September 2010

SPED in the UK & Eire

There is still little “process” work going on the UK.  Most are FEEDs for the Gulf or China.  However energy related projects and water infrastructure contracts are growing in numbers.  In early October we will make a close assessment of the forward work load.

UK Process News

Oil & Gas UK, a UK trade body has awarded the contract to assess subsea capping and containment options for the UK continental shelf (UKCS) to Wood Group Kenny.  The project responds to the dangers highlighted by the on-going incident in the Gulf of Mexico.

E.ON UK plc has awarded a consortium including Foster Wheeler plc and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd a contract to support the front-end engineering design for a post-combustion CO2 capture and compression plant proposed as part of E.ON’s planned new supercritical coal-fired power station in Kent.  E.ON expects to replace its existing coal-fired units at Kingsnorth Power Station with two new high-efficiency 800MW coal-fired units.  It is pleasing to see this project come alive again after many difficult confrontations with environmentalists.

EDF Energy has awarded a contract worth over £60m to extend a gas storage facility in Cheshire.  The work will enable EDF Energy to significantly increase its gas reserves, and therefore contribute to the security of the UK’s gas supplies.  Engineering will start immediately with planned completion in July 2012.

UK-based B9 Coal has launched its “revolutionary” proposition for efficient, cheap power generation from coal with carbon capture.  The company is bringing together a consortium including WSP Group, AFC Energy and Linc Energy for a project which, it claims, will put the UK at the forefront of carbon capture and storage technology.