the super-cooled fuel.

With an annual gas throughput of 127 billion cubic meters, Gasunie’s network ranks among the largest high pressure gas pipeline grids in Europe, with more than 15,000 kilometres of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany, dozens of installations and 1,300 gas receiving stations.

“GATE TERMINAL is an independent entity with a shareholding structure, but we share best practices and have some interchanges with personnel and training,” says Mr

GATE Terminal Meurs, a former director of Vopak Venezuela, with an extensive global experience in managing companies in shipping, logistics and terminal operations.

Before joining Vopak in 2008 he was director Maersk Logistics South America, and has held senior management positions at P&O Nedlloyd in South America, Asia and Europe. “My background is in civil engineering, but my interest has always been in maritime activities such as logistics, transport and terminals.

THE MOBILE SOLUTION Fifty years after the first shipment left the Arzew plant, Algeria for Canvey Island in the Thames Estuary, Dick Meurs is confident about LNG’s and GATE TERMINAL’s unfolding development.

“The beauty of LNG lies in its mobility. Normally with gas you have to go through a pipeline, and this imposes restrictions on distance. But LNG is a very flexible commodity. It can change owners several times and it can move anywhere.”

There is enough gas for the next 200 to 250 years. Increasing

the share of renewable sources for producing energy, such as wind turbines or solar power, will take time, with more technology required to make them cheaper.

Natural gas - also in its liquid form as LNG - has an important role to play to enable this transition process and to keep the energy supply of Europe stable, reliable and affordable while renewables are increasing their share in the energy mix. In the coming decades natural gas - and in time also green gas and bioLNG - can contribute significantly to reaching EU’s CO2 emission reduction targets

“Last year we adapted the terminal to enable our customers to load ships and also accept small coastal tankers that distribute LNG to the Baltic and Scandinavian area” KWS Infra: The connecting factor “Vopak very much specialises in the storage of liquid products – aside from GATE TERMINAL it also co-owns and operates a LNG terminal in Mexico - while Gasunie has a broad expertise in infrastructure and logistic.

Each partner shares the other’s experience in technical fields.”

KWS Infra is one of the 120 operating companies of Volker Wessels. A full service contractor for all imaginable disciplines. We can help you with a integrated advise, design, construct and maintenance of your conceptual design. At Gate Terminal we integrated design and construct of Ground work, Civil work, Road work, Mechanical piping, Construction work and Maritime activities.

KWS Infra bv District Zwijndrecht Ohmstraat 2-4 3335 LT Zwijndrecht T +31 (0)78 625 08 00 F +31 (0)78 625 08 10 zwijndrecht@kws.nl www.kws.nl

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“Making your reputation our responsibility” Vinçotte is one of the world’s leading TIC companies and its work at the GATE terminal off the coast of Rotterdam is a demonstration of exactly how the business can look after your reputation while also providing an unrivalled portfolio of TIC services.

International testing, inspection and certification (TIC) company, Vinçotte, provides more than 130 specialised services and has more than 140 years of experience (Since 1872). Ensuring your projects are safe, of high quality and legally compliant with both regional and international laws, the Belgian company is the perfect partner for all of your TIC needs.

Vinçotte was a major player during the development of the GATE terminal and Head of Business Development - Industrial Services, Ben Verhagen says that the company’s work in Rotterdam is on-going.

“We were involved in the complete project from beginning to end and even today, now that the terminal is operational, we are still involved making sure that everything is running safely.

“We were involved in the complete scope concerning quality, inspection and testing,” he says.

“We were involved in advising the Dutch government on which rules and regulations are in place in Europe and internationally, we were also involved in all of the pipes and plates as a third party inspector, confirming standards.”

One of the elements that set Vinçotte apart in the TIC industry besides its reputation as trusty service provider is its portfolio of service offerings. The company is capable of offering a full range of TIC

Ben Verhagen Head of Business Development

Industrial 78 Services PAGE

services, creating a single point of contact for the client and ensuring round the clock safety and reliability.

“Another one of our strengths is that we have all services in-house so we can help people from start to finish. Other companies specialise in one area, for example certification or inspection, but they will maybe not offer NDT (Non Destructive Testing). So clients can choose other companies for very specific tasks or they can come to us who is offering the full package and a single point of contact, saving a lot of time and trouble,” says Verhagen.

“We were involved in the complete project from beginning to end and even today, now that the terminal is operational, we are still involved making sure that everything is running safely”

As for NDT, Vinçotte remains an industry leader offering a range of ‘standard’ and ‘advanced’ testing techniques.

“At GATE, our team undertook all of the conventional NDT but one of our strengths, why we work on LNG terminals internationally, is our advanced ultrasonic testing.

“For example Automatic ultrasonic inspections can replace radiography on the inspection of 9% nickel storage tanks and with our system we can prove to everybody that we can detect all indications in the welds, from the smallest inclusions to cracks, and what’s more, there is no radioactivity used so all workers including welders, constructors and scaffolders can continue working during

inspection, saving a lot of time for the end user,” explains Verhagen.

Evidence of the quality standards kept by Vinçotte is the GATE terminal itself where “everything has gone very smoothly but the reason we do these tests is because no one is perfect. There will always be a chance of a welding error or something which has to be adapted.

“GATE wanted to have a safe, quality operating plant which can be used for many years to come so they see us as a partner and someone who can help them improve their quality and to prove that they deliver top quality.

“In the end, when the project is finished, they received a certificate from us to confirm that everything is controlled and 100% conform the requirements of the code and specifications. They are proud to show this to new clients so our output is considered as an asset,” says Verhagen.

In the future, the energy industry and the LNG sector in particular is offering many opportunities for Vinçotte and its Industrial Services division. “We have around 2500 people internationally of which 400-500 people are active with NDT,” says Verhagen. “The LNG market is very important for us, we are also very active in other markets such as the nuclear, pipeline, construction and other markets.

Today Vinçotte is also working on the ITER project in France which is a nuclear fusion project and one of the most important in the world.

“We have been internationally active in the LNG market for many decades (e.g.

Belgium, Canada, France) and since GATE, we’ve worked on LNG projects in Algeria and Poland and we are looking at a major project in Australia,” and with Vinçotte’s superior NDT capabilities, all of these projects can be sure that their reputations will be upheld and include safety and reliability at the core of all operations.

YOUR REPUTATION IS MINE. Safety is of paramount importance when setting about a project like that which saw the GATE terminal emerge on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam.

With pressurised storage and transport of materials making up the lifeblood of the facility, it is vitally important that the infrastructure was, and continues to be, in line with both regional and international legal requirements. This is where the NDT and the Pressure Equipment divisions of Vinçotte come into their own.

“At the time, according to European and national legislation, the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) was applicable so we had to act as a Notified Body of the PED on all the pressure equipment of the terminal; all of the piping, some pressure vessels and vaporizers,” explains Fop van der Bie, Manager Division - Pressure Equipment for the Netherlands.

“Then, of course, you have the LNG storage tanks which have different regulations but a requirement to have third party inspections.

“This is one of the bigger projects that we as Vinçotte Netherlands have worked on. It was the first real LNG terminal in the Netherlands; it was very interesting and very professional. We started there in 2009 and the project ended on schedule in 2011,” he says.

However, where needed, Vinçotte provides ongoing support on all of its projects and the law requires that a facility like GATE terminal is inspected on a periodical basis.

“All of the items which require a Putting Into Service inspection by Dutch law, also require periodic inspections during the in service period. From day one, we have continued our involvement as planned,” explains van der Bie. “The people there have changed of course, some that were there during Port ofconstruction Ngqura remained for some time but one by one they have all

disappeared to other projects around the world and now it’s the experts who will run the daily operations of the plant.”

The laws that govern the energy industry are strict and navigating them to ensure absolute compliance is something with which Vinçotte is more than happy to help. Van der Bie says that one of his division’s core strengths is being able to educate clients on best practice.

“Sometimes our clients are right on the edge of what is possible and that requires an understanding of the law in order to make sensible choices” “Many of our clients are big companies, they want the best, and they require the best. Otherwise they won’t be big for so long. Our strategy is to know exactly what is required from national and international law; we are involved when the laws are made for tomorrow or for the coming years and we can advise on the best course of action. Sometimes our clients are right on the edge of what is possible and that requires an understanding of the law in order to make sensible choices,” he says.

Another strength lies in the company’s flexible approach to work. Weekends, late nights, remote locations; nothing stops the workforce getting important TIC jobs done.

“We are very flexible in our approach.

Our people are very flexible and we can react quickly. When plans change and inspections change, you have to be equipped to deal with it. We think with client, educate the client and plan for the future,” says van der Bie.

He adds: “We operate internationally. If our clients in the Netherlands, existing or new, have a project abroad we will follow them and this results in high quality.”

Much like the NDT division, van der Bie’s Pressure Equipment division is very active across the entire energy industry and further afield. The Netherlands alone presents many opportunities for Vinçotte to excel, as van der Bie explains.

“We work across the whole scene, not just gas. We work on refineries, chemical plants, power plants, food plants, and all of the plants which require by law inspection of pressure equipment.

“There are around 10,000 storage tanks in the Netherlands which require some sort of legal inspection and there is a lot of distribution and transporting going on from the harbours so there are many facilities that present hazards and hence, legislation. This is going to increase in the coming years and we are changing legislation right now.

“Transport lines are excluded from the PED, but there is a lot of legislation surrounding them; high pressure gas lines, oil lines - any lines with fluids require some sort of inspection and certification.”

With 16 locations around the world and experience operating across a range of industries, Vinçotte is definitely a leader in the TIC industry and set to make your reputation its responsibility.

Fob Van Der Bie Manager Division - Pressure Equipment for the Netherlands

Solving the three problems with solar power Editorial: Roland Douglas

The idea of floating solar installations is a relatively new one. There is only a handful of projects like this around the world but experts are saying that housing solar panels over water could solve three of the most common problems with conventional solar farms. Singapore and India are already looking into ideas that could help with this whole concept in the future‌

Solar power has so much potential. We have featured a number of companies who have demonstrated the great things that can be done with the sun’s rays. As time goes by, it is becoming more and more obvious that solar has so much to offer but the challenge is making the most of this valuable resource.

Industrial solar farms have popped

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up all over the world and residential and commercial solar installations are now more popular than ever with various governments offering subsidies to installers and hosts of productive solar panels but there still remains three big problems when it comes to solar generation on a large scale. These three problems are space, availability of sunlight

and availability of photovoltaic panels.

However, there is a new trend that seems to have an answer these problems. That answer is floating solar farms or mass expanses of solar panels spread across a large floating area.

Systems like this can be utilised on lakes, rivers, and potentially, seas.

The more you think about, the more

Future Power

it seems to make sense. Just like wind turbines need lots of wind, solar panels need uninterrupted access to sunlight and in a city there are buildings, cranes, bridges and all number of blockades and then of course there is the space requirements. For a commercial or industrial solar park you need a vast amount of space – the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California covers 3500 acres – and obviously this amount of land is not readily available and is expensive. Even if you could get hold of this amount of land in a more rural area, there still might be mountains or forestry that could interrupt sunlight and that’s before thinking about the planning regulations and environmental concerns that have to be considered before installing such a large facility.

So surely solar parks in the middle of the desert is the answer? But this throws up the barrier of maintenance. How do you effective manage a vast site that is in the middle of a sweltering desert? The logistics are often too difficult. So that leaves water – no blockades, no space restrictions and more than enough room for large photovoltaic panels.

Examples of how well floating farms can work have been witnessed in Japan, at the 70MW Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant, developed

by Kyocera and its partners. The park officially went on line on November 1st 2013 and was inaugurated on November 4th. Local utilities purchase the power and local people are welcomed to the site to view the 290,000 solar panels that supply important clean energy to a country that is looking for it more than ever following the Fukushima disaster.

It has been reported recently that both Singapore and India are both currently planning the building of the world’s largest floating solar farm, and of course this makes a lot of sense considering their power requirements and the difficulties of laying down a huge farm where land is scarce. Singapore as a whole is smaller than New York and the whole country is

developed so the majority of solar installations are on rooftops. The next, and possibly only, other option is on the inland water reservoirs. This has two benefits already. The solar panels will shade the water and prevent evaporation and the water will cool the structure helping the panels work more efficiently.

Experts have said the main challenges in Singapore include the cost of solar technology – it has to be low enough to make the whole operation viable.

India is also planning a huge project – said to be around 1.27 million square meters of floating platform – in the Kerala district. Local energy company NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation) is heading up the development and SP Gon Choudhury, chairman of the Renewable Energy College commented: “There are large stretches of water bodies in Kerala which NHPC wants to harness for solar power.

This floating solar power technology was developed by the Renewable Energy College and has been implemented in the city. The first plant — a pilot project

— is scheduled to be commissioned in October this year. NHPC had contacted us for offering technical know-how and installation assistance for their proposed 50-mw plant.

“Each station would require around 3000 square feet of space to generate 20 kilo watt of power.

There are many water bodies that could be used for this.”

Floating solar farms, in principal, seem like a good idea and the more they catch on around the world, the more they are sure to be improved and updated until a tried and tested model emerges for multiple installations on a mass scale.

So this looks like a viable answer to the three problems mentioned above – that is until they get around the installing these space-based solar farms that have been talked about as the next best thing!

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Super strength from sci-fi exoskeleton apparatus Editorial: Roland Douglas

It seems that the future of the shipbuilding industry will be more automated than we originally thought. Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering is currently testing and piloting prototypes of its latest exoskeleton lifting aid – surely a landmark breakthrough for the industry?

In the oil and gas industry, and the energy industry more widely, some of the structures and pieces of equipment are vast. It goes without saying that just small parts of an oil rig weigh huge amounts and cost huge amounts. Some of the vessels used in support of the industry take years to put together and are extremely advanced; like mini floating cities, and they are used for everything – transport of LNG, shipping of oil, movement of people and many other activities.

As we discussed back in June, Shell is currently putting together its Prelude

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FLNG facility; a project that could have great impact on the energy industry. But consider the scale of a project like this.

Standing on its end, the Prelude FLNG facility will be taller than the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. So, to put together something just half the size of this, you will need some extreme tools.

In South Korea, at its Okpo-dong yard, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering is testing and trialling a new piece of equipment that has the potential to change the way that engineers work on these mega projects.

This new piece of equipment has got sci-fi fans excited and some are even calling it ‘the iron man suit’ for shipbuilders.

Essentially, it’s an exoskeleton that can provide extra strength to an engineer and this innovation is something which has been developed over a number of years.

At Daewoo’s yards in South Korea, robots undertake much of the day-to-day heavy engineering but that could change if pilots of the exoskeleton continue to run successfully. Currently, the exoskeleton ‘suit’ can fit anyone between 160 and 185 cm tall and it is surprisingly lightweight

Gadget Box

considering its capabilities – it only weighs 28kg and is made from carbon, aluminium alloy and steel. In this, the early stages of development, the suit has managed to aid in lifting loads of up to 30kg and the prototype has a three hour battery life.

In order to actually fit the suit, engineers will first step into ‘foot pads’ and then strap their thighs, waist and chest into harnesses. This allows a good range of movement of the body while taking the strain of the weight. Electric motors and hydraulic joints power the suit from the back and so far, designers have said that it has had a positive effect on people’s ability.

Importantly, and proving that this is not just an expensive gimmick, the suit can take advantage of special attachments which make lifting even easier. For example, frames that reach up from the back and arch over the head, almost like a small crane, can be added for specialist tasks.

Lead engineer on the Daewoo exoskeleton project, Gilwhoan Chu recently told New Scientist magazine that designers had received positive feedback from recent trials and had taken on board the criticisms which included; the suit not being able to move fast enough, not being able to lift enough weight, not being safe on slippery or sloped surfaces and twisting movements being limited. “Our current research target of the lifting capacity is about 100kg,” he said.

Shipbuilding and marine engineering

is huge business. Not only in the energy industry, but marine, defence, research and transport industries all require specialist services when it comes to their vessels and their offshore capabilities.

Human error is no longer tolerated and this is why automation has become the norm in the world’s largest shipyards.

The world’s top three shipbuilding firms, Daewoo, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries are all located in South Korea so this breakthrough with exoskeleton technology could spread easily when a more marketable product is eventually developed.

And as the industry grows, so will the need for more automation and Chu is confident telling New Scientist: “We’ve been developing and applying robots and automation in shipbuilding for more than a decade.”

If everything goes to plan, and its currently looking like it will, then we could see these exoskeleton suits in action sooner than you might think and the processes and timescales involved in shipbuilding could be dramatically improved. This will mean great things for the energy industry with suppliers able to be much more flexible and much more instant in their response to requests and contract arrangements.

However, Daewoo is not the only company experimenting with exoskeleton style robotics. There are many

organisations around the world that can see the benefits and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created robotic arms that lift heavy objects, grab things out of the wearer’s reach and can be used to hold objects steady. In this case, the arms can operate independently of the wearer, completely changing the scope of what is possible from one employee.

Whatever the future holds, it looks certain that some form of exoskeleton suit will be included in order to improve efficiency and strength – both vital in the energy industry and further afield

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