Big Project ME March 2020

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168 March 2020

MEConstructionNews.com

THE BUSINESS OF CONSTRUCTION

Smart Operator

BIG PROJECT ME SPEAKS TO DR ANIL PILLAI, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF AIROLINK CONSTRUCTION GROUP, ABOUT HOW HE’S DRIVING THE CONTRACTOR FORWARDS

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1

CONTENTS

March 2020

08

16

20

24

32

46

ANALYSIS

FEATURES

INSIGHT

08

The briefing

24

40

Comments

The big picture

Big Project ME speaks to Dr Anil Pillai, founder and chairman of Airolink Construction Group, about his plans for the rapidly growing contractor

46

Event Preview

48

Tenders

52

Progress report

Industry experts discuss digital solutions and real estate trends for the residential sector in the UAE for 2020

12

Providing a wrap-up of the biggest local, regional and international construction news stories

16

Market report

20

News analysis

ProTenders report analyses the highly volatile Kuwaiti market as Vision 2035 aims to transform the country’s future

ACCIONA’s Jesús Sancho provides Big Project ME with an in-depth analysis on the ME’s move towards a sustainable future

In profile Dr Anil Pillai

32

Project profile Made for Members

Big Project ME gets an exclusive tour of the ongoing refurbishment works at the Middle East’s premier member’s club The Capital Club Dubai

The industry’s brightest minds share their thoughts on a variety of topics and issues impacting the construction industry

Middle East Energy returns for its 45th edition 3-5 March 2020 at the Dubai World Trade Centre

Big Project ME, in association with ProTenders, provides the biggest tenders for the month of March 2020

DMCC provides construction update for super-tall Uptown Tower in Jumeriah Lakes Towers in Dubai

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

2

WELCOME

Introduction

Fit-out projects offer opportunities

J

ust the other week, I was reading a report in a local newspaper about the UAE’s interior fit-out market and one of the standout takeaways was how optimistic industry professionals are about the sector, not just for 2020, but for years to come.

This was particularly true for the refurbishment element of the market, where a greater awareness of sustainability, efficiency and cost has led to owners and operators to invest in refreshing existing spaces, rather than constructing new ones. With a recent Faithful+Gould report predicting that the UAE’s fit-out market will reach $973.4 million by 2022, it is clear that there are huge opportunities available, particularly in areas where it’s often impossible to accommodate new build.

One such area is Dubai International Financial Centre, which is home to some of the most prestigious companies and institutions in the city. This month’s site visit is actually one of those institutions – the Capital Club

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

has been around for more than a decade and has become recognised as one of the premier addresses in Dubai, with several notable names and figures on their membership list, and a number of high-profile events held there.

Given the stature and prestige it commands, it was quite eye-opening to see how ISG, the specialist fitout contractor appointed to oversee its refurbishment, is handling the project. Working in tandem with the club’s management, they are not only seeing a complete revamp of its facilities and offerings, across its various levels, but are doing so while operating in a completely live environment.

These challenges certainly made it an interesting one, and I’m keen to see how it turns out.

We’re now into March and as the temperature continues to rise, so does the pressure on us at Big Project ME. At the end of this month, we’ll be holding our first event of the year – the Value Engineering Summit 2020, which returns for the third year in a row.

It’s sure to be a great event, and I hope I’ll see plenty of you at the Oberoi Hotel in Business Bay on March 30th.

Gavin Davids

GROUP EDITOR gavin.davids@cpitrademedia.com @MECN_Gavin MEConstructionNews me-construction-news

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4

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168 March 2020

MEConstructionNews.com

THE BUSINESS OF CONSTRUCTION

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Editorial

Smart Operator

BIG PROJECT ME SPEAKS TO DR ANIL PILLAI, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF AIROLINK CONSTRUCTION GROUP, ABOUT HOW HE’S DRIVING THE CONTRACTOR FORWARDS

ON THE COVER

Big Project ME interviews Dr Anil Pillai, chairman and founder of Airolink Construction Group, to find out how the contractor is going from strength to strength MEConstructionNews.com @meconstructionn MEConstructionNews me-construction-news

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The publisher of this magazine has made every effort to ensure the content is accurate on the date of publication. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content are published in good faith. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publisher in writing. Publication licensed by Dubai Development Authority to CPI Trade Publishing FZ LLC. Printed by Al Salam Printing Press LLC. CPI Trade Media. PO Box 13700, Dubai, UAE. +971 4 375 5470 cpitrademedia.com © Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

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6

ONLINE

MOST POPULAR

FEATURED

CONSTRUCTION

EXPERT OPINION: COMPLEX EPC ENVIRONMENTS GETTING A REBOOT WITH AI

5,300 active construction projects currently ongoing in KSA

CONSTRUCTION

Besix Group wins infrastructure development contract in Dubai

Feature: SNC-Lavalin – The importance of evolving

CONSULTANT

Drees & Sommer says digital innovation is key driver for ME construction industry growth

CONSULTANT

Latvia inks deal for country pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai

CONSTRUCTION

Abu Dhabi to develop $735m residential project on the coast of Al Dhafra region March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

READERS’ COMMENTS

Interview: Speeding forwards – Interview with Virgin Hyperloop One’s Harj Dhaliwal

I really enjoyed the opinion piece ‘Complex EPC environments getting a reboot with AI’ by AspenTech’s Paul Donnelly but I do think it raises age-old questions in the industry. I think we are all aware that artificial intelligence – aka AI – is already in our lives to varying degrees. For one, I can’t go on my phone without recommendations to me based on what I’ve said and not what I’ve searched (I find it quite useful but I can understand why it perturbs some people!). I still think the industry is very much the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ situation when it comes to technology such as augmented design and the such like – and nor is it useful to the small contracts and projects that make up the bulk of work in the market (beyond the complex EPC jobsites referred to in the title).

Furthermore, while we work in an age of off the shelf freeware and relatively cheap solutions, it’s just a shame that we haven’t yet got a machine that tells us which one to pick.

Name withheld by request

8

THE BRIEFING

Technology

The Digital Experience MIDDLE EAST

Kostas Poulopoulos of Grundfos discusses resource management and how individuals, businesses and governments can reach their sustainability goals through cloud-enabled water solutions March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

D

anish pump manufacturer Grundfos recently inaugurated its digitalfirst showroom and regional hub for cloudenabled water solutions in Dubai, the iFoss Lab, showing users how to run their systems sustainably from anywhere in the world.

Big Project ME sat down with Kostas Poulopoulos, area managing director, Gulf, Levant and Pakistan at Grundfos, on the sidelines of the launch to understand the pump manufacturer’s

view on how its solutions are actively enabling individuals, businesses and governments to tackle water resource management and reach their sustainability goals.

“The iFoss Lab represents Grundfos’ commitment to leveraging the power of digital technology to achieve the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDG) 6 and 13. We are committed to becoming climate-positive and provide safely managed drinking water for 300 million people by 2030, while also seeking to help suppliers

9

Data intelligence Processing data intelligently will allow Grundfos to ensure the most efficient operation and performance of systems.

Training professionals The iFoss Lab will be used to train industry professionals from the private and public sectors, and students.

reduce their own carbon footprint,” says Poulopoulos. “Showcasing live demonstrations of state-of-the-art solutions and incorporating virtual learning experiences, the iFoss Lab is set as a training facility for industry professionals from the public and private sectors, and students. The lab is designed to visually show the complete water cycle and provides hands-on experiences in using intelligent solutions.”

Expanding on digitisation and sustainability convergence, Poulopoulos says new digital technologies are opening doors to advanced levels of sustainable operations for businesses across industries.

“One of the great benefits of digitisation is devices being interconnected, enabling companies to measure and optimise their footprint in a more effective way and in real time. For instance, we deploy cloud-connected water solutions that empower customers to monitor, control and optimise their water systems remotely, saving on energy and water. In the future, we will see a stronger influence of artificial intelligence, with systems making more intelligent decisions automatically across the network.”

Poulopoulos says the firm is already using elements of this capability for demand-driven distribution for municipal water works, and notes that data generation has skyrocketed in the past decade.

“Collecting data is one thing; processing it intelligently and doing something with it is another ball game altogether. For example, our intelligent solutions and controls process data in real time and adjust operations automatically based on demand, to ensure the most efficient operations. In buildings, this ensures energy savings as the system adjusts to peak usage times. For applications like water networks in cities, our cloudconnected solutions are empowering utilities with complete control over the network to monitor and optimise pumping operations remotely.”

Poulopoulos says that Grundfos has already deployed digital-driven

One of the great benefits of digitisation is devices being interconnected, enabling companies to measure and optimise their footprint in a more effective way and in real time” technology on several projects in the UAE and the wider region, saving over 11,000MWh in energy and reducing 7,200 tons of CO2 to date since 2018, he discloses.

“Our smart solutions operate intelligently across applications, allowing HVAC systems to operate more sustainably, water networks to detect leaks, and systems to mitigate operational failures and take pre-emptive measures.”

Nonetheless, Poulopoulos says the planet’s water challenges are significant.

Grundfos aims to bring water to the world’s most vulnerable communities, and one way to do so is by building valuable partnerships for water.

“In the Middle East and African countries, we have been actively working with local communities, NGOs and international bodies on a multitude of projects. These vary from supplying access to water in remote locations to water treatment solutions in communities dependent on water supply from contaminated water sources.

“In war-torn countries like Iraq, we partner with local and international NGOs. In Mosul, 1.5m residents gained direct access to water after years, due to destroyed infrastructure. A lot of countries in the MENA region have serious water and wastewater infrastructure needs which require capital and expertise.

“These are the areas where PPP can add value by putting water infrastructure projects into motion and for it to be executed efficiently and effectively for the benefit of the people and public health,” Poulopoulos states.

Elaborating on public-private partnerships, the area mananaging director says the public sector has the ownership, infrastructure, power and legislation, while the private sector has the know-how, innovation capability, technology and access to financial resources. It is only through effective partnerships that human-critical challenges can be successfully addressed, he concludes.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

10

THE BRIEFING

Analysing Expectations MIDDLE EAST

JLL’s Thierry Delvaux and Dana Salbak tell Big Project ME that the rate of decline for rental and sale prices is slowing in the UAE residential market, with government measures part of the reason

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

A

ccording to JLL, progrowth government initiatives, increased investment ahead of Expo 2020 and expansionary fiscal stances by federal and local government will boost sentiment and drive demand across the UAE real estate market.

However, all sectors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi will remain in the downturn stage of the cycle, the real estate investment and advisory firm states.

Under the theme ‘Beyond Uncertainty: Towards Optimising Real Estate’, JLL hosted its annual outlook event in Dubai in February.

Thierry Delvaux, CEO of JLL MEA, and Dana Salbak, head of Research at JLL MENA, share their insights

with Big Project ME on the impact of Expo 2020 Dubai, and consequently the residential sector in the UAE. Delvaux says, “Real estate markets are clearly influenced by short-term cyclical factors that are impacted by global geopolitics and subdued market conditions. From a hospitality and residential point of view, I think Expo 2020 Dubai will have a beneficial impact on the market, as it continues to evolve and mature. There is an impression that the market and the economy is under pressure, but when you slice and dice the different asset classes, we are still in the top five tourism destinations in the world. We still have 75% occupancy across the country in hotels, even though 7,000 new keys were delivered this year.”

11

Expo impact The impact of Expo 2020 Dubai will be felt only if the event is successful, as it will create major FDI opportunities in the real estate market.

6.8% Residential rentals declined by 6.8% in Q4 2019

However, the UAE still has challenges. The only issue is the level of supply, and it is a big issue; HH Sheikh Mohammed set up the Real Estate Committee to tackle this issue, and its goal is to balance supply and demand by creating more regulations and to facilitate open communication between developers, Delvaux explains.

On Expo 2020 Dubai, he points out that it’s not its impact, but its success that will come into play.

“The campaign to attract people to visit the Expo has been exceptional; however, today the world is unpredictable and there are things that could have an influence – from geopolitical and healthcare perspectives – that could have an impact. There is also a big potential for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the region, and the market should have more PPPs, I think that’s the key to Dubai becoming a more mature market. Additionally, Dubai must attract more foreign investment in the real estate market, and the government has started realising this and the initiatives that are being implemented right now are definitely a part of that.

“Looking at the rental declines in Q4 2019, residential rentals had declined by 6-8% compared to the same period last year, whereas they merely decreased by 1-2% compared to last quarter. So the decline is actually slowing down, and I think part of the reason is the measures that have been taken by the government.”

Salbak points out that this slowdown in the rate of decline for rental and sale prices is not just in Dubai, but in Abu Dhabi as well. This leads her to believe the residential market is reaching the bottom of the cycle.

“We are seeing rents under pressure in the residential sector, with 35,000 residential units delivered in Dubai in 2019. It is the largest number of deliveries in one year, and to put things in perspective, in Abu Dhabi only 1,000-1,200 units were delivered during the same year,” Salbak says, adding that this puts pressure on sale prices and rental rates, and also lets people gauge the momentum of deliveries.

What we are seeing is that on a quarterly basis the rate of decline is beginning to slow down for rental rates and sales price, not just in Dubai but in Abu Dhabi as well, and has registered 1-2% on a quarteron-quarter basis (Q4 2019 versus Q3 2019).

This leads us to believe that the residential market is reaching the bottom of the cycle”

She thinks Expo 2020 Dubai will at best stabilise the residential market, due to the fact that an additional 63,000 residential units are expected to come onto the Dubai market in 2020.

“Consequently, the residential sector will likely remain exactly where it is over the next 12 months, with some marginal decline across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but overall not much is going to change. Even if we assume a 50% materialisation rate for the 63,000 residential units, it’s still a large number – a 15% average increase.

“As conditions remained soft across most sectors of the UAE real estate market in 2019, we are keen for entities to now focus on rising above it and making the most of the opportunities that are ahead this year. Our aim is to look beyond the uncertainty and start adapting more long-term and sustainable strategies, to successfully pursue a period of stabilisation and ensure the best utilisation of real estate assets,” Salbak concludes.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

12

THE BIG PICTURE

01 CANADA

03 UNITED KINGDOM

JV reaches financial close on Canadian project

UK Mayfield regeneration project to cost $1.83bn

Fraser Crossing Partners, a joint venture between Aecon Group and Acciona, has reached financial close on the Pattullo Bridge Replacement project in British Columbia, Canada. To be built at a budgeted cost of $1.04bn, scope of work includes a new four-lane cablestayed bridge over the Fraser River, offering network connection between New Westminster and Surrey.

Early construction activities could begin in Q1 2020, and the new bridge is expected to be open in 2023. Full project completion is expected in the first quarter of 2025.

02 USA

JFK Airport to undergo $3.8bn expansion John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York is to undergo a $3.8bn redevelopment project at Terminal 4. The 46,451sqm expansion project involves the construction of 16 gates to replace the 11 gates currently used by Delta at the 58-year-old Terminal 2. Delta’s Terminal 2 will be demolished at a later stage.

Work under the expansion project also includes the renovation of the arrivals and departures hall, the renovation of existing concourses, expanded check-in and arrivals areas, and roadway upgrades. The expansion project will be completed in early 2023.

Manchester City Council has given planning consent for the first phase of a $1.83bn mixed-use scheme to regenerate Mayfield in Manchester in the UK. This allows Mayfield Partnership to commence construction on the urban regeneration project, which is planned to be completed in the next 10-15 years.

The scheme is expected to create 1,500 homes, 75,000sqm of office space, a 650-bedroom hotel, and retail and leisure space on the 26-acre site, including a 6.5-acre park. Work on-site is expected to commence in 2020.

04 SPAIN

06 MOROCCO

Iberdrola to build 63MW wind farm in Spain

Sogea Maroc wins three-year $81.6m contract in Morocco

Spain’s Iberdrola has announced plans to build a new 63MW wind project, the Herrera complex, in Spain. The firm has awarded the contract to Siemens Gamesa to supply SG 4.5-145 wind turbines for three wind farm projects that will make up the complex. Siemens Gamesa’s SG wind turbine features a new 71m blade and a diameter of 145m, and is integrated with new technology designed to maximise energy production.

The three projects in the Herrera Complex are 18MW La Huesa, 13.5MW Valdesantos and 31.5MW Orbaneja.

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

05 GERMANY

Railway-connected PV project announced in Germany A 42MW solar park will be built in eastern Germany to generate power for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn. Construction is expected to start once final approvals are received from local authorities.

The solar power generated will be fed directly into Deutsche Bahn’s 16.7Hz rail network via a converter plant in Neumünster.

Deutsche Bahn wants to increase the volume of clean energy in its power mix to 61% this year, with the aim of powering the entire rail network from renewables by 2038.

Abu Dhabi developer Imkan has appointed Sogea Maroc to a three-year, $81.6m contract to build the first phase of Le Carrousel, a mixed-use project on the waterfront of Rabat, Morocco. It has been appointed to build the residential areas, seafront promenade and more than 40 retail outlets for the development.

Le Carrousel features a seafront promenade, boutique hotel and the first open-air shopping mall in Morocco. It will cover an area of over 100,000sqm, with only 50% density and more than 30% reserved for green spaces.

01

THE BIG PICTURE

03

02

13

05

04

06 08 09

07

08 EGYPT

Bee’ah wins waste management contract in Egypt 07 ETHIOPIA

Ethiopian Airlines to build $5bn airport city Ethiopian Airlines will start building a new airport this year, as part of its goal to become Africa’s gateway to the world. The airline’s CEO said the company will invest $5bn in the new airport city taking shape near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of the capital of Addis Ababa. The airport city is expected to occupy 35sqkm of land and will be the largest airport in Africa once completed, with annual passenger handling capacity of 100m.

It will boast duty-free shopping malls, hotels, logistics and training centres.

UAE sustainability services provider Bee’ah has been appointed as the waste management partner for Egypt’s new administrative capital.

It has devised an integrated approach to environmental management to enable a circular economy for Egypt and reduce its dependency on landfills.

Under the terms of the submitted bid, Bee’ah will provide its solutions to the 714 million sqm capital, which will house an anticipated population of 6.5 million people, spread across a total of 21 residential areas.

09 SAUDI ARABIA

NEOM adopts solar dome technology Saudi Arabia’s NEOM giga project has signed an agreement with UK firm Solar Water to build the first ever ‘solar dome’ desalination plant, which will adopt solar technology to produce low-cost, environmentally friendly water in NEOM. At an estimated $0.34/ m3, the cost of producing water via this technology will be significantly lower than using desalination plants.

Solar Water’s technology was developed at the UK’s Cranfield University and is the first case usage of largescale CSP (concentrated solar power) technology in seawater desalination.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

14

THE BIG PICTURE

16

10 14

11

15

12 13

17 18

10 KUWAIT

12 UAE

WTE wins $719m wastewater plant deal

UAE completes work on $517m residential project

Kuwait has signed up a consortium led by Germany’s WTE Wassertechnik Group to develop a major wastewater treatment plant in the Umm Al Hayman region, as a PPP project under the auspices of the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects and the Ministry of Public Works.

WTE will be responsible for the design and construction of the project, and in partnership with other contractors, the construction of a 450km sewage transmission network including pumping stations with a contract value of $1.1bn. The project has an estimated total construction cost of $1.8bn.

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

11 BAHRAIN

Bahrain LNG announces completion of works on key terminal The construction and commissioning of a receiving and regasification terminal in the Kingdom of Bahrain has been completed, according to Bahrain LNG. It is also the developer and owner of the terminal, touted to be the first of its kind in the region developed around a PPP basis. The terminal is said to comprise a floating storage unit, an offshore LNG receiving jetty and breakwater, an adjacent regasification platform, subsea gas pipelines from the platform to shore, and an onshore gas receiving facility, among other facilities.

UAE authorities have completed construction of the $517m Mohamed bin Zayed Residential City project in Fujairah, designed to be a modern and sustainable housing system for mid-income Emiratis.

The project is spread over a 2.2sqkm area and boasts 1,100 residential villas equipped with advanced facilities that can provide housing for about 7,000 citizens. The development will feature 20 public parks and plots of land designated for public services and will eventually include schools, mosques, commercial stores and a community cultural centre.

THE BIG PICTURE

15

14 OMAN

Oman starts work on $111m business park 13 UAE

Abu Dhabi Ports to build new cruise jetty BAM International has been selected by Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer of ports and industrial zones in Abu Dhabi, to build a new cruise jetty at Sir Bani Yas Cruise Beach. Under a contract worth $27.2m, BAM will be responsible for the design and construction of the new cruise jetty, which is expected to double visitor capacity. Scheduled for completion in Q4 2020, the jetty will allow two vessels to dock and provide up to 5,000 passengers with direct access to embark and disembark at an accelerated rate on the southeast beach of the island.

Oman’s Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD) and Maysan Properties have signed an usufruct agreement to establish a business park in Duqm at a cost of $111m. Known as Maysan Square Duqm, the business park will be built over an area of 122,000sqm, with 20 buildings including a commercial complex comprising shops, restaurants, cafés and offices. The complex will cover an area of 100,000sqm and will stand on a common base with a public square. It will be developed in five phases, starting from 2021, with the first phase consisting of the building of three pavilions.

15 BANGLADESH

Metito wins 55MW solar power plant project in Bangladesh Metito Group has announced that the government of Bangladesh has awarded it the Rangunia 55MW electric AC gridtied solar power plant project. Metito Group, along with Jinko Power and AlJomaih Group, will develop the project on a build-own-operate basis under a 20-year concession agreement.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board had earlier announced the consortium as the lowest bidder with the competitive tariff of $0.0748/kWh, the lowest ever reported in Bangladesh.

It will be commissioned by H2 2021.

17 MALAYSIA

$3.4bn aromatics plant to be built in Malaysia 16 CHINA

China completes work on two hospitals in 12 days China has completed a makeshift emergency hospital to treat patients infected with the coronavirus in just 10 days, while a second hospital just 25 miles away from Huoshenshan has been completed in just 12 days. Bed capacity at Huoshenshan is 1,000, while the second hospital can accommodate 1,600 patients.

More than 7,500 labourers worked around the clock to construct the hospital in Huoshenshan, Chinese state media reported. Using prefabricated units was the key to constructing the fasttrack project, media reports added.

Singaporean firm ChemOne Group has announced plans to build a $3.38bn aromatics plant, Pengerang Energy Complex (PEC), in Malaysia at the strategic Pengerang Refinery and Petrochemicals hub. ChemOne plans to commence construction on the project in the second half of 2020, and expects the new complex to generate $5bn in export turnover annually at peak production capacity, which is expected from 2024. ChemOne is the master developer and majority shareholder of PEC, while Italy’s Maire Tecnimont is serving as ChemOne’s EPCC partner.

18 SINGAPORE

Singapore awards contracts worth $429m for railways The Land Transport Authority of Singapore has awarded three contracts worth $428.6m to construct four stations for the Jurong Region Line and associated viaducts.

Being developed in three phases, the 24km JRL mass rapid transport link will connect the northwestern and western parts of Singapore and will comprise 24 stations, with three interchange stations at Jurong East MRT, Boon Lay and Choa Chu Kang.

The first phase of the JRL is scheduled to be completed in 2026, and the project is planned to be fully completed by 2028.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

16

MARKET REPORT

Industry outlook

Kuwait Snapshot – Q1 2020 KUWAIT

ProTenders analyses quarterly data for the highly volatile Kuwaiti market as Vision 2035 aims to transform the country’s future March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

A

cording to our quarterly data, the market in Kuwait has been highly volatile in recent years and there is currently a total of 2,296 active projects valued at a total of $445.9bn. The urban sector accounts for 82% of total active projects by volume, but only 43% by value.

Driven by Kuwait’s Vision 2035 to transform Kuwait into an international hub for business and commerce, a further investment of $100bn is planned towards

achieving the vision. According to the Ministry of Finance, many more projects are expected to be completed by 2023.

A core pillar in the vision is economic diversification away from oil dependency.

The diversification plan focuses on infrastructure projects to support the transport and logistics sector and the healthcare sector, to improve quality of life.

Kuwait expects $4bn worth of contracts to be awarded in Q1 2020, with infrastructure leading the other sectors.

MARKET REPORT

VALUE OF PROJECTS

BY STATUS ($BN)

ONGOING PROJECTS

BY SECTOR ($BN)

Planning

97.2

Infrastructure

445.9 Total Under Construction

130.5

Design

196.8

Tender

21.4

UPCOMING PROJECTS

BY SECTOR ($BN)

Urban Buildings

44.3

17

33.7

Infrastructure

Urban Buildings

123.1

160.1

130.5 Total

315.4 Total

Oil & Gas

Oil & Gas

52.5

32.2

Driven by Kuwait’s Vision 2035 to transform Kuwait into an international hub for business and commerce, a further investment of $100bn is planned”

4

80

25

2

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC)

Mohammed Abdulmohsin Al Kharafi & Sons Company

50

China State Construction Engineering Corporation

160

SNC-Lavalin Group

6

Dar SSH International Engineering Consultants (Dar SSH)

75

WSP

240

WS Atkins

8

Khatib & Alami

100

Kuwait National Petroleum Company

320

Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects

10

The Secretariat of The Supreme Council for Planning & Development

125

Ministry of Public Works (MPW)

400

Saipem

TOP 5 CONTRACTORS

BY VALUE ($BN)

SK Engineering & Construction (SK E&C)

TOP 5 CONSULTANTS

BY VALUE ($BN)

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BY VALUE ($BN)

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT AWARD FORECAST Q1 2020 ($BN) Urban Buildings

2.9

Infrastructure

Oil & Gas

5

4

3

2

2.8 1

Source: ProTenders

4.0

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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ANALYSIS

Utilities

The Future of Utilities in the Middle East

MIDDLE EAST

Jesús Sancho, ACCIONA Middle East managing director, provides Big Project ME with an in-depth analysis on the Middle East’s move towards a sustainable future March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

W

ith the world moving towards a more sustainable and greener environment, many organisations have taken it upon themselves to spread awareness and take careful, steady steps to reach this challenging goal.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), headquartered in Abu Dhabi, renewable energy could supply four-fifths of the world’s electricity by 2050, massively cutting carbon emissions and helping to mitigate climate change.

With renewables coming to the

Rising demand Electricity demand in the GCC has risen at 5% a year since 2000, studies show.

1,900

UAE solar power can operate for 1,900 hours a year

forefront of a global environmental transition, many MENA countries have started to take the initiative.

In the GCC, cheap electricity has been considered almost a birthright and electricity consumption per capita is among the world’s highest. The per capita energy consumption in some of these countries is up to four times that of the United Kingdom and up to 20 times that of India, for example.

However, the GCC has embraced the task of reducing its carbon footprint.

So what has triggered the need for a substantial change? Four primary factors are resetting the foundations of the GCC energy sector:

ANALYSIS

1. Electricity demand across the GCC has risen at 5% a year since 2000 and is predicted to rise by an average 2.1% between 2015 and 2050, according to the latest reports, if nothing is done.

2. Oil prices are volatile, and prices are far from peak levels. This is putting pressure on government revenues and prompting leaders around the region to re-evaluate the balance between domestic consumption of crude oil and allocation of resources for profitable export.

3. Gas production in the region is expensive. However, greater use of low-cost renewables would reduce the need for expensive fuels in power generation, freeing up oil production capacity for export.

4. Renewable energy costs have drastically fallen in recent years, and the region’s abundant solar potential has made solar power – especially photovoltaic – competitive, compared to conventional energy generation technologies.

Over the past decade, several GCC countries have announced ambitious renewable energy

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targets. With energy capacity requirements expected to increase, the GCC countries are moving fast to adapt their energy mix. In particular, solar energy has already entered the GCC to stay, with the largest solar fields in the world reaching 2GW of nominal power.

The UAE has one of the highest solar exposure rates in the world, enjoying more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Solar power plants can typically expect around 1,900 hours of operation per year, double the amount typically found in Europe. This encourages green energy investors and technology providers focused on renewable energy developments to fight against change. Across the GCC, public and private investment in new solar energy is therefore increasing in size and scope.

Let´s have a look at the most relevant initiatives in the region: In Abu Dhabi, the Pearl Rating System for green building was developed by the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council as part of its sustainable development initiative, Estidama (Arabic for ‘sustainability’), to ensure that all future projects are established in a viable, greener manner. Another example is the

Solar exposure The UAE has one of the highest solar exposure rates in the world, with more than 300 days of sunshine a year.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

22

ANALYSIS

Masdar City project, one of the world’s most sustainable low-carbon urban communities, developed by the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company. The city mainly relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources, and it is considered a pioneering vision of an environmentally conscious city.

Dubai has backed a number of institutional and governmental initiatives such as the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050. It aims to place the country at the forefront of a low-carbon economy by getting 50% of its power output from clean energy sources by 2050. About 7% of this master plan has been achieved.

In Sharjah, Bee´ah is one of the fastest growing environmental management companies. With the objective of creating a sustainable future, it pushes the boundaries to make rapid progress towards its goal of elevating Sharjah to the position of environmental capital of the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has also been actively moving towards renewable energy and environmentally viable projects.

The Kingdom last year announced the allocation of monetary loans in excess of $320m for local companies venturing into the renewable energy sector, through the Mutjadeda programme launched by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund for renewable energy projects. And in 2017, it established the Renewable Energy Project Development Office (REPDO) to deliver the goals of the national renewable

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

In the GCC, cheap electricity has been considered almost a birthright and consumption per capita is among the world’s highest.

The per capita energy consumption in some of these countries is up to 20 times that of India” Regional example Masdar City is one of the world’s most sustainable low-carbon urban communities, and is considered a regional example.

10%

Bahrain has raised its renewable energy targets

energy programme, a focused initiative aiming to enhance the renewable energy industry under Vision 2030 and the King Salman Renewable Energy Initiative.

We are all excited to participate in NEOM City, a new model for urban sustainability and a place focused on setting new standards for community health, environmental protection and the effective and productive use of technology, including the latest advances for smart cities.

Oman is also very committed to the environment through Be´ah, the government entity responsible for solid waste management in the sultanate, and the OPWP, which has embarked on

sustainable projects of power, water and an upcoming waste-to-energy facility.

Bahrain has raised its renewable energy target from 5% to 10% by 2035 and has mandated installation of solar panels on new buildings, and Kuwait has set a target of having renewable energy contribute 15% of the total energy mix by 2030.

Qatar and Kuwait are also embracing change with sustainable solar mega projects being developed in the utilities and waste-to-energy sectors.

We have been working for the last 10 years to achieve sustainable development in the GCC and across the world, and as a carbon-neutral company since 2016, in 2018 we avoided 14.7m tonnes of CO2 emissions thanks to generating energy solely from renewable sources.

It is clear that change is on its way in the GCC utility sector, with renewable energy expected to play a vital role in the region’s economic diversification plans. The question is: Will the region’s state-owned, vertically integrated utilities be able to adapt on time?

All signs are positive. The countdown has begun to a new energy market in the GCC, one reshaped by renewables, digital technologies, smart grid infrastructure and changing consumer demands. For the region’s utilities, adapting to very different conditions will require overcoming some significant challenges, as well as supportive policies from government and regulators.

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March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

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IN PROFILE

Dr Anil Pillai

Smart Operator BIG PROJECT ME SPEAKS TO DR ANIL PILLAI ABOUT AIROLINK CONSTRUCTION GROUP’S SUCCESS OVER THE LAST YEAR, AND WHY HE’S LOOKING AHEAD WITH OPTIMISM

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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IN PROFILE

ast year, at the Big Project ME Awards 2019, Dr Anil Pillai, founder and chairman of Airolink Construction Group, collected the award for Personality of the Year. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, he predicted that 2020 was set to be an exciting year for his company, which has gone from a boutique contractor to a major up-and-coming player in the local construction sector.

“We will nearly be at $2 billion in terms of project expectation by the next year. Manpower-wise, we are around 3,500, and we want to employ around 5,000 people, so it’s clear that we are growing. Our strategy for the next three years is to get more projects – we are planning for $5-10 billion projects in the market,” he said at the time.

Three months into 2020, and things continue to look bright for Dr Pillai

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

The UAE remains a very attractive economy for international investors, considering its favourable business environment, excellent infrastructure, strong connection to the international market and a super dynamic private sector” Promising beginning Airolink has enjoyed a positive start to 2020, with $1.43bn worth of projects in its pipeline, and $1.36bn worth of ongoing projects.

5,000

Targeted number of staff for Airolink

and the team at Airolink. Not only does the contractor have ongoing work worth more than $1.36 billion, it also has another $1.43 billion worth of projects in its pipeline.

With ongoing works in a number of sectors, including hospitality, healthcare, road and bridges, retail, education and other infrastructure work, the construction group is primed for a successful start to the new decade. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to the education sector, where more than 30,000 students are actively engaged within school facilities built by Airolink, Dr Pillai tells Big Project ME.

“Many of these ongoing projects are with well-established clients and incorporate elaborate designs built into the structure or façade. Two such prestigious projects that were awarded in 2019 by Emirates Real Estate Corporation are the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and the Ministry of Energy and Industry, both in Dubai and scheduled to be completed by early 2021.

“Out of Airolink’s current 16 ongoing projects across a variety of market sectors, 10 of them are due to be handed over this year. We’re looking forward to a busy and promising year which started off with being award

IN PROFILE

Snaphot: Dr Anil Pillai Dr Anil Pillai is the founder and chairman of Ireland-originated construction group Airolink.

He has a postgraduate degree in Business Management (Finance and Marketing) and an honorary doctorate in Construction from the University of Kuala Lumpur.

He began his business a decade ago with his construction business in Ireland. Under his leadership, many new initiatives have begun, and he has been instrumental in the transformation of Airolink BC LTD, Ireland, into Airolink Group, which has a presence in Ireland, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and India.

Dr Pillai started the business in Ireland in 2001, then expanded to the Middle East and established Airolink Building Contracting LLC, Dubai, which currently holds an Unlimited Contracting Licence, with branches in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Its construction-related work extends to hospitality, real estate, healthcare, education, roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects.

two government projects and work commencing on both. There are more projects to be announced soon.”

He points out that what makes 2020 even more special is that the company has diversified internally and established a Roads and Infrastructure division. As part of this diversification, a joint venture has been established with Emirates Roads Contracting.

Having begun operations in Ireland as Airolink BC Limited in 2001, the company expanded into the Middle East and established its presence in the region with Airolink Building Contracting in Dubai. The entity currently holds an Unlimited

11

Number of years Airolink has been active in the UAE Attractive economy The UAE remains an attractive investment economy for international investors thanks to several key factors, Dr Pillai says.

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Contracting Licence and has branches in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, as well as in Dublin, Ireland and across India.

“Being one of the leading EPC contractors in the UAE, we specialise in residential, commercial and education institutions, offering a complete package from land acquisition, design and construction, through to completion. Our expert team offers every project the benefits of quality, cost competitiveness and the experience of a proven contractor.

We make every effort to meet all the cost, schedule and performance requirements for every contract we’ve been awarded, and because of this, we undertake a lot of projects with repeat clients,” Dr Pillai says.

He believes this all-round offering means Airolink will continue to be successful in 2020 and beyond.

Highlighting the several government initiatives and strategies in place, he stresses that there are opportunities available, but that a contractor needs to be agile, diligent and savvy enough to take advantage of them.

“As an EPC contractor, having known this market for 11 years, I’m very optimistic about 2020 and the years to come. The UAE remains a very attractive economy for international investors, considering its favourable business environment, excellent infrastructure, strong connection to the international market and a

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

28

IN PROFILE

super dynamic private sector. The Dubai Chamber of Commerce, in one of its recent briefings, released a new analysis which assures that the Dubai Expo 2020 and governmentled infrastructure projects will continue to play a key role in driving the growth of Dubai’s construction sector over the coming two years as well, like it did for 2018 and 2019.

“According to KPMG’s annual Global Construction Survey, the construction sector in the UAE is expected to grow between 6% and 10%

Government push Post-2020, the construction industry has a promising outlook thanks to various initiatives by different ministries.

Be smarter Dr Pillai has called on the construction industry to start making smarter decisions, particularly around financing.

in 2020. Even post-2020 the industry has a promising outlook, thanks to various government initiatives such as the Ministry of Education Strategic Plan 2017-2021, the National Strategy of Higher Education 2030, the Energy Strategy 2050, the Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme and Dubai Tourism Strategy, and so on, which expect investment in residential, energy and utilities, infrastructure and commercial construction projects.

“There will never be a shortage of work in the construction sector for

disciplined contractors. It just takes a systematic approach and superior project management techniques to stay competitive in the market,” he asserts.

Despite having diversified and established a road and infrastructure division, Dr Pillai says he intends Airolink to remain a true EPC main contractor, one that will continue to engage qualified companies with expertise as subsidiaries to outsource its divisions, which in turn creates more job opportunities throughout the supply chain.

Construction companies should never take on any liabilities other than those related to construction projects. If you look at the contractors who have taken a hit on, it is evident that they have deviated from that concept” March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

“Periodic engineering and financial audits help ensure that the subsidiaries perform and thereby enhance the company’s profitability. We believe that such delegation of jobs contributes towards striking a balance in the construction industry’s system and economy as a whole,” he explains.

Taking a wider look at the industry, he believes construction companies need to start being smarter about the decisions they make, particularly when it comes to finance.

“In my opinion, banks are our biggest financial advisors

and there should be no grey areas while dealing with them.

Construction companies should never take on any liabilities other than those related to construction projects, so as to ensure a healthy financial situation. In the current market, if you look at the contractors who have taken a hit on their finance front, it is evident that they have deviated from the above concept,” he states.

“As a driving force, one should be capable of making the right decisions at the right time, in a mature and pragmatic manner. Choosing

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We make every effort to meet all the cost, schedule and performance requirements for every contract we’ve been awarded, and because of this, we undertake a lot of projects with repeat clients”

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IN PROFILE

Out of Airolink’s current 16 ongoing projects, 10 of them are due to be handed over this year. We’re looking forward to a busy and promising year, which started off with being awarded two government projects” the right kind of clients also plays a vital role in the long-term success of a contractor. Professionalism and ethics from all parties are key to having a healthy business environment.”

One of a select few businessmen in the UAE who have been awarded the Gold Card permanent residency permit, Dr Pillai is a keen advocate for the vision of the UAE leadership, praising the country’s ability to nurture investment and enable market fulfilment through the leveraging of world-class people, processes and technologies.

“The positive approach of this country’s rulers is what entrepreneurs

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

like me look up to. As you are aware, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, announced 2020 to be the year of preparations for the next 50 years and has declared the current year as ‘2020: Towards the next 50’.

This itself shows how ready this country and its people are to face challenges, if any, to come. Airolink shares the same emotion and is looking for fruitful years ahead.”

Award winner Dr Anil Pillai took home the award for Big Project ME’s Personality of the Year at the 2019 edition of the industry awards.

50

This year is the start of preparations for the next 50

Finally, as he signs off on the interview, Dr Pillai offers a word of advice for contractors and construction companies operating in the same sphere as Airolink.

Having seen many competitors race ahead in the market at breakneck speed, he says there is wisdom in taking things slow and steady. In the current market environment, he insists that having a sustainable approach, where decisions are weighed and projects align with a company’s vision, is the only way forward.

“My entrepreneurial journey has taught me that leadership is a shared activity,” he says. “Hence, one needs to actively seek advice from others. Over time you should be able to master the ability to make quicker judgements and precise decisions, which is a requisite while leading a highperforming firm, where time is money.

“The emphasis should be on constantly studying the market to keenly observe the changing trends and upcoming competition, and prepare yourself to move one step ahead. Most importantly, I would advise any aspiring construction entrepreneur to dedicate time to building a strong support system of friends and confidantes. They are the ones who will keep you steady, protect your interests and ensure that you are always rooted,” he points out, as he brings the interview to a conclusion.

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PROJECT PROFILE

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The Capital Club CLIENT: Capital Club Dubai DESIGN AND BUILD CONTRACTOR: ISG TOTAL PROJECT PLOT AREA: 4,088sqm SCHEDULED DATE OF COMPLETION: June 2020

Made for Members BIG PROJECT ME GETS AN EXCLUSIVE TOUR OF THE ONGOING REFURBISHMENT WORKS AT THE MIDDLE EAST’S PREMIER MEMBERS CLUB – THE CAPITAL CLUB DUBAI | March 2020 MEConstructionNews.com MEConstructionNews.com| January

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PROJECT PROFILE

n 2014, CNN Travel released its definitive list of the world’s most exclusive members clubs – a ranking of some of the most elite clubs in the world, ranging from institutions founded 150 years ago to cultural hubs that are the haunts of celebrities and artists from around the world. Keeping pace in such illustrious company was the Capital Club in Dubai, where membership is by invitation only and applicants must be recommended by two present club members.

Located in the Dubai International Finance Centre (DIFC), the private business and social club has been in operation since 2008 and offers members extensive business and networking opportunities, along with entertainment and relaxation facilities, thanks to its five-star food and beverage outlets, lounges and terraces.

While the club undoubtably remains a fixture of Dubai’s business

landscape, having been in business for more than a decade meant that a number of its features and attractions were beginning to look a little dated.

Thus, with a new management board appointed to drive the club’s refurbishments and developments, the Capital Club has announced extensive refurbishment and transformational plans to mark the start of a new era.

Under the direction of the Capital Club’s new executive chairman and major shareholder, Hussain Sultan Al Juaidy, and club GM Ian Palmer, the renovation will look to build on the traditions of excellence it has established over the last decade, while continuing to be “the

| MEConstructionNews.com | MEConstructionNews.com September March 20202019

Exclusive address The Capital Club Dubai is in DIFC Gate Village, one of the city’s most prestigious and exclusive addresses.

2008

The Capital Club has been in operation since 2008

most sought-after private members club in the Middle East, and a catalyst for business success”, as Palmer puts it.

“After many successful years, it is time for us to inject new money and new management into the club and reinvent ourselves. We are very excited for what the new year will bring to our existing members and also new members,” he says.

Palmer says the overhaul will leave the club feeling like new, thanks to the refurbishment of its high-end restaurants, luxurious accommodation, barbershop and state-of-the-art gym, as well as the introduction of hightech meeting rooms. Furthermore, the food and beverage offerings will introduce new menus devised by an award-winning culinary team, while including old favourites. And for the first time in the club’s history, there will be a dedicated Gate Village podium level entrance which will connect directly to the third-floor sports bar and club.

“The club’s refurbishment is going to give Dubai’s influential business leaders an unrivalled space to do business, network, entertain and develop the ideas of tomorrow – thus showcasing what a living, thriving club looks like,” Palmer says.

Given the status of the club and the importance of its refurbishment, the management board appointed UK-headquartered contractor ISG on a design-and-build contract to entirely upgrade the premises. Its scope of work includes the delivery of interior design, construction, engineering services, commissioning and associated works for the club’s meeting and event spaces, majlis lounge, gallery, private meeting rooms and dining spaces.

With the contractor set to carry out the project over a nine-month period, the project will include the design and renovation of facilities on the second, fourth and fifth floors – an area of 4,088sqm in total.

As operations on-site ramp up, the club continues to remain a functioning entity, presenting ISG with a distinct set of challenges as it goes about its ambitious construction programme.

Big Project ME was invited to the site to see how the contractor and club

PROJECT PROFILE

officials are working in tandem to deliver the project on schedule, while still attempting to retain the aura that has been built over the years.

“We got involved in the refurbishment more than a year ago, approximately 18 months ago. Ian came to us and we supported him with renders and ideas around the look and feel of the space, based around his brief on what it would really be, in terms of re-energising the club and bringing it up to the more modern standard that he had envisioned,” says Scott McCulloch, GM of ISG. Claire McDonnell, pre-construction manager at ISG, was tasked with fulfilling that vision and bringing it to life. Having joined ISG just over a year ago, specifically to enhance the contractor’s design and build capabilities, her role on the Capital Club project has been crucial to its overall success.

“Working with Ian has been an absolute breeze. From early on, I understood what it was he wanted and I got his vision, and my style of design is very in line with it. What was really important was to keep the essence of what was the Capital Club. It’s a high-end club and it was crucial to keep those specs and continue it in design. How we handled the change management was also a big aspect of the job.

“In all honesty, we wanted the club to keep going while we were refurbishing, to show the members and the guests

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The club’s refurbishment is going to give Dubai’s influential business leaders an unrivalled space to do business, network and develop the ideas of tomorrow – thus showcasing what a living, thriving club looks like”

4,088

Total area of the refurb project

Evidence of change The club’s management wanted to keep the club open during the refurbishment process to show members evidence of change.

that we had evidence of change,” says Palmer. “But also, you’ve got to understand that some people may not like that, what with the drilling and the construction, etc. You’ll get as many complaints as you do compliments!

“But for us, it actually promotes our business when we can demonstrate what it is we’re doing. For us, working in a live environment was really important. The members didn’t want to see the place close, so we’re closing it down per floor. By the end of June, we’re going to be finished.

“We also wanted to rethink ourselves as a business. We wanted to rezone the club, we needed workspaces for

members, a restaurant where it wasn’t being used as a breakfast seminar room, for example. We needed to establish each area of the club for what it’s supposed to be for – and now we’re able to do that.”

This is where Stefan Hopwood, ISG project manager on the Capital Club, comes in. During a tour of the site, he emphasises that maintaining coordination between all parties is key to successful delivery.

“The brief that we had eight to ten weeks ago is slightly different to the brief that we have now,” he relates. “But we’ve been so flexible from day one with one another. Ian’s had to be patient with us, and we’ve had to be patient with the club

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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PROJECT PROFILE

and with others. Andrew Blas, operations director at Capital Club, this is his club restaurant, his kitchen downstairs where he’s going to be serving all the new potential and existing members.

“So close coordination and always being available, at any time of the day, throughout the evening, in the morning. When I get that first WhatsApp message in the morning about what’s happening today, we then make sure we keep in touch with what events are going on through the week.

“The live environment throughout all the floors has kept us all on our toes.

Somebody might be having an important conference downstairs, so we have to try

When we first came to the club, we did thorough surveys about what we could utilise while being sustainable at the same time.

All of the furniture that will be put in over the next couple of weeks has been reused” March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

and mitigate issues as much as we can, while pushing ourselves into areas where we cause as little disruption as possible.”

As per the programme agreed upon at the start of the project, the team has scheduled a ten-week construction phase for the various levels, working in phases so that the rest of the club can continue to operate. Once a level is completed, it is handed over to club officials and the project team moves on, Hopwood explains.

“Currently we’re on level four and we’re in our eighth week. We have two weeks from today [the day of the site visit] to finish the job and hand it back over to them to start utilising the space.

Working in phases The project team scheduled the construction work for the various levels in phases to allow the rest of the club to operate.

10

Each level has a 10week construction window

It’s all going completely on programme at the moment. The final finishes are bottle necking at the moment, and it’s all coming in,” he asserts.

“There are different milestones that you go through. Ian visits the site very regularly, and once the demos finish, it’s almost like another milestone.

That’s because they see them one week to the next, they see how it was and how the finishes in there compare to the older ones. They come in to ‘wow’ moments, such as the ceilings or the lighting installed, and that continues out until the floor finishes start to come through, the wall finishes, the furniture, all the little details and touches that Claire has put in with Ian.” Interestingly, Hopwood reveals that the expertise of club members was also utilised, with one individual in particular crucial to the success of the refurbishment.

“I need to add a big shout-out to Craig Smith of Unique Lighting, who’s been a member of the Capital Club for a long time. We got him on board, got him pre-qualified with ISG to ensure that he was fit for purpose, and he’s provided all of the lighting, free of cost. That’s been an absolute dream – to be able to work with Craig, with Stefano Ferretti, who works for Snowsound, which is a company that does acoustic absorption materials. All of the curtains you’ll see downstairs in the next couple of weeks will all have that sound absorption.

“We’ve also tried to coordinate as much as possible with the members as well, to make them feel part of the journey that we’re on. It’s essentially their club, and we want them to feel at home here, so we’ve kept them involved – at arm’s length, of course.

Everyone wants their say and you can’t please everyone, unfortunately!

“They also invited Claire and I to a townhall meeting right at the very beginning, so we could understand their opinions. There was a Q&A session after Ian presented everything that was going to happen at the club and outlined his and the chairman’s vision. Being part of that townhall meeting also allowed us to understand what the members were looking for and how we could be flexible for them and our client.”

Although construction technology is ubiquitous on projects these days, Hopwood reveals that the team did not use BIM or any related technologies on the project, stressing that this was due to how the job evolved in time. ISG was initially brought in to remove and replace the finishes – walls, floors, ceilings and so on. As such, there was no need for BIM to be implemented, but he does point out that as the contractor’s role changed, so did the level of detail required to ensure that design and delivery aligned perfectly.

“We had originally only proposed to do five or six renders, but we’re now up to around 20!

It’s just to ensure that we capture every single corner of the club, so as to make sure that when you look at the picture and then the site, you get exactly what you’ve paid for. We didn’t get involved

in BIM or any other simulations, as it just wasn’t something that we thought would be necessary.”

However, as they soon discovered, there were additional challenges lying in wait, which resulted in ISG having to dramatically expand the scope of its work on the project. Chief among these challenges was the fact that the building housing the Capital Club is about 12 years old and required a number of upgrades, Hopwood says.

“All I can assume, after looking in the ceilings and walls, is that the building was put up pretty quickly. The mess and jumble that we’ve seen in there [was not very good]. Part of the pre-construction services agreement that we did at the very start was to provide the design and MEP validation, and to understand what was performing and what wasn’t.

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The live environment throughout all the floors has kept us all on our toes. Somebody might be having an important conference downstairs, so we have to try and mitigate issues as much as we can”

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PROJECT PROFILE

“So we’ve actually gone ahead and rewired everything downstairs. We’ve provided new fan cool units for the cooling systems – the AC units were at the end of their service life or completely underperforming. That minor refurb turned into a medium or major refurb,” he recollects, adding that new sound systems were installed, along with brand-new CCTV, AVI equipment, structural cables and other elements.

“Furthermore, everything is going to be linked at the very end, so we’re going to have core infrastructure which will be feeding into the three floors. When we come to that bit, we’ll link everything up so that they’ll perform correctly,” he says in terms of the installation of a building management system for the club.

“This is all part of the pressure. The ten-week programme has never changed.

We found out in week two that we’re going to have a new sound system, in week three we found out that new CCTV would be required. We’ve found out that the members lounge on Level Five is now being transferred to Level Four, so having flexibility is needed.”

This flexible approach is particularly relevant for ISG, given that it is not only the design and build contractor, but also the cost consultant, the project management consultant, the designer and the architect.

“We’re turnkey absolutely from start to finish. When we first came to the club, we did thorough surveys about what we

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

Team effort The ISG team from left to right: Scott McCulloch, Claire McDonnell and Stefan Hopwood.

60

Number of workers on the project site at peak

could utilise while being sustainable at the same time. All of the furniture that will be put in over the next couple of weeks has been reused. This includes restaurant furniture, chairs and tables that we’ve seen potential in. We’ve been able to take them away, strip off the old upholstery, re-stuff them, repair them and re-upholster them. The beautiful parquet flooring on Level 4, if you had seen it eight weeks ago, it was dark, scratched and dented. As a value engineered option, we decided to sand it back to the core, refinish and relacquer it, and provide a brand-new floor for next to nothing.

“We’ve always had to keep the budget in mind. We had to really validate and

go deep into the survey, keeping in mind what fits with Claire’s vision, while from a buildability and functionality point of view, it comes through me. We had to do a lot of interfacing at the very start, but also have Ian’s buy-in at the same time.”

Finally, Hopwood states that with 60 workers on-site and a fully functioning club in operation around the ongoing works, HSE is at the forefront of any construction work. This is compounded by having members and club officials who want to see how work is progressing, adds Palmer.

“When I bring members in and actually show them what’s going on, they get excited about what’s happening. They might be entertaining their guests in the members bar, but we can also go down and show them what’s in store and what’s coming. That actually helps to grow our business, but in the meantime we’ve also got to make sure they’re all safe!”

To that end, there is extensive signage along with 24-hour security on-site, competent site supervisors and engineers that have been fully briefed about the restrictions facing the project team and what needs to be done to look after the site.

“Obviously, out-of-hours work has also been considered quite a bit, where we can come in after hours or on the weekend so as to minimise the disruption to the club. It’s been a 24hour construction schedule, but we try and mitigate it. I get the schedule every week and I have to work around it.

“I may sometimes have to cancel a night shift and introduce it back into the day shift, or we’ll have to catch up later in the programme.

“It’s all about pure coordination at the start of the week, making sure that the staff and the directors are sending me through a weekly schedule, with all the members’ bookings in – speaking events, corporate meetings and so on.

This is so we have an early opportunity to sit down with the team and have all the toolbox talks in place for the site team, and so that all the engineers are completely aware of what’s happening.

We can then make sure that we have a good buffer in place, right at the start and at the very end, so as not to cause any disruptions,” he concludes.

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COMMENT

Industry insight

TADHG O'DONOVAN HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY DUBAI CAMPUS

How Can Renewable Energy Power the Future of Cities in the Region?

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ajor cities play an important role in a low-carbon future; pioneering organisations and government entities have moved towards a clean energy transition that will positively impact the world’s energy-related carbon emissions. The clean-energy revolution is also transforming cities into centres of innovation and technology that will demonstrate new solutions to cutting carbon emissions and increasing resilience to climate change.

Wealth and socio-economic development across the UAE are closely tied to the region’s substantial oil & gas reserves.

As populations rise and economies expand, however, there is a need to shift to more renewable sources of energy to support sustainable growth. Renewable energy can and will shape the future of the country and drive change towards a sustainable and cleaner future.

Renewable energy has become economically smart in in the GCC. The UAE aims to strengthen the use of renewable energy to 10% of the country’s total use of energy, according to the IRENA renewable energy prospects report. As a result of the country reducing fossil fuel consumption, lower energy costs will result in total estimated savings of $1.9bn by 2030.

Here, I will attempt to provide an overview of some of the ways renewable March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

energy could potentially power the future of cities of the region, like Dubai.

THE DUBAI CLEAN DUBAI CLEAN ENERGY STRATEGY The renewables revolution has been comprehensive across the UAE; government initiatives have supported a shift to renewable energy production. This forward thinking has placed the UAE at the forefront of the renewables revolution, which has created a longlasting and progressive impact in the region.

A notable change in Dubai came in November 2015 when the government launched the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy, aiming to produce 75% of its energy requirements from clean sources by 2050.

The strategy will focus on Dubai as a pivotal hub for clean energy and a clean economy, providing premium goods and services with an environmental benefit. The strategy encompasses strategic pillars which will focus on infrastructure, legislation, funding, building capacities, skills and an environment-friendly energy mix.

MBR SOLAR PARK The infrastructure pillar in the strategy includes several initiatives. One is the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park implemented by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the largest generator of solar energy in the world with a planned capacity of 5,000MW of renewable energy by 2030. In addition to this, it generates nearly 28m kWh of electricity annually. This preliminary phase contributes to an annual reduction of about 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to DEWA. These efforts are a bid to respond to rising populations and economic diversification across the country, which has led to greater energy demand.

As Dubai strives for a sustainable and renewable future, preparation for future generations has become pivotal to government initiatives and strategy”

NUCLEAR POWER The World Nuclear Association reports that the UAE is looking to the future by installing nuclear-powered plants to meet electricity demand, which is estimated to increase from 15GWe to over 40GWe in 2020. The Barakah nuclear power plant, the first nuclear power station in the Arabian Peninsula, was installed in 2013. These efforts to create forward-thinking, innovative technologies to improve sustainable energy are at the forefront of the government agenda. More notably, the climate of the UAE requires that 90% of water demand be desalinated, a very energy-intensive process.

CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS Dubai is set to develop clean coal to meet the UAE’s economic requirements. The Hassyan clean coal project is set to be complete in 2023, the first clean coal power plant in the region.

Unlike traditional coal, clean coal provides a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

EDUCATING FUTURE GENERATIONS As Dubai strives for a sustainable and renewable future, preparation for future generations has become pivotal to government initiatives and strategy. Higher education degrees in Renewable Energy Engineering, Innovation, Smart Technology and Robotics provide the necessary graduate expertise to keep the UAE at the forefront of the renewables revolution. These degree programmes develop the innovation and critical thinking skills required by the energy sector to develop and integrate renewable energy conversion and storage technology into the grid.

Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus in particular works in line with government strategy to deliver courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD level, to allow students to acquire the detailed knowledge needed to meet the challenges and develop opportunities in the energy industry across the region. These courses include Robotics, Autonomous and Interactive Systems, Renewable Energy Engineering and Advanced Mechanical Engineering.

Tadhg O'Donovan is Head of School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at HeriotWatt University Dubai Campus.

COMMENT

PAUL SELF INEIGHT

Advanced Work Packaging: A Pathway to Predictable Projects

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he traditional approach to capital project planning and execution is to plan the work and then work the plan. Too often, plans are either overly optimistic or misaligned with how the work will actually be completed. In practice, the goal of planning should be pretty simple: keep the work crews productive.

Not having a strong ‘desk-to-dirt’ connection can lead to major project disconnects, costing owners and contractors time and money. To more accurately predict how a project will perform, the plan needs to be representative of how the work will be executed.

This might seem intuitive, but projects have not always adopted this common-sense approach. Organisations are hungry for more predictable project execution, and that is why advanced work packaging (AWP) techniques and technologies are moving to the forefront. This collaborative approach to capital projects puts owner organisations on a constraint-free path of construction. While not new, the concept of AWP is gaining momentum in the industry and delivering more predictable outcomes.

TROUBLING OVERRUNS It’s no secret that large CAPEX projects have a poor reputation for meeting cost and schedule delivery expectations. A McKinsey study of 48 troubled mega projects concludes that poor execution was responsible for 73% of cost and time overruns. The study also reveals that costs and timelines are frequently

underestimated from the start so that projects can secure investment and be approved. This is troubling, because it seems many projects will fall prey to overruns from the outset, with poor execution likely to be ‘planned in’.

While the data suggests that the vast majority of projects will overrun, markets such as oil & gas are renewing their focus on cost and schedule efficiency. This objective is driving new project management techniques and supporting technology to address the root cause. AWP, for example, takes proven project management practices, applies them to construction and creates a more prescriptive approach for planning that leads to more predictable project outcomes.

MOVING TOWARD PROJECT CERTAINTY The first step in creating a plan that can deliver project certainty is to ensure all parties operate against a common set of project objectives. Project certainty, regardless of the stage, relies on a solid foundation of communication and collaboration. The volume of knowledge, coordination and communication upon which a project relies to get it through to completion is staggering.

This complexity necessitates a framework for collaborative planning and execution that addresses the pitfalls associated with traditional construction project management.

AWP has become the industry’s response to these challenges. AWP principles really involve a common-sense implementation of proven project management practices. It uses a framework to combine pre-planning, planning, execution and turnover to develop an optimised path of construction.

One aspect of AWP is that we actually plan backwards. We start with the date by which we want the project to be complete and then work our way, right-to-left instead of left-toright, through the plan, ensuring that each step is supportive of completion in accordance with the project objective. It’s like reading the last page of the book so you know how it ends before you start the first chapter.

Another aspect of AWP drives at iteratively forward planning at the workface, where productivity, environmental and situational realities are fluid constraints that require active management, planning and re-planning.

Here, AWP pushes this planning away from traditional settings and moves it out to the

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field, providing literal proximity to reality and supporting the creation of more realistic and achievable plans for execution.

Working back from an agreed-upon completion date, owners and contractors work collaboratively to determine the optimal path of construction. Instead of planners operating in a silo, the AWP approach involves collecting insights from, and setting expectations for, engineering, procurement and construction teams to better leverage project data and knowledge available to create the plan. And it’s not just project/site-specific data that is useful, but also insight from other projects as well, creating a knowledge library of historic performance capable of informing the development of future plans.

By taking advantage of organisational history while employing AWP techniques, we end up creating a more realistic, riskadjusted plan and forecast. This can be broken down into smaller installation work packages and executed as daily work plans optimised for construction, engineering and the supply chain. This strong connection creates solid, stable alignment between the high-level plan and the work in the field.

Driving the work sequence backwards from construction to engineering for the whole project life cycle can lead to a 10% reduction in installed costs, while labour productivity stands to improve by as much as 25% . Projects become far more predictable because the plan can identify constraints up front, meaning that field execution teams can work unencumbered with a higher proportion of tasks completed on time and on budget.

But it’s not all about cost and schedules; AWP also delivers safety and risk benefits. For example, bringing materials on-site requires substantial planning. Lacking the right resources or equipment to start the job might cause a dip in productivity, but moving them around a complex and busy work-site comes with its own risks. AWP identifies these constraints ahead of time, to ensure work teams always have the right materials for a job before it begins. This helps limit the amount of heavy equipment traffic mixing with foot traffic on-site and allows teams to move around more safely.

AWP adds another dimension to the ownercontractor relationship. A drive towards greater collaboration will see the owner facilitating cross-functional participation from engineering, MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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COMMENT

procurement/fabrication and construction. The contractor will be able to provide a much greater level of influence on plan objectives earlier in the project lifecycle at the point in time that project expectations are being established.

Contractors who choose to adopt AWP now will gain an edge in the market, as they will be able to demonstrate a stronger track record on project execution in terms of cost and schedule to prospective customers. Equally, it can be attractive to contractors seeking to minimise profit erosion, as internal finances will also be more predictable. In industries such as oil & gas, project owners are already electing to make AWP implementation maturity a factor in evaluating contractor bid responses.

ADOPTING AN ADVANCED WORK PACKAGING APPROACH As with any new methodology, many organisations will face an adoption challenge.

The role of a product champion cannot be understated. These champions take responsibility for the roll-out and education of these practices across the project community.

The second challenge is more digital in nature. The most comprehensive view of any project stems from a complete connection from inception to operation, and capturing that process digitally offers an unrivalled opportunity for efficiency. But it’s fair to say many contractors and owners are not there yet. At a basic level, AWP can function with just a few components: model visualisation, planning and scheduling, cost estimating, and documentation. Even if an organisation is not that far along in its digital transformation, it can still look to adopt AWP as the framework for its planning approach.

At its heart, AWP is really about strengthening that owner/contractor connection by ensuring expectations are aligned between them and across functions (engineering, procurement and construction). That is the goal of AWP – to keep the team in the field productive by defining the best path of construction for a project and removing the constraints that could slow them down.

This benefits owners and contractors in any project environment. Leveraging purposebuilt technology to support this process will make the investment worthwhile and act as a catalyst for realising the benefits of an AWP approach to project planning and execution.

Paul Self is EVP, Planning and Delivery at InEight.

March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

ANDREW SKUDDER

CONSTRUCTION COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Construction Industry: Four Major Digital Trends for 2020

A

s one of the least digitised industries in the world, with about 1.5% of revenue spent on IT compared to an average spend of about 3% across all industries, the construction industry has suffered a notable lack of growth in productivity. This is in contrast to the manufacturing industry, which has embraced technology significantly – relative to construction – and recorded a consequent increase in productivity.

By embracing digital technology, construction companies will have more efficient control over their costs and be able to collaborate more effectively on projects, especially mega projects.

THE POWER OF CLOUD COMPUTING Digitisation requires an enormous amount of computing power. A good example of this is the design phase of a project. Over the years, the design process has evolved from designs being created on paper, to the use of CAD tools, and today to 5D BIM modelling.

Now, with virtual reality, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) also coming into play, the design aspect requires vast computing capacity. Setting the computing infrastructure up and employing the right skills to maintain it would be an expensive – and unnecessary – exercise for a single company.

The likes of Azure, AWS and Google Cloud have made large amounts of computing power easily accessible to companies around the globe. It is accessible, safe, relatively cheap and maintained by experts. This allows users

to handle much more data, more efficiently and more securely. Once construction companies have garnered big data in the cloud, it can be converted to smart data, allowing them to access comprehensive analytics and use these to make informed, real-time decisions about current and future projects.

AI AND BIG DATA AI allows construction companies to harness big data and make sense of it. New algorithms are written every day to analyse big data and leverage it in an effective and productive way.

It is also highly effective in interrogating past projects. One of the big opportunities in the industry is for estimators and project managers to learn from past projects. Much of the knowledge rests in their heads, which is then used to improve the scheduling, costing and estimating for upcoming projects. If all historical data is stored on a database, AI will be able to prepare more accurate predictive models, making future projects more productive and predictable.

Another higher use case for AI is in 3D modelling. A big issue in planning and designing projects is design clashes between different engineers or stakeholders. When something is being built, there are typically several designs for different aspects of the project – architectural, mechanical, electrical, and others. Often, when they are overlaid, there are clashes. AI has the ability to help detect these clashes and adjust designs quickly.

Yet another use case for AI is risk management. By harnessing historical data, it allows greater understanding of project complexity. It can analyse complexity factors around issues such as design complexity, labour availability and weather patterns and place them into risk management models, for greater risk mitigation.

By embracing digital technology, construction companies will have more efficient control over their costs and be able to collaborate more effectively on projects, especially mega projects”

COMMENT

GREATER CONNECTIVITY WITH 5G 5G gives everyone access to greater connectivity.

It offers higher speeds and more reliable, bigger capacity, which ties in with construction companies’ need to harness big data. Once they start digitising their business processes, they will create huge amounts of data.

One of the major constraints for site-based solutions has been a lack of connectivity to construction sites. 5G will take it to the next level in terms of reliability, speed and capacity. This will allow more data collection, data management and data analysis onsite, which will allow project managers to make informed decisions more quickly.

MOBILITY Mobility has already taken hold on construction sites, with laptops, smartphones and tablets allowing people to conduct work in remote areas, capture data and complete tasks that used to be paper-based.

The next level of mobility relates to wearable technology. Think Microsoft’s HoloLens, which offers the ability to mix virtual reality with reality on a construction site. With the lenses, users can see the design; if they look into a room, they are able to see how it is meant to be constructed. This allows users to detect defects and pull up diagrams showing the correct design. While it may not manifest in the construction industry in 2020, wearable technology is definitely the next big leap forward.

The 3D scanner is another form of mobile technology that is invaluable for the construction industry. When a building is being constructed, 3D scanners can be used to scan rooms, measure them and create as-built drawings.

Drones are becoming increasingly popular for construction projects. By flying a drone over a site every day, users can see what progress has been made in every phase of a project and deliver progress reports to relatively accurate tolerances.

VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL, SIDE BY SIDE Ultimately, increased use of digitisation will mean construction companies creating virtual projects alongside physical projects, allowing them to be more efficiently constructed because they will be able to build their construction projects in the virtual world up front, ensuring they are well planned when construction begins in the physical world. It also allows them to monitor progress against the virtual plan every step of the way.

Andrew Skudder is CEO of Construction Computer Software (CCS).

EZAHT ALDOORY ESTILO ARCHITECTS

Increasing Foreign Direct Investment into Dubai

W

ith year-round sunshine, income tax-free living, highquality infrastructure and services and its standing as a regional finance, business and entertainment hub, Dubai has maintained its position as an attractive city to live and work. In addition, a range of initiatives have been announced over 2018-2019 to further its position as a location to reside and invest, such as ease in company formation and ownership laws, new long-term (ten-year) visas for investors, entrepreneurs, special

Reports for luxury property sales in 2019 have been very positive. According to a recent report by Property Finder, the Dubai luxury housing market, which includes any property above $2.7m, registered 194 transactions in H1 2019, up from 115 transactions for the same period last year”

43

skill talent and outstanding students, along with retirement (five-year) and short stay transit visas. These reforms are expected to have long-term positive impacts on business sentiment, tourism volumes, FDI and the talent pool the UAE can attract and retain.

Although the residential sector as a whole has experienced sustained pressure over the last two years, the luxury residential market has remained resilient. Estilo Architects designed ten luxury properties in 2019. With only 18% of total residential supply over 2018 and 2019 being villas, this market segment has retained its exclusivity and has not been exposed to market fluctuation and over-supply in the same way as mid-market developments.

I’d also argue that purchasers of luxury property look for quality, customisation and uniqueness more than other market segments, and are happy to pay for these attributes.

Reports for luxury property sales in 2019 have been very positive. According to a recent report by Property Finder, the Dubai luxury housing market, which includes any property above $2.7m, registered 194 transactions in H1 2019, up from 115 transactions for the same period last year. Palm Jumeirah accounted for the most with 55, with villas on the Frond accounting for 24 of these.

Gulf Sotheby’s International Realty also announced $218m in sales for its luxury properties from Q1 to Q3 2019.

The firm said this was 15% higher than in the same period in 2018.

From an investment perspective, Dubai FDI Monitor, the investment development agency of the Dubai economy, said the emirate attracted 257 FDI projects worth $12.1bn in the first six months of 2019.

Knight Frank’s Wealth Report also tells us that across the 10 cities surveyed, Dubai luxury properties are the most affordable.

Dubai has taken several steps in 2019 to further improve its standing with countries around the globe, which should lead to increased FDI into its economy in 2020. In addition, the final build-up to Expo 2020 Dubai, and the event itself, are expected to have a pronounced effect on the economy and have a positive knock-on effect on the real estate sector. According to a study conducted by consultancy EY, Expo 2020 is expected to add $33.4bn to the UAE’s economy between 2013 and 2031.

Ezaht Aldoory is managing partner at Estilo Architects.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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CASE STUDY

Ducab

Supporting Solar MIDDLE EAST

Big Project ME speaks to Ashish Chaturvedy, head of Marketing at Ducab, about its partnership with Eithad ESCO to support solar energy growth in the UAE March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

I

n October last year, on the sidelines of the 21st Water, Energy, Technology and Environmental Exhibition (WETEX), Etihad Energy Service Company (Etihad ESCO) and Ducab signed an agreement that will have a huge impact on the UAE’s solar energy sector. It will see the cable manufacturer supply its SolarBICC cables to Eithad ESCO for its in-house solar power plant, which aims to contribute to the company’s sustainability vision by diversifying its own energy sources.

Working in close coordination with Ducab, Etihad ESCO LLC has appointed Belectric Shams Consortium as Engineering Procurement and Construction contractor. Once

complete, the eight-month project will generate annual savings of 3,251,900KWh in energy, equivalent to $393,990, Ducab says. At the time of signing, Etihad ESCO’s solar power project was expected to go live in February 2020, the company adds.

With work progressing smoothly on the plant, Big Project ME speaks to Ashish Chaturvedy from Ducab to understand how the cable manufacturer is contributing to the project.

What is the current status of the solar plant? Is it set to be delivered and operational on time?

The project is currently in process, and we’re pleased to say that the roof-

Following the lead As an advocate of clean energy, Ducab has also installed solar power in-house with a rooftop PV system of 45.6kWp at its new head office.

2,052

Ducab’s factory has a mounted PV plant of 2,052kWp

CASE STUDY

mounted phase of the project has been delivered before its due date. From Ducab’s perspective, one of the factors that has contributed to this is that all the AC and DC cables for this plant are all designed and produced within the UAE, by Ducab. That reduces the traditional need for companies to rely on international suppliers to source their cabling requirements. This is a great example of the value-add achieved from ‘made in UAE’ products.

What were some of the challenges behind development and implementation? How did Ducab contribute to its successful delivery?

Every project of this nature, with rare exceptions, faces some challenges.

But these are all perfectly manageable given the skills and knowledge that exist with the in-house Engineering and Project teams led by Engineer Hassan Omar, COO at Ducab.

Initially it’s all about selecting the right partners and getting timely approvals, which can really help keep a project on track. In this case, our solar plant has included adherence to the high standards set out in the project quality plan, maximising work efficiencies through the appropriate use of engineering and design resources, and assigning qualified, proactive personnel familiar with this type of project delivery.

Being an advocate of clean energy, we at Ducab are also installing solar power in-house. This includes a mounted PV plant of 2,052kWp in Ducab’s factory ground and a rooftop PV system of 45.6kWp at our new head office. Ducab is on track to achieve energy savings of over $394,000 with the development of the solar project being installed at the company’s facilities in Jebel Ali.

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We’re pleased to say that the roofmounted phase of the project has been delivered before its due date. One of the factors that has contributed to this is that all the AC and DC cables for this plant are all designed and produced within the UAE, by Ducab” Sustainability vision Ashish Chaturvedy says Ducab aims to incorporate solar solutions as part of its support for the UAE’s sustainability vision.

National impact The agreement between Ducab and Etihad ESCO will have a major impact on the UAE’s solar ambitions.

green energy projects that Ducab has undertaken and uses specialised SolarBICC cables produced in-house.

It represents a significant step forward in go-green initiatives, and we foresee an increase in solar projects rolled out across facilities in the UAE, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cutting carbon footprints substantially.

How is the specialised SolarBICC cable range performing on the project? What added value has

it brought to operations?

Our cables are all designed to perform to the highest possible standards, and SolarBICC in this project is no exception. We are pleased to report significant positive feedback from the electricians and engineers who installed our SolarBICC cables in this project.

Our philosophy is to produce worldclass cable solutions which feature very high-quality insulation and sheathing material, to maintain circuit integrity in such demanding conditions.

What tangible gains have been seen from the project? How has Ducab contributed to those?

The use of solar power in the UAE has now become reality. With the rise of energy costs, Ducab is incorporating solar solutions as part of its strategic initiative. This is one of the early MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Urban Rail Networks

Construction Challenges of Rail in an Urban Environment MIDDLE EAST

Chris Harding, key expert – Contracts and Procurement, Cairo Metro, outlines some of the major challenges facing the development of rail in an urban environment March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

T

he world’s cities are booming, and their growth is changing the face of the planet. Rapid urbanisation in developing countries means the human population is shifting from rural to urban areas - and that’s both a challenge and an opportunity to create a more sustainable future.

The latest UN World Cities Report shows that the number of megacities those with more than 10 million people - has more than doubled over the past two decades, from 14 in 1995 to 29 in 2016.

Projections show that urbanisation, combined with the overall growth of the world’s population, could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90% in Asia and Africa.

Inclusive systems City planners have an opportunity to design sustainable and inclusive transport systems from the start in rapidly urbanising cities.

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Number of megacities in the world in 2016

Traffic congestion is a serious consequence of urbanisation in any country: due in part to traffic, cities and megacities produce more than 70% of the world’s anthropogenic CO2 emissions.

The reality is that planners have an opportunity to design sustainable and inclusive transport systems from the start, leapfrogging more polluting and costly methods of transport.

In a rapidly urbanising world, the urban rail system is an efficient way of reducing traffic congestion, reducing emissions and decreasing pollution. The high capacity offered by rail systems can serve the intensive transport requirements generated within and between cities.

Rail-based transport is particularly appropriate where there is a need to move

INFRASTRUCTURE

47

large volumes of people (in the order of 10,000 per hour) between major centres (e.g. a transport hub and the city centre).

Urban rail is segregated into metro, light rail transport (LRT) and tramways.

Metro rail projects typically involve below-ground, at grade and elevated sections with multiple-unit trainsets. LRT is traditionally above ground, while in contrast, tramways mainly follow existing road and paved area configurations, mixed in with normal road and foot traffic.

GOING UNDERGROUND Construction methods can be disruptive, depending on the needs and location of a project. Deep excavations in densely populated urban areas impose specific challenges, especially the potential impact on adjacent structures from induced ground and structural movement. They can also be a nuisance to the community with site entry and exit challenges.

TUNNELLING Tunnelling is the least disruptive construction activity in most ground conditions. Apart from the insertion points of the tunnel boring machine (TBM), if used, and the sites necessary for the disposal of excavated material, there is minimal disturbance to the urban environment.

TUNNEL BORING MACHINES A TBM is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross-section

Least disruptive Tunnelling is one of the least disruptive construction activities in most ground conditions in urban environments.

Risk worth taking With traffic congestion posing serious consequences to the urbanisation of any country, investing in urban rail systems can resolve a number of critical issues.

through a variety of soil and rock strata.

These machines can bore through anything from hard rock to sand.

TBMs have the advantages of limiting the disturbance to the surrounding ground and producing a smooth tunnel wall.

This significantly reduces the cost of lining the tunnel and makes TBMs suitable to use in heavily urbanised areas.

NEW AUSTRIAN TUNNELLING METHOD An alternative to tunnel boring is the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), also known as the sequential excavation method (SEM) or sprayed concrete lining method (SCL).

NATM is a tunnelling method that deliberately and purposefully uses the load-bearing properties of the advance core to optimise the mining process, secure the excavation and minimise the associated economic costs.

CUT-AND-COVER The cut-and-cover technique, in which a trench is excavated (cut) at a shallow depth and then backfilled (covered), is often used for the construction of shallow sub-surface tunnels.

At a depth of 10-14m, this method can be more practical and cheaper than underground tunnelling, whereas at a depth of 18m and more, the cut-andcover method becomes less economical.

DRILL AND BLAST The drill and blast method dates back to the early 1600s and is suitable for both weak-strength rocks (chalk, clay and marl) and high-strength rocks (quartz, basalt, gneiss and granite). It is suitable for non-circular cross-sections and comparatively short tunnels where a TBM is not considered suitable.

STATIONS Construction of underground stations results in areas of disruption while a station is excavated and built.

Modern techniques such as top-down construction, when practical, reduce the period of disruption and the amount of temporary works needed.

The top-down construction method builds the permanent structural portions of the basement and station, along with the excavation from the top to the bottom.

A RISK WORTH TAKING Traffic congestion is a serious consequence of urbanisation in any country, with significant negative effects on both quality of life and the economy.

In a rapidly urbanising world, the urban rail system is an efficient way of reducing traffic congestion, reducing emissions and decreasing pollution. The high capacity offered by rail systems can serve the intensive transport requirements generated within and between cities.

MEConstructionNews.com | March 2020

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pipelines and platforms located at Dalma Oilfield in the northwest of Abu Dhabi. The project also includes 370,755,000 cubic feet per day of gas gathering, subsea pipelines, laying of onshore pipelines, three wellhead platforms, laying of 100km subsea pipelines, onshore pipelines and associated facilities.

COMPLETION September 2022

ENERGY

MIXED-USE

Fujairah Independent Power Plant (IPP-F3)

Dubai Creek Tower

BUDGET $1.5 billion CLIENT Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority TERRITORY Fujairah, UAE DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of a 2,200MW combined-cycle gas turbine plant located at the Fujairah power and water complex.

The facility, a major independent power project for the country, will play a key role in securing the future electricity needs of Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates region. The project, F3, will help in the ongoing cost reduction initiative in the sector through the procurement of competitive and efficient CCGT technology. The project includes installation of transformers, switch gears, control system and associated facilities.

COMPLETION January 2024

BUDGET $1.5 billion CLIENT Dubai Holding Group; Emaar Properties TERRITORY Dubai, UAE DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work consists of a mixed-use tower located at Dubai Creek, Dubai. The Tower, part of the multi-billion-dollar Dubai Creek Harbour project in Dubai Creek, is inspired by a blooming lily and will be an architectural and engineering marvel due to its eye-catching slender design, the delicate mesh-like structure around it and, of course, its mammoth size. When completed, it will be the tallest tower in the world. The tower will be linked to the central island district within the Dubai Creek Harbour district with a 4.5km

several observation decks, offering unprecedented, 360-degree views of the city and beyond. It will also serve as a beacon of light at night, with a lighting system that will evoke the features of a flower bud, as it seemingly hovers atop the structure.

COMPLETION November 2023

SAUDI ARABIA boardwalk offering retail, dining, and leisure and entertainment options. An observation tower surpassing 1,008m in height will be linked to the central island district of the upcoming Dubai Creek Harbour development. It will feature retail outlets, a hotel, restaurants, a parking space, VIP observation garden deck, glazed rotating balconies and associated facilities.

The superstructure comprises three key elements: a concrete core, a steel frame structure on top of the concrete core, and cables descending down from the tower to the ground. The building’s striking design includes a distinctive net of steel stay-cable stays that attach to a central reinforced concrete column that will reach into the skies. At the top of the tower is an oval-shaped bud that will house

OIL & GAS

Dalma Gas Field Development Platforms & Pipelines BUDGET $1 billion CLIENT ADNOC Sour Gas TERRITORY Abu Dhabi, UAE DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the installation of

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How E&C companies can plan, manage and execute their projects better

ENERGY

Madinah Solar Photovoltaic Independent Power Plant BUDGET $500 million CLIENT Renewable Energy Project Development Office & Saudi Arabia Ministry of Energy, Industry & Mineral Resources TERRITORY Al Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of a 50MW solar photovoltaic independent power plant (IPP) approximately 26km from Madinah in Saudi Arabia. The project is part of a 1.5GW second round of the Renewables Programme.

The total investment in the projects is expected to be $1.51bn, creating over 4,500 jobs during construction, operations and maintenance. The project also includes installation of solar panels, transformers, laying of transmission lines and associated facilities.

COMPLETION March 2023 INFRASTRUCTURE

Wadi Al Asla Infrastructure Work BUDGET $1.5 billion CLIENT Sumou Real Estate

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TENDERS

Company; Jeddah Development & Urban Regeneration Company TERRITORY Jeddah, Saudi Arabia DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the infrastructure work for Wadi Al Asla Development located at Jeddah, Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia. The project also includes infrastructure works, dry utilities, wet utilities, installation of stormwater ducts, installation of street lightings, installation of telecommunication networks, landscaping works and associated facilities.

COMPLETION June 2024

and 5-star) international hotels, 259 villas, 55 townhouses, 266 apartments, serviced apartments, 476 units, a lagoon promenade and a traditional mixed-use souk, a shopping mall, an aqua park, and a school. The project covers 500,000sqm of leasehold land, with 833m of waterfront overlooking the Sea of Oman. The project features a man-made crystal lagoon.

COMPLETION January 2026

OIL & GAS

BUDGET $1.1 billion CLIENT Oman Ministry of Transport & Communications TERRITORY Musandam, Oman DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of a 65km carriageway located at Dibba, Daba Al Bayah, Musandam, Oman. The project commences near Al Khalidiya, at kilometre 20+600. It closely follows the eastern coastline of the peninsula, passing near the town of Lima at approximately kilometre 40, and ends at approximately kilometre 86 near the town of Daba. The project also includes infrastructure works, landscaping works,

South Ghawar UR Field Development Gas Separation Plant BUDGET $710 million CLIENT Saudi Aramco TERRITORY Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of a gas separation plant located at South Ghawar, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.

The project also includes laying of flowlines, gathering centres, pipelines and associated facilities.

COMPLETION November 2023

INFRASTRUCTURE

Dibba, Lima to Khasab Carriageway (Phase 2)

OIL & GAS

SEZAD Methanol to Olefins Plant

installation of street lighting, 18 bridges with a total length of 3.8km, 17 tunnels with a total length of 7.320km, transitional bridges, road separators, culverts, two flyovers and other associated facilities.

The operation and maintenance of Daba-Lima-Khasab Road includes the operational monitoring for road and tunnel, traffic monitoring and incidence response, routine monitoring and inspection of the works and the operation service plant and equipment during the operation and maintenance service period, repair of road accident damage, tracking of accidents on the road along with the analysis of that data to determine locations of high accident severity or incidence and to install relevant safety improvements.

COMPLETION December 2023

OMAN MIXED-USE

Al Nakheel Integrated Tourism Complex BUDGET $805 million CLIENT Nakheel PJSC TERRITORY Barka, Oman DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work consists of a tourism complex located at Abu Nakheel coast, Al Rumais, Barka, Oman.

The project includes three (4-

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BUDGET $2.8 billion CLIENT Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority TERRITORY Al Wusta, Oman DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of a methanol plant located at China-Oman Industrial Park (Sino Oman Industrial City), Duqm, Al Wusta, Oman. The integrated methanol and methanol to olefins (MTO) plant will have a capacity of 10 million tonnes. The project will be built in phases looking at a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of gas-to-methanol and methanolto-olefins in the first phase, 0.7 MTPA Methanol to olefins plant, 0.3 MTPA polyethylene plant plant, 0.45 MTPA polypropylene plant.

COMPLETION January 2023

BAHRAIN OIL & GAS

Bahrain Non Associated Gas Compression Facilities BUDGET $360 million CLIENT Tatweer Petroleum TERRITORY Bahrain DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of non associated gas compression facilities (NCF), installation of a gas lift, gas injection unit located in Bahrain. As per the new gas management strategy and since most of the associated gas/residue gas will be used for gas lift, the burden on the Khuff reservoir is increased to compensate and make up. Nevertheless, the revised

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TENDERS

oil depletion strategy requires an increased gas injection at reservoirs to improve oil recovery.

COMPLETION December 2022 RESIDENTIAL

Al Madina Al Shamaliya Development Island 14 Villa Complex BUDGET $150 million CLIENT Bahrain Ministry of Housing TERRITORY Madinat Salman Island 14, Bahrain DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work consists of 303 residential villas each comprising 2 floors located at Madinat Salman Island 14, Bahrain. The project also includes children’s play area, landscaping works, clubhouse, installation of safety and security system, street lights and associated facilities.

COMPLETION March 2023 INFRASTRUCTURE

Hawar Island 66KV Submarine & Underground Cable Works BUDGET $125 million CLIENT Bahrain Electricity & Water Authority TERRITORY Hawar Island, Bahrain DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the installation of 66 kilovolts submarine and underground cable works for electricity supply Hawar Island in Bahrain. The project also includes installation of three 3-core, 66 XLPE submarine cable with built-in fibre optic cable (25km), three 3-core, 66 kilovolts XLPE underground cables on mainland Bahrain (5km), three 3-core, 66 kilovolts, XLPE underground

cables on Hawar Island (5km), switchgear, installation of reactors, an auxiliary power supply system and control and protection systems.

COMPLETION December 2022

KUWAIT

treatment and disposal section, sulphur recovery unit and transport section, utility and supporting systems, facility infrastructure, a sulphur recovery unit and associated facilities, such as a control room, substations and buildings.

COMPLETION December 2022

OIL & GAS

MIXED-USE

Jurassic Production Facilities (JPF5)

South Al Jahra Labour City

BUDGET $455 million CLIENT Kuwait Oil Company TERRITORY Jurassic Fields, Middle Marrat Reservoir, Kuwait DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work involves the construction of production facility 5 (JPF5) located at Jurassic Fields, Middle Marrat Reservoir, Kuwait. The JPF5 unit will have a production capacity of 160 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas and 50,000 barrels per day (b/d) of light crude oil. The hydrocarbons will be produced from sour and wet reservoir fluids from the North Kuwait Jurassic Fields. The scope of the project will also include a water treatment unit, oil inlet, separation, treatment and export section, sour gas compression section, sour gas treatment and export section, effluent water

BUDGET $500 million CLIENT Kuwait Municipality; Kuwait Ministry of Public Works & Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects TERRITORY Al Jahra Governorate, Kuwait DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work consists of a mixed use development for expatriate workers located in Al Jahra

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Governorate, Kuwait. The project will accommodate 20,000 workers.

The project involves residential areas, commercial and neighbourhood services, community services, municipal and utility services, and infrastructure facilities. The project will cover an area of 1,015,000sqm in South Al Jahra along the Sixth Ring Road. It will also include public utilities such as a mosque, police station, fire station, clinic, post office, etc. There will also be commercial establishments such as supermarkets, sports centre, restaurants, bakery, labour accommodation, landscape and playgrounds.

COMPLETION July 2024 HEALTHCARE

Al Sabah Medical Area New Pediatric Hospital BUDGET $855 million CLIENT Kuwait Ministry of Public Works TERRITORY Al Sabah Medical Area, Al-Shuwaikh, Kuwait DESCRIPTION The project’s scope of work consists of a new pediatric hospital located at Al Sabah Medical Area, Al-Shuwaikh, Kuwait. The project also includes a 5-storey diagnostic/treatment podium, hospital with 792 beds, central utility plant, emergency wards, 19 X-ray rooms, 14 ultrasound rooms, 19,974sqm outpatient clinics, inpatient rooms, laboratories, 30 surgical theatres, an administrative building, a helipad, a free-standing daycare centre, 2,400 car parking facilities, five shelters for civil defence, a 450m enclosed atrium, a roof garden and children’s play areas, installation of two lifts, and security equipment.

COMPLETION March 2024

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PROGRESS REPORT

Final update

DMCC says super-tall Uptown Tower achieves 20% completion rate 340m tower in Uptown District in JLT will be completed on schedule in Q1 2022

D

MCC, the Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, and master developer of Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) in Dubai, has announced that work is progressing well on its 81-floor Uptown Tower project, which has achieved a 20% completion rate.

Once completed, the 340-metretall tower will feature 188 luxury hotel rooms and suites, exclusive restaurants and health spas, along with extensive conference facilities, Grade A office spaces, and 229 design-branded residences.

In a statement, the authority said that the building- Uptown Tower – would be guided by a smart and sustainable construction strategy. The project will be LEED Gold certified and home to a DMCC Business Hub. Pre-leasing on the project is expected to commence later this year, with the first super-tall tower in March 2020 | MEConstructionNews.com

the Uptown District on schedule for completion in Q1 2022, DMCC added.

The contract for the project was awarded in January 2019 to Six Construct – the entity of BESIX Group in the Middle East. As of February 2020, the enabling, piling and substructure works have been completed, the statement confirmed.

“Uptown Tower will be an exciting addition to Dubai’s iconic skyline, but it will also enhance the world-class business hub curated in Jumeirah Lakes Towers by DMCC. The Uptown Dubai district will increase the commercial appeal of Dubai; attracting both businesses and residents to the existing community of 100,000 people,” said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Uptown Tower has been designed to replicate the brilliance of diamonds through its faceted glass façade, which will also illuminate interior spaces with natural light, while also filtering out harsh glare.

The tower will sit at the heart of the Uptown Dubai district – a 24hour neighbourhood with high-end dining and retail options, a central entertainment plaza and several high-profile hotels and businesses.

AccorHotels is set to bring its luxury hospitality and residential boutique brand, SO/ to the project.

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