Energy Digital - Brochure 2017

Se pte mber 2017

www.energydigital.com

WINNING THE RENE WABLE WAR

HOW THE FUTURE OF US MILITARY ENERGY POLICY IS ALL ABOUT RENEWABLES, DESPITE THE POLITICS OF ITS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

TOP 10 GREENEST SPORT FRANCHISES

SUSTAINABILITY’S EARLY ADOPTER

SONGAS: ENERGISING TANZANIA

FOREWORD WELCOME TO THE September edition of Energy Digital magazine.

We start with a look at the US Military and its approach towards sustainability, in particular its uptake of renewable energy sources. Drawing on comments from several personnel in energy and military circles, the feature explores how far the US forces have come and what is left to be done to hit its ambitious targets.

Craig Riley also knows a thing or two about sustainability, studying the subject well before it became the buzzword it is today. Now Leader of Corporate Advisory & Sustainability Services at AECOM, Riley is involved in some ground breaking corporate sustainability projects, especially in the airport space.

Our top 10 also highlights green credentials, this time looking at sports franchises.

Finally, be sure to read exclusive company insights from the likes of UPC Renewables, Civmec and Songas.

As always, please tweet your feedback to @EnergyDigital.

www.energydigital.com www.bizclikmedia.com

F E AT U R E S

INSIGHT

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WINNING THE RENEWABLE WAR

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

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SUSTAINABILITY’S

EARLY ADOPTER

TOP 10

Greenest sport franchises

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INSIGHT

WINNING THE RENEWABLE WAR PRAGMATISM IS DRIVING A SHIFT IN US MILITARY POLICY ON RENEWABLE ENERGY

W r i t t e n b y : S A LTA N AT B E R D I K E E V A

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September 2017

(Image credit: United States Navy photo by Rick Naystatt/Released)

A view of solar panels recently installed on the roof of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Headquarters, Old Town Complex.

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INSIGHT RESILIENT, SUSTAINABLE AND adequate sources of energy are key elements of the energy strategy of the US armed forces. In recent years, that kind of fuel includes renewable energy. While environmental issues may not necessarily be the main driving forces for the US Department of Defense (DoD) when it comes to energy, the US military, the country’s major institutional energy consumer, acknowledges that renewable energy is often safer than fossil fuels in meeting its needs.

The US military consumes over 100mn barrels of oil per year, which leaves troops exposed to enemy attacks. Besides, vulnerability of oil prices and a potential rise in global oil demand raises concerns within the DoD regarding its ability to access reliable fuel sources during its critical missions.

Many military leaders admit that climate change poses national and international security threats, contributing to more social, political and economic instability of vulnerable countries and necessitating troop deployments. The military sees climate change as an accelerant of global conflicts. In practical terms, DoD 10

September 2017

realises that an over-reliance on fossil fuels could undermine its resilience during a power grid failure or reduce its fighting capability if energy supplies are compromised at the time of war.

“The military recognises the importance of renewable energy in achieving their missions in more effective ways,” says Galen Nelson, Director of Innovation at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, who collaborates with military leaders in the Bay State on clean energy projects. “Military leaders are committed to incorporating clean energy into their assets, not least because the cost of renewable energy has come down dramatically in recent years.”

While the military has no plans to fully do away with fossil fuels, support for renewable energy has risen in all branches of the US Armed Forces.

The Pentagon relies on renewables both for military installations at home and in combat zones. In compliance with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, military installations and facilities in the US are required to be energy efficient and produce or buy 25% of their total

WINNING THE RENEWABLE WAR

Military leaders are committed to incorporating clean energy into their assets, not least because the cost of renewable energy has come down dramatically in recent years�

(Image credit: United States Marine Corps photo)

GALEN NELSON, Director of Innovation, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center

A combat engineer with Brigade Headquarters Group, Marine Expeditionary Brigade–Afghanistan, opens solar panels on a solar-powered water purification system.

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(Image credit: United States Army photo)

INSIGHT

Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers bring clean water to rural villages in Mahmudiyah. facility energy use from renewable sources by 2025. Regardless of the legislative requirements, the military energy policy is driven by cost reduction, energy efficiency and resilience; renewable energy has been an integral part of it.

Depending on geographical locations across the US, military installations get electricity from solar, wind, geothermal, waste-toenergy landfill gas and biomass.

A priority for forward-operating bases abroad and combat zones is to mitigate an operational energy burden, while maintaining or 12

September 2017

improving mission effectiveness and minimising harm on troops.

DoD emphasises diversification of operational energy supplies in combat zones to reduce a risk of attacks on troops at fuel resupply lines.

Renewable technologies, such as solar devices for servicemen, wasteto-energy, solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles and other ways of using locally-sourced energy, are key to fuel diversification goals. “The Pentagon has a number of renewable energy contracts in the procurement pipeline that locks the military into a low-priced energy from renewable sources and

WINNING THE RENEWABLE WAR

provides strategic diversity across the energy supply chain,” said James Goudreau, retired US Navy Captain and former acting deputy assistant secretary of Navy for Energy.

“Not many Americans understand the value of renewable energy,” says Goudreau, who advocated for a deeper penetration of renewable energy sources as assets for the military during his service in the Pentagon. “The practical application and efficiency of renewable energy in the combat zone and in disaster relief efforts are paramount. For instance, at the individual level, a marine carries a 120-pound pack with water and batteries. By using a small rollup solar panel, he can drop 25 pounds from the pack and carry more ammunition instead, or just have the ability to move lighter and faster. Similarly, in disaster relief situations, a marine can carry more emergency supplies.”

In 2009, marines in Afghanistan started using solar panels to power batteries for communication devices, GPS and night-vision goggles in their fights against the Taliban.

Solar panels also helped marines to turn off generators, thereby, eluding enemy detection. Mobile

solar-powered convoys are able to move stealthily through enemy zones.

On track The US Armed Forces set out ambitious goals to increase total energy consumption from renewable sources: Army – 25% by 2025; Navy – 50% by 2020; and Air Force – 25% of total electricity use from alternative energy by 2025. As military renewable power projects tripled to 1,390 between 2011 and 2015, which has benefited green energy contractors, primarily, utilities and solar companies, the military’s oil consumption fell by 20% from 2007 to 2015.

“While reliance on a specific renewable technology is not the main driver for the Air Force, and it is more a matter what can be used to achieve energy resilience and efficiency, solar has been the dominant source of clean energy for us at the base,” says Air Force Maj. Shawn Doyle with the Otis Air National Guard Base in Joint Base Cape Cod, Massachusetts. With the ultimate goal of making base energy infrastructure self-sufficient by using microgrids and relying less on public utilities, Maj. Doyle says that the Department of Defense is exploring 13

INSIGHT the use of deployable microgrids and energy storage in the military, which are currently at a testing phase.

There is a common agreement among former and current military servicemen interviewed for this article that renewable energy is important to meeting two main recent energy goals of the US armed forces – resilience and efficiency. In response to the question – what energy resilience means to the military – retired Army Colonel and former Chief of US Army Operational Energy Office Paul Roege explains: “Resilience is the ability to survive and thrive under a changing situation that can happen quickly or over a long-term, and be able to recover quickly from an attack, whether it is cyber or physical, or due to changing global climate. And renewable energy is an important piece of the puzzle for military’s energy resilience because it can improve reliability.” It seems that the energy goals in the military mirror the civilian realities. Goudreau explains: “Not only military is focused on resilience, but more US states and cities are focused on it because of the pain they face under the changing global climate and impacts of extreme weather.”

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“The military will not only continue to increase its use of renewable energy, but will also create value through renewables and strengthen their reliability” PAUL ROEGE, retired Army Colonel and former Chief of US Army Operational Energy Office

Undeterred While President Donald Trump is poised to undo green energy policies and regulations of President Obama, one government institution that seems to be determined to continue pursuing renewables is the US military.

It has an ally in using green energy and in recognising the threats of climate change to national security – the US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. After a major assault on US troops in Baghdad in 2003, Secretary Mattis has pushed for the military to move away

(Image credit: (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kristin Ruleau)

WINNING THE RENEWABLE WAR

A Staff Sergeant checks a solar-powered security system May 30 at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. from oil to green technologies in order to help troops reduce the threat of attacks on fuel supplies.

Renewable energy saves lives and that matters to military leaders.

For the foreseeable future, the US armed forces are locked into petroleum-based products for decades to come, since most of the military equipment runs on fossil fuels. “But for operational efficiency and practical use, the military will continue investing in renewable energy under President Trump,” says Goudreau. He believes any

increase in renewable energy use in the military will be gradual.

Roege concludes: “Military is not going to change its stance on renewable energy because it has already made the justification for and the connection between, green energy and resilience. Resilience resonates with the new [Trump] administration, so it will not change the military’s energy policy. The military will not only continue to increase its use of renewable energy, but will also create value through renewables and strengthen their reliability.”

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

SUSTAINABILITY’S

EARLY ADOPTER AECOM’s Craig Riley invested himself in sustainability well before it became the buzzword it is today. Now he is helping organisations to embrace it on ecological, social and financial fronts Wr it te n by: TO M WA D LOW

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y “I WOULD SAY I was into sustainability before it was called sustainability,” muses Craig Riley, Leader of Corporate Advisory & Sustainability Services at AECOM. “I was part of an early cohort of people who got technical degrees, in my case environmental science and chemistry, which are now the scientific underpinning of the sustainability discussion.”

Such discussion is firmly rooted into the minds of the conscious consumer; consumers who are placing increasing

pressure on organisations to demonstrate custodianship and be transparent about the provenance of their products and services.

Yet before the turn of the century, the term sustainability was something of an unknown beyond environmental circles. Even recycling, the simplest form of sustainable activity now so engrained into our everyday lives, barely entered the conscience.

So, why did Riley chose to go into the (relatively) unknown at the time he did? “This gets to the heart of the broader passion for my work,” he

“How do we make this airport more sustainable in the areas we don’t control?

That is the key question, and a vast challenge” 20

September 2017

CRAIG RILEY Leader of Corporate Advisory & Sustainability Services, AECOM

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y ’ S E A R LY A D O P T E R

says. “I never pursued this for the money, nor was it the sexy thing to do.

I started studying these things back in the 90s because I understood the critical nature of doing this work.

“Yes we’re consultants here at AECOM doing this as a business, but what drives this work is a much bigger agenda – the mission critical nature of what we do. This is vital for species, our planet and, at the end of the day, for business longevity as well.”

In Riley’s on own words, his CV of sustainable and business certifications sits behind his name like alphabet soup. He is accredited

as a LEED AP (BD+C), a certified sustainability professional (ISSP-CSP), certified in the GRI Sustainability Reporting Process, and also holds an MBA “because the language of business is really what makes the world move around”. Starting out in scientific and technical consulting at AECOM in 1999, Riley’s experience soon expanded into green building and corporate sustainability strategy and management.

COMMON LANGUAGE What became clear to Riley very quickly was that sustainability and business language needed to marry.

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y As a consultant he is used to defining sustainability for clients, the specifics of which vary on a case-bycase basis, but there are some wider definitions he points to that have held up over the years. “I still look back to some of the definitions that have stood the test of time, for example the triple bottom line that was coined by Elkington and adopted by practitioners in the late 90s and 2000s,” he says.

“I do see sustainability as being a strong balance between environmental, social and economic considerations. This is a balance that has to be constantly managed.

You have to look beyond the pure financial business case.”

While these fundamentals may not be hotly disputed, defining sustainable practice on various scales, from an individual’s lifestyle to a multinational corporation, is open to a chasm of interpretation. The language of sustainability is thus vitally important, especially for AECOM and its clients at an organisational level.

“It’s very important that definitions in organisations are consistently understood,” Riley continues. “If a sustainability programme is going to be successful there truly has to be a 22

September 2017

tone from the top signalling support – there must be meaningful policy and governance from the leadership and a strategy that can be conveyed.

With the right plans and policies in place, sustainability becomes a behavioural part of the organisation - going all the way down through the organization and then up again form the bottom, in that we must support a culture where the workforce is motivated and incentivised.”

Depending on what that organisation is, Riley and AECOM have to be adaptable. “I have found an approach that makes sense, and what AECOM offers is a flexibility to consult on a project basis or the entire programme, from defining what sustainability is to implementation or auditing,” he continues. “Each time we come into an engagement we realise each plan or approach has to customised – some organisations have more money to spend and want to move the needle, and others only want to dabble in certain areas, so you have to be nimble and responsive.”

SKY’S THE LIMIT There is no better demonstration of this requisite than at airports. This

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y ’ S E A R LY A D O P T E R

Enormous levels of detail go into AECOM’s construction of a sustainability plan

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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

represents a key area of business for AECOM and one that clearly excites Riley, not least because he can go in and implement the entire strategic package but also assess individual topics and develop implementation plans.

Starting with visioning sessions, AECOM determines key priorities and maps out programmatic areas.

Granted, airports are enormous producers of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), noise and waste, but Riley has first-hand experience of how seriously sustainability is taken in the aviation sphere.

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“Sustainability for the industry is massive,” he says. “Airports are mini cities - they are a gateway to and from a region. Each industry has its ‘social license’ issues. Airports are enormous economic engines and passengers, and the community often have pride in their local airport while at the same time want to hold the airport accountable for noise and local air pollution issues.

“This isn’t to say these airports don’t already have policies for air pollution and noise, but by integrating these into a sustainability plan we can engage with stakeholders and

CASE STUDY

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y ’ S E A R LY A D O P T E R

AECOM is creating and implementing a Sustainability Management Plan for San Diego International Airport, focusing on five key areas - air quality and greenhouse gas emissions, climate resilience, waste management and recycling, clean transportation, and biodiversity. Riley comments: “San Diego has already done an incredible amount of work in making the airport more sustainable in areas such as waste management and carbon neutrality.

Our job here is to develop the action and implementation plan to achieve these goals.” More about the sustainability programme for the airport can be found here.

have a much broader and more engaging discussions. It brings the airport to life in some ways.”

From airline carriers and ground transportation companies to retail outlets and parking operators, airports contain numerous different stakeholders. This leads inevitably to the question of whether this in itself presents Riley an additional challenge. “It really does,” he answers.

“All of these different entities have varying levels of interest in sustainability. Airports realise they can implement actions on carbon, energy and waste on their own where they have more control, but where airports are starting to look now is

how do they engage tenants, lease holders and suppliers like ground transportation companies, taxis, transportation firms like Uber and others. How do we make this airport more sustainable in the areas we don’t control? That is the key question many clients are asking, and it is a vast challenge – with airports and all other sectors that also rely on other entities to implement their business model.”

While Riley admits there is no silver bullet, and that different airports bring with them different challenges, he does revert back to the importance of initiative being shown at the very top. “If the airport director is saying we take sustainability seriously, 25

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y and if you want to operate here then you need to engage, then progress will be made,” he adds.

CHEMISTRY Riley’s work with AECOM stretches beyond the public/transportation sector into private enterprises working in numerous industries. Though one of his primary areas is airports, manufacturing is another area of current excitement, in part because a particular project has reignited an interest in chemistry.

While we cannot divulge names or much specific detail, Riley does explain how the work came about.

“In the last year we worked for one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear, and outdoor brands – one of the brands that is actually leading on sustainability,” Riley says. “They came to us to look at chemistry, a topic that no-one is really talking about yet.”

AECOM examined the industry at a global level to determine the current state of management on chemistry, and how big a deal green chemistry is. Riley, who holds a degree in the science, along with his team, developed a corporate white paper for the client to use as a basis for setting a new corporate strategy.

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OPTIMISM And it is businesses setting new sustainable strategies and forging ahead with new focuses that will ensure it remains effectively implemented on the ecological, social and financial fronts that Riley mentioned at the outset.

Riley is a sustainable optimist, despite the air of unease since President Trump won the US election last year. What impact, if any, will this have on organisations truly embracing sustainability?

“This is the million dollar question,” Riley says. “Nobody has an answer yet.

S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y ’ S E A R LY A D O P T E R

However, in the sectors I work in and the businesses I work with, the reasons for doing these things transcend regulation - the sustainability drivers are more important than regulation. And when you can convey this in a business setting it becomes much more powerful.”

Whether it be opening up new revenues, shoring up your social license, cutting costs, diversifying expertise or reducing risk, there are numerous cases to be made for taking corporate sustainable strategy seriously, not least because consumer

expectations continue to grow.

Riley concludes: “There is a demand for transparency and action among client customers, financial stakeholders, and the public at large. There are critical reasons why sustainability is important for business, and I believe this will become louder during the Trump era. I believe there will be a pendulum effect where corporations are more willing to say why they’re addressing these topics.”

“I never pursued this for the money, nor was it the sexy thing to do. I started studying these things back in the 90s because I understood the critical nature of doing this work” CRAIG RILEY Leader of Corporate Advisory & Sustainability Services 27

T O P 10

T O P GREENE 10 S T S P FRANCH ORT ISES

A s gl o b a l w a r mi n g, a nd a ho s t o f o t h e p o ll u t i o n , d e f o r e s t a t ion r e nv ir o n gr ow mo m en t re f r a n c hi s e t h r e a t e nin g , p r o f e a l p r o b l em s s a r o und s t he wo r ld sio na l s p o r t s me e t t h e a r e r i s in g c h a ll e n g i n up t o g . F r om en s t a di a t o e r g y- e f f i wa s te re cie n t ve g a n - o n c y c l i n g pr o gr am ly conces s a nd s i o n s t a nd m f o o t b a ll c e nu s , t h e t e a m s a n lu b s , c r i c ke t s q u se ad s , b a s d A me r i c k e t b a ll an fo ot ba ll f r a n c h i c o mm i t t e ses are d to sus t a i n a b ili t y ‌ Writte

n by: A NDRE

W WO OD

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LORDS

Last February, Lord’s, ‘the home of cricket’, was the first cricket club to be run entirely on green electricity. Home to England and Middlesex, Lord’s now only uses power derived from renewable sources following its successful reduction of electricity use (by 7%) since 2010. The club now sources power from wind farms and the photovoltaic roof panels of the new Warner Stand, which also has a state-of-the-art water collection and recycling system. The club has also cut down food wastage by ‘dewatering’ food and has restricted freight transport emissions by offering a seasonal menu of locally-sourced ingredients.

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SPORT’S GREENEST FRANCHISES

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians franchise is demonstrating its commitment to sustainability with a three-pronged approach. First, the team’s Progressive Field ballpark managed to slash its energy consumption by 6mn KW a year. Thanks to those savings, the park can run almost entirely on clean energy from local solar panels and wind turbines.

Further to that, since 2007 the team’s aggressive recycling program has conserved 35 tonnes of aluminium, 137 tonnes of cardboard and 63 tonnes of paper. Plus, the team saves heaps of food scraps left over from concessions and converts them into rich compost and fertilisers.

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PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Lincoln Financial Field, home to the Philadelphia Eagles, is one of the greenest stadiums in the world. The parking lots are dotted with more than 11,000 solar panels, and 14 industrial-size wind turbines decorate the roof; that’s six times more electricity than the stadium needs for every Eagle’s home game combined, meaning this franchise is actually offsetting fossil fuel power that would have been used by the surrounding city. The Eagles are also committed to reducing waste – less than 1% of their trash ends up in landfills, and all cups and flatware used in the stadium are biodegradable.

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SPORT’S GREENEST FRANCHISES

OHIO BUCKEYES

US college football team the Ohio Buckeyes play their home games at the ground dubbed ‘Zero Waste’ Ohio Stadium. In 2011, the stadium owners initiated its program to ultimately achieve zero waste and 90% of trash is currently diverted from landfill through recycling and composting, for which receptacles are placed throughout the stadium and its concourse. Its training centre has a 101kw, 237-panel solar array on its roof and the college campus derives 21% of its electricity from wind. Ohio State wishes to achieve total carbon neutrality by 2050.

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ADELAIDE CROWS

The Australian Football League is known for hard men and harder hits, but this club has a soft spot when it comes to the environment. The club has helped lead more than 200,000 citizens to join in Australia’s National Tree Day. Each July 27, the Adelaide Crows players join local schoolchildren and volunteers in a planning effort to provide more habitat for wild animals and offset carbon emissions. The kids get to meet their heroes and learn to care for the environment at the same time. To date, more than 23mn trees have been planted throughout Australia.

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SPORT’S GREENEST FRANCHISES

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

The Knight Riders are a legendary cricket club in the Indian Premier League, and they play at the even more legendary Eden Gardens cricket ground. As of 2017, the 66,000-seat stadium has completely eliminated plastic from its operations. Plastic bags, one of the most abundant sources of pollution in the world’s oceans, have been replaced with biodegradable paper, and vendors are being encouraged to eliminate other plastics as well. The Knight Riders’ new policy teams up with the Cricket Association of Bengal’s own initiative to encourage environmentalism throughout the region.

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FOREST GREEN ROVERS

Forest Green Rovers, affectionately known as the “little club on the hill,” shocked the world in 2017 with their unexpected promotion to the English Football League. But just as worthy of headlines is the club’s commitment to eco-friendly principles. The Rovers claim to be the world’s first 100% vegan football club. Hamburgers were replaced with veggie burgers at the squad’s matches in 2011, and today all cow milkbased products have been replaced with soy and oat milk. Reducing demand for animal products helps to limit carbon emissions, and the Rovers have also installed solar panels on their stadium roof.

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September 2017

SPORT’S GREENEST FRANCHISES

SACRAMENTO KINGS

One of the National Basketball Association’s least-known teams plays in the league’s greenest arena. Golden 1 Credit Union Center – the Sacramento Kings’ new home – is the first full-service LEED Platinum certified sports stadium in the entire world. The arena runs entirely on solar power, much of which is generated by panels on the stadium’s roof. The arena also reduces its power conception by letting the region’s naturally cool breezes flow through massive sets of doors.

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T O P 10

ATLANTA FALCONS

The Atlanta Falcons brand new home, fittingly called New Atlanta Stadium, is set to the be the National Football League’s most environmentally-friendly facility. The stadium solar panels will help to offset its energy consumption, but the most innovative feature is its rainwater collection system. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water will be captured by the stadium over the course of a year. That water will be used for internal cooling, irrigation of the field, and as an emergency water reserve in case of disaster.

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September 2017

SPORT’S GREENEST FRANCHISES

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

The city of Portland, Oregon, is known for its hippie vibe and the lush forests that surround it, so it’s only logical the local basketball franchise has a green thumb. The Trail Blazer’s new arena was designed with energy efficiency in mind and the team is also innovating by encouraging forest growth. The franchise’s “3’s for Trees” program pledges to plant three new trees for every 3-point basket the team makes each season. Last year, the program led to 3,300 new trees being planted in nearby areas.

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ELECTRIFYING

TANZANIA

Wr i t ten by: N el l Wal ker Produced by: G reg Churchil l

Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director of Songas, explains how the company is supplying much-needed energy to Tanzania

“

It’s very important for everybody to have access to reliable electricity, and I think that Africa generally suffers in comparison with the rest of the world.”

Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director of Songas, holds these beliefs that mirror those of his company and its parent company, Globeleq. Songas is a major player in the electricity sector for Tanzania, and has been since it became operational in 2004. The company uses natural gas from Songo Songo Island and processes it on location, before transporting it along a 225km pipeline to the Ubungo Power Plant in Dar es Salaam, owned and operated by Songas. The gas is then converted into electricity which is sold cheaply to TANESCO to sell on to its customers.

In a nation which relies heavily on

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hydroelectric power via precious water supplies which are subject to droughts, and expensive fuel oil must be imported, Songas’s presence is a necessity.

“Only around 30% of people in Tanzania have access to electricity, but the government has a plan to increase the industrialisation of the country,” says Whittaker. “In order for that to happen, reliable electricity needs to be available so that industry can thrive.

“Currently there’s about 1,100MW of electricity available in Tanzania, and the government wants to increase that to 5,000MW, to develop industrialisation and improve access to electricity. We support that. We want to be a part

AFRICA

w w w. e n e rg y d i g i t a l . c o m

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Matthieu Cecillon, Vice President of Application Engineering for Sub-Saharan

Africa at Siemens says: “The Siemens SGT-800 gas turbine is available in three versions with power output of 47.5, 50.5 and 54.0 MW respectively. The gas turbine combines a robust, reliable design with high efficiency and low emissions. This makes it an ideal choice for municipal and industrial power generation, refineries, and the oil and gas industry. Its high exhaust energy content makes the Siemens SGT800 particularly well suited for combined heat and power and combined-cycle applications. Reliability, environmental compatibility, and low lifecycle costs are the key features of the Siemens SGT-800: With up to 60,000 operating hours (EOH) between major overhauls, low maintenance costs, and an excellent electrical efficiency, the Siemens machine achieves the lowest lifecycle costs and the best combinedcycle efficiency within its class.”

The Siemens SGT-800 is a single-shaft machine with 15 compressor stages. The first three stages have variable guide vanes.

To minimize leakage over the blade tips, abradable seals are applied to stages four to fifteen. The three-stage turbine is built as one module and is bolted to the compressor shaft to provide for easy maintenance. The turbine stator flanges are air-cooled to reduce running clearances and improve efficiency.

The overall design of the Siemens SGT-800 gas turbine ensures easy service access to the combustor and the burners. The cold end of the gas turbine is connected to the generator via a reduction gear unit; this reduces the turbine speed from 6,600 rpm down to 1,500/1,800 rpm. The Siemens SGT-800 gas turbines are equipped with Dry Low Emissions (DLE) combustion system to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. The combustion system is designed to operate on both gas and liquid fuels and it’s capable of on-line switchover between fuels.

SONGAS LIMITED

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of that programme, because we’re we’re constantly generating,” part of the solution in Tanzania.” explains Whittaker. “We are Whittaker has 35 years of running 24/7, and our electricity experience in energy, including is the cheapest thermal generator 25 in power generation. Having in East Africa; we sell to TANESCO worked for big industry names like at about six cents a kilowatt.”

Powergen, E.ON, and Sumitomo, This not only benefits citizens Whittaker took on his current role wanting electricity from a clean, with Songas in 2015, and reliable, cost-effective has been applying source, but ensures his expertise to the that Songas remains well-established a top choice as a company ever supplier. Globeleq, since this time. one of Songas’ When Songas’ shareholders, is business began, dedicated to power Number of it was the only development employees at Songas gas fired generator in Africa in the country and it and works supplied between 30-50% hard to supply of the electricity in Tanzania. While electricity on the continent, it is more like 25%, the company a known driver for social and remains an extremely important economic development. part of the local electricity Using Tanzanian gas, Songas generation sector. This is due in can continue to provide electricity part to its very high availability more economically than the fuel (98%) and a load factor of 92%. oil generators which have to import “Songas is very important to the gas into the country; this has Tanzania because it’s reliable and saved Tanzania billions of US dollars

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since its operations began in 2004. Songas uses reliable infrastructure which means that there is no need to constantly update its technology.

“The company has not changed a lot since we went operational in 2004,” says Whittaker. “Prior to that there was a lot of time and effort involved in developing the gas process and the building of the pipeline, upgrading the old plant by converting it to gas, and adding new units. Since then the plant has been running in a stable operation.”

While stability is something to aspire to, it can never be quite enough when a business can do so much more and with its excellent service in a nation with low rates of electricity consumption. So how can Songas keep doing what it’s doing, but do more of it?

The challenges for Songas are external, and things which will take time to change. Both TANESCO and the Tanzanian government are dealing with struggles which affect Songas, but Whittaker is hopeful.

“The government is hoping to organise a financial package with the World Bank which will alleviate TANESCO’s financial issues, making it financially viable going forward,” he says.

“We’re anxious to see the outcome because it’s important not just for companies like Songas, but the whole financial electricity sector generally.”

Songas is developing a plan to upgrade two of

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“Songas is a thriving business, it runs very well, the plant performance is very good, and the electricity price is low. We think we’ve been a fantastic asset for Tanzania” Nigel Whittaker, Managing Director

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its six units which will enable it to produce more electricity. It’s simpler for the company to upgrade existing units, as the site contain all of the necessary infrastructure already, than to build entirely new facilities, and generation capacity could increase from 180MW to 240MW if the government grants approval.

“Songas is a thriving business, it runs very well, the plant performance is very good, and the electricity price is low. We think we’ve been a fantastic asset for Tanzania. Pan African Energy Tanzania (PAET) recently put some calculations in the newspaper saying that Songo Songo Island gas has saved the Tanzanian government $6.2bn since operations began – money that would otherwise have been spent on producing the same amount of energy with imported fuels. So Songas has been very successful, not just for the shareholders but for Tanzania as a whole.” 54% of Songas’ shares are held by Globeleq and 46% are held by the Government of Tanzania through holdings by

TANESCO, TDC and TDFL. Songas sees a future in which its generating capacity is expanded by about 30%, and its parent company, Globeleq, is extremely interested in pursuing other power development projects as soon as it gets the go-ahead. The gas at Songo Songo Island is sufficient to meet the needs of Songas’s future growth, and the infrastructure is not fully utilised. So while Songas does have to wait for precisely the right environment and the necessary approval, the future certainly looks bright.

“There are enough resources on Songo Songo Island for us to introduce, improve, and increase electricity generation,” Whittaker concludes. “Tanzania will be a very interesting market for us once we can see there’s some stability returned to the electricity sector here.”

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THE POWER OF EL SEWEDY ELECTROMETER GROUP Written by: Nell Walker Produced by: Vincent Kielty

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El Sewedy Electrometer is well established as one of the world’s leading metering companies

W

ith 19mn meters running in 46 countries, and as one of the top 10 metering companies in the world, El Sewedy Electrometer Group (EMG) has come a long way from its wellestablished roots. Sixty years after parent company Zaki El Sewedy was formed, EMG emerged on the scene itself in 1998, and for nearly 20 years it has slowly but surely built its brand and thrived where similar businesses fell behind.

Zaki El Sewedy’s rise to prominence has been a lengthy process, with a rich timeline as follows: • 1938 – Zaki El Sewedy Holding (ZSG) was founded as a supplier of electrical materials in Egypt • 1962 – ZSG was appointed by the Egyptian government as the main supplier of all electrical materials for the largest hydro power plant in Egypt, the Aswan High Dam

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• 1980 – ZSG started investing in industry, starting with the manufacture of power cables, electricity distribution boards, electricity and gas meters, lighting fixtures, and energysaving lamps in addition to its turn-key electrification projects • 1998 – ZSG established El Sewedy Electrometer (EMG), the first private sector company specialising in the design and manufacture of electricity meters in the Middle East • 2004 – EMG founded Ghana Electrometer Ltd, the first metering factory in West Africa, followed by the successful implementation of the e-Cash pre-payment system • 2007 – EMG ventured with EEPCO in Ethiopia Electrometer to produce pre-paid meters in Ethiopia, as well as with ZESCO in Zambia Electrometer • 2008 – EMG partnered with

AFRICA

El Sewedy Electrometer has 19mn meters running in 46 countries

BMG bank in Electrometer do Brazil, in addition to Electrometer de Las Americas in Mexico with CICASA • 2009 – EMG established El Sewedy Electrometer India to supply Asia as well as the rest of the group with quality meters and modules • 2010 – EMG acquired an established meter manufacturer in the Czech Republic to supply Europe and the rest of the world with smart grid solutions EMG is fully-focused on production of

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IEC62055-31 UC3 Compliant • Latching Relay • Manganin Shunt • Current Transformer

Tel: +86 577 28877711 | Fax: +86 577 28877722 www.nicerelay.com | overseas@nicerelay.com nicerelay ncrindustrial

AFRICA

meters, network management services, large electrification projects, and product aftercare. The business expanded facilities in Africa to cover Ghana, Ethiopia, and Zambia respectively. As its success spread, EMG began to globalise, extending facilities to India, Brazil, and Mexico, before penetrating the European market by acquiring ZPA Smart Energies in the Czech Republic.

EMG has attained ISO 9001,

ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certification during its lifetime, and has become a sought-after partner for many other large businesses.

Some of its major recent projects include the North Lebanon Project and the Ghana Ashanti BOT Project, both involving the design, manufacture, supply and installation of various metering systems.

With a portfolio that covers residential, commercial, and industrial

EMG is fully-focused on production of meters, network management services, large electrification projects, and product aftercare. w w w. e n e rg y d i g i t a l . c o m

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EMG remains one of the key meter suppliers in the region

AZAM FOOD LIMITED Manufacturing and selling chips in Bangladesh.

Intelligent Card Limtied Manufacturing and selling Scratch card and SIM card to global market.

Cardzglobal(Beijing) Limtied Manufacturing and selling RFID and smart card to global market.

www.cardzglobal.com.cn No. 57, Gausual Azam Avenue, Sector # 14, Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Tel: +88-02 8933331 | Mobile: +88 01867888888 Facebook: www.facebook.com/david.yu.7906 Email: david@cardzglobal.com.cn

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TONGLI POWER TECHNOLOGY(BD)LIMITED Manufacturing and selling motocycle battery and Car battery.

UPS/IPS battery to global market.

AFRICA

market needs, EMG provides all kinds of meters from pre-payment products to smart meters that communicate with utility companies via GPRS. Productivity is optimised by utilising the latest techniques in lean manufacturing and Six Sigma. Calibration and testing systems are automated, allowing simultaneous manufacture of multiple products without sacrificing accuracy, and the ability to respond to customer delivery demands without risk of human error.

The supply chain is strictly operated and El Sewedy Electrometer demands perfection at every step of the way. The company boasts a solid supplier management mechanism during which allows it to evaluate those suppliers and minimise wasted time along the way. Financial status, product quality, and costs are all analysed, and successful suppliers are invited into open dialogue with EMG to create engaged, powerful relationships.

All of EMG’s products are heavily tested by worldrenowned labs, including OFGEM in the UK, MET Lab in the US, INMETRO in Brazil, LAPEM in Mexico, ERDA in India, and many more to ensure all products are of the highest quality. There are prestigious R&D houses in Egypt, India, and the Czech Republic, among other nations. Five percent of the company’s annual revenue is poured into R&D, as it refuses to buy ready-made designs and place its logo on them – EMG prefers to develop the concept itself.

El Sewedy Electrometer smart meters come with a flexible design to communicate via GPRS, RF or PLC

The EMG production line

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EL SEWEDY ELECTROMETER

EMG meters undergo thorough testing

‘EMG wants to enable its customers to manage their own utilities without difficulty, and offers comprehensive services to tackle that. The business consider itself a total solution provider with a focus on quality and customer service’ 60

September 2017

AFRICA

Mahmoud Shawky OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Mohamed Shawky is the Director of Operations and is a member of the management committee.

He is responsible for overseeing Elsewedy Electrometer’s daily operational activities including manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and performance reporting. He plays effective role in the top management committee regarding the firm’s performance, day-to-day operations and overall strategic planning.

El Sewedy Electrometer always keeps its eye out for growth opportunities, as despite being part of a specific market, it doesn’t have one single focus. Demand for meters is always there, meaning the business remains unaffected by the economic climate. Utilities and private companies alike require EMG’s services, and if anything, the requirements are growing due to the increasing connectedness of developing nations.

El Sewedy Electrometer’s slogan is ‘Manage Utilities Better’, which reflects its belief that its responsibilities lie beyond meters themselves and the aftercare thereof. EMG wants to

enable its customers to manage their own utilities without difficulty, and offers comprehensive services to tackle that. The business consider itself a total solution provider with a focus on quality and customer service.

What truly sets El Sewedy apart from other companies in the industry is experience. Its leaders have a great deal of experience in the industry, and EMG now has 10 factories across five continents, cementing that global leadership with a production capacity of more than five million meters a year.

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POWERING THROUGH Down Under Written by: Niki Waldegrave Produced by: Mariana Lee

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Global energy giant UPC Renewables has just launched in Australia.

Founder Brian Caffyn tells Niki Waldegrave its plans for expansion in Australia and elsewhere

U

PC, led by UPC Group Chairman, Brian Caffyn – who founded the company – developed more than 50 wind farms and 20 solar projects in countries including Italy, the US, Indonesia, Morocco, China, Canada, Vietnam, India and the Philippines, UPC Renewables has finally launched Down Under.

The leading energy player develops, finances, constructs, owns and operates a portfolio of wind power generation assets as an IPP (Independent Power Producer) and its Australian arm went live in June.

Its first project is to develop one of the southern hemisphere’s largest wind farms at Robbins Island and Jims Plain in Tasmania. The projects, once built, will cost between $1.0bn

and $1.6bn and boast an aggregated output potential of between 600MW and 1,000MW of wind energy potential. This is a nice addition to the company’s 3,500+ MWs of renewable energy and $6.6bn capital that’s been deployed across three continents over the last 21 years.

“The Australian opportunity is really quite big, both in wind and solar energy,” says Caffyn. “We typically look at three to five-year cycles from the start of our Greenfield projects in wind. In solar it can be quite a bit shorter, maybe one to two years. You spend a lot of money for a long time and then you hope you hit it big.

“The Robbin’s Island project development will be shorter in time - there’s a lot of work that’s already being done. But we’re going to have

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to move on the environmental side as some of the rules have changed since they did the original work.”

Connecticut-born Caffyn has spent the last few years living between Indonesia and the Philippines, but has moved to Australia to ensure things move quickly.

“We’ve got a decent shot of getting planning permission within 18 months and then it’s really down to, ‘are we going to be able to sell the power into Tasmania or are we going to need to have a second connector before we start delivering the power?’

“Either one of those options is going to take some transmission work. There’s some onshore work in Tasmania that needs to be done, then the whole programming for the undersea cable.”

Caffyn says UPC is agnostic on the technology, using “whichever wind turbine or solar panel which happens to be the best and most economical at the time”, and prides itself on supplying renewable energy at the best price possible in a socially responsible way.

UPC has enjoyed strong growth

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in China over recent years, and plans to continue growing this aggressively over the next 18 months.

In China, UPC is constructing the Feicheng Wind Project 50MW and Kangping II and III Wind Project 98MW. French utility giant, Electricite de France (EDF), came in as an 80% owner in June, 2016.

“That was a big deal for us,” he says, “because we had other investors, who were not really allowing us to grow the business properly, so we had to take them out and bring EDF in.”

In Indonesia, it has the 75MW Sidrap Wind Farm in South Sulawesi in construction, which is the country’s first utility scale wind farm which consists of 30 Gamesa G114 2.5MW turbines and is scheduled to begin selling power to PLN when it goes live near the end of this year.

“That took a lot of work,” he explains, “because we had to educate the government and utility (PLN) about how Wind works. Having negotiated the first power contract for wind, Caffyn explains. “We’re hoping to get three more projects into construction in Indonesia, which

2017

The year UPC would be close to 100 Renewables MW in total in 2018.” was founded The company is “In expanding rapidly in Indonesia, Southeast Asia and has just there’s only one utility – PLN,” he launched in Vietnam and India. In says. “But in China, you sell to one of India, UPC just became an owner of the grid companies. In Vietnam, it’s the two in-construction solar projects, same – one, big state utility. There are totaling almost 100MW - the first a few different models in Australia. projects for its regional solar initiative.

“You have private parties with “We are focusing on solar in a large more potential different players, number of countries in Southeast but you also might have a state Asia. India and Vietnam are two of government giving you a longthem, Vietnam also looks like a good term contract for differences.” wind market over the medium term.

He claims UPC is eyeing at least We expect to be able to get into six more new projects over the next some additional countries at least on 18 months in Australia and Indonesia the solar side over the next year.” and while each country has its own

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set of challenging circumstances, Caffyn says it’s really a matter of coming up with different or imaginative ways of doing things.

“In Australia, as an example,” he adds, “it was a power contract market, meaning that nobody was really building anything unless they had a power contract.

Recently it’s moved into more of a merchant market.”

UPC’s competitive edge is that it’s smaller than the big utilities

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and large independents, and has the ability to bring in low cost equipment and financing and handles its own construction and operations management and as a long term owner commits to staying with projects rather than just selling out at the end of development.

“If you have the expectation that you’re just going to get out of it soon, then all you care about is, ‘How do I make sure that I can get to the next stage, then make this money to sell it, right?” Caffyn says.

“It’s very different than looking at it and saying, ‘it may not happen but I’m going to assume that I

“If you have the mentality that you’re going to be in the business long-term, then you care a lot more about all the decisions along the way” – Brian Caffyn, Chairman, UPC Group

AUSTRALIA

own this thing for 20 years’. In Australia, a lot of developers do the front-end development work –permitting, permissions and stuff – then they try to sell it to somebody who takes the next step.

“That step is more detailed, incorporating design and build, machinery etc. And you have to figure out getting final planning permission, all of the construction arrangements and then packaging, financing of debt and raising equity. Then it’s construction, management and operations.

“We like to stay in the whole thing all the way through. If you have the mentality that you’re going to be in the business long-term, then you care a lot more about all the decisions along the way.”

www.energydigital.com

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DIVERSIFICATION

and EXPANSION

at CIVMEC Written by: John O’Hanlon Produced by: Josef Smith

The Australian multi-disciplinary contractor is scaling up at an impressive rate to consolidate its position as the go-to provider of all types of infrastructure, at the same time targeting new markets

CIVMEC

S

ince early 2016 when we last spoke to Pat Tallon, the energetic CEO of Civmec, the company seems to have grown almost as much as in the whole of the seven years since it came into existence. Well, not quite, but if the plans he is pursuing come to full fruition, that really could be the case at least in another year as far as the order book is concerned.

It hasn’t been an easy year. Over the last 12 to 18 months the market appeared to be slowing down as investment declined and the Australian resources industries in particular suffered a number of knocks.

Over that time Civmec has been doing the usual

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prudent things, like casting around for the contracts that were still being put out for tender and doing what it could to develop its market. One thing it did not do was to retrench.

As Tallon explains: “We took a calculated risk and retained much of our overhead, in particular our people. We didn’t want to lose the skills and qualities of our experienced teams, so we retained those people and set them to work on estimating and project winning, targeting four or

five jobs that we liked the look of.”

If Civmec didn’t win the work, perhaps that decision might have been a set back, but they did secure the projects, and now has the healthiest order book in its history, with jobs totalling around $580mn secured. The sweet thing, he adds, is that having refused to mothball any of its capacity or lay off staff, it has all the resources needed to meet its contractual commitments and can even add to the order book as opportunities arise

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EcoFilter® by

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They chose BioAir Solutions.

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CIVMEC

The Forgacs facilities in Newcastle are quite close to Sydney, with about 24 hectares of waterfront land, and there is a lot of infrastructuretype work in Sydney at the moment

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without increasing its overhead at all.

All that could translate into a significant upside in the current financial year.

With between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in Western Australia supported by its activities, Civmec is bound to be well regarded by the state administration, particularly its new Premier, Mark McGowan, appointed in March this year – he won with a 10% swing in votes, with employment a key target.

Last year we were talking about the steelwork Civmec was installing at Perth’s stunning new stadium.

Civmec’s scope was completed on time to an extremely high quality, though a lot remains to be done before the facility is ready to open.

New pipeline Let’s have a look at some of the projects that are now current – they all have a story to tell. Foremost is probably the award in November last year to Civmec in a 50/50 joint venture with Black & Veatch (B&V, one of the leading wastewater treatment engineers in the world) to design and construct a major

Pat Tallon CEO Patrick John Tallon was appointed to our Board on 27 March 2012. He is responsible for the development and performance of the Group, including building culture and leadership. Over the past 28 years, Tallon has accumulated significant knowledge and experience in all aspects of the construction industry and has been involved in many major oil and gas, mining and infrastructure projects.

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1,600 upgrade to the Water Corporation of Western Australia’s Woodman Point Wastewater Treatment Plant. This job ticks a lot of boxes. It is the first time Civmec has taken on a job for this client – it is a local project and this is critical infrastructure for the region, treating wastewater for about 680,000 people living south of the Swan River.

The upgrade will see its capacity increased to 180mn litres a day.

There’s a lot of water infrastructure investment needed in Australia, so this could lead to a major new segment for the company, as Tallon adds: “It is also an EPC alliance project which is somewhat different from our standard contractual model: herein this situation there’s a target price put on the job and the joint venture partners are very focused on bringing in the project under that budget.”

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Number of employees at Civmec

Many of Civmec’s long standing clients are in mining, and currently some 60% of the current order book stems from this sector. “We are doing a large job for Rio Tinto in Queensland,” Tallon says. “Rio Tinto is expanding output from one of the world’s premier bauxite deposits following approval of the $1.9bn Amrun project.”

It involves a full package of work, including civil engineering, fabrication, electrical work and the like. The steelwork will be fabricated at Civmec’s Henderson facility on Australian Marine Complex – the largest undercover fabrication facility in Western Australia – and shipped to Queensland from there.

More recently the company was awarded an expansion project at Alcoa’s Pinjarra Alumina Refinery,

AUSTRALIA

just 80 kilometres south of Perth.

It’s another EPC contract, involving the engineering, procurement, delivery, construction, integration, commissioning and performance testing of a filter facility, materials handling system and associated supporting infrastructure at the site.

Over the next 18 months Civmec will be integrating the world’s largest plate and frame filters at Pinjarra with the rock conveyor system.

Another ground-breaking project in more ways than one is at Altura’s

James Fitzgerald Executive Chairman

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Civil and Engineering Structural Mechanical

Mining and Res

Mappi DPH Surveys is ‘ahead of the mark’ after a growth filled year.

sources

ing and Design

www.dphsurveys.net.au

Ahead of the mark DPH Surveys are specialists in providing end to end mine site and civil infrastructure solutions. The privately-owned company, head quartered in Perth WA, secured the Woodman Point WWTP contract, a joint venture between Civmec, Black & Veatch and the Water Corp, marking an exciting period of growth within the company. g

‘It has been a tremendous 12 months for the company. We’ve got a talented team who have all played instrumental roles in our continued growth,’ David, the Managing Director and founder of DPH Surveys said, ‘it has been truly awing to set some pretty heavy p goals and achieve them.’

DPH Surveys employees also worked closely with Civmec on other projects including the South Hedland Power Station and Brockman Fuel Hub, delivering the civil and structural mechanical packages.

‘We make sure that we do the job right, play to each team member’s strengths and keep to the client’s schedule. That’s why clients like working with us,’ David said when speaking of past projects, mainly in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Their portfolio of projects in the region port include the Roy Hill Terminal Yards, Newman Orebody 24, Cape Lambert Stock Yards and Port Hedland Inner Harbour projects.

As DPH Surveys reaches completion of the previous 12 months’ milestones, David and his team are looking ahead to new goals. Which he says include developments in UAV and other technologies that can be utilised for providing a better survey service, renewable energy projects and increasing the civil and mine site inc infrastructure portfolios.

www.dphsurveys.net.au

CIVMEC

Rod Bowes

Justine Campbell

Kevin Deery

Charles Sweeney

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Damian Kelliher

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We have already built a precast concrete workshop which allows us to do prestressed items like bridge beams so we can target major infrastructure project in New South Wales and Queensland – Pat Tallon, CEO Pilgangoora opencast lithium mine in the Pilbara. Civmec has secured a package of civil works there, and Tallon is hopeful that more packages will follow. Lithium, he says, is an up and coming mineral much in demand from the technology industries, especially for use in batteries.

All in all, Australian mining is looking up at last, with newer minerals like lithium coming along, and traditional gold mining coming back as world gold prices rise – in June, a joint venture with Amec Foster Wheeler and Civmec won a $298mn contract to build out the Gruyere Gold Project 200km east of Laverton in Western Australia.

The scope of work includes the engineering, procurement and construction of the process plant and associated infrastructure. “All of

these contracts,” says Tallon, “apart from Amrun which is on a prime subcontract basis, are EPC jobs, and that alone puts us in a different space from where we were last time we talked.” Lithium, gold, even iron ore, is making a comeback, he adds. “Our regular clients in the iron ore space, like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, are doing feasibility studies and looking at large packages of work that will come on in the outlook period. We have a strong relationship with both clients so are hopeful we will be in the running for some of those packages.”

Setting sail As we reported last year, Civmec acquired the Forgacs property and facilities at Tomago, Newcastle and the name of Forgacs, Australia’s largest privately owned shipbuilder.

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We don’t want to be a company that talks a lot: we prefer to let the market judge us by what we are delivering – Pat Tallon, CEO The successes we have been talking about above might look like plenty to be getting on with, but the potential for Civmec’s new subsidiary Forgacs Marine and Defence are huge as the Australian Defence Department pushes forward a series of new ship acquisition and maintenance programs.

“Our motivation for the acquisition was actually twofold,” explains Tallon.

“The Forgacs facilities in Newcastle are quite close to Sydney, with about 24 hectares of waterfront land, and there is a lot of infrastructure type work in Sydney at the moment. We’re going to use these facilities to develop on the east coast and we are currently expanding them. We have already built a precast concrete workshop which allows us to do prestressed items like bridge beams so we can target major infrastructure projects in

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New South Wales and Queensland.”

The fabrication facility is being expanded too, new equipment is being brought in and the aim is to create a similar site to the Henderson yard.

The other motivation behind the acquisition is to be able to bid for some of the upcoming work announced by the Navy in an $89 billion programme. Tallon continues: “The government is committed to several defence shipbuilding programmes, one being Pacific patrol vessels, one offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), and they also intend to order nine new frigates and 12 submarines.”

The first package off the blocks is the OPV contract and if Tallon can’t secure that it will not be for want of capability or effort. Three ship design firms were shortlisted by the government to deliver 12 vessels ‘to undertake constabulary

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missions and the OPV will be the primary ADF asset for maritime patrol and response duties’.

In April 2016, the three contenders for the $3bn OPV project were named, Damen of the Netherlands, Fassmer of Germany and Lürssen of Germany. Civmec/Forgacs had discussions with all three. Forgacs ended up singing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ASC, the government owned shipbuilder, to bid in partnership for two of the three designers, Damen and Lürssen. The winner will start construction in 2018 with the first vessel delivered in 2021

– and as long as the design of either of those companies wins out, Forgacs, in partnership with ASC will be involved in constructing them, initially in South Australia and transitioning to their facilities at Henderson in Western Australia. This would take Civmec into a new league, though one for which it is thoroughly prepared. And as the government’s wish is for a continuous build and maintenance deal, it could bring in work for decades to come.

Staying on track Both client and partner will be able to check daily progress of

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their project and track every component in the process while the project management team will be able to track every man-hour spent via its proprietary Civtrac platform. “We can find out straight away if we are on schedule or behind and control our costs that way,” explains Tallon.

“Nothing on the market was robust enough for us so we developed our own. It was a big factor in winning the confidence of the ship designers we are now working with. It does not guarantee that everything on your project goes well all the time but it gives you the power to know as soon as it does not and address it. If you can spot something slipping when you are at the early stages, you can generally catch it before it goes too far The government has also announced that all future shipbuilding for defence will either be completed around Adelaide, or at Henderson as the second major shipbuilding precinct. The entire Australian submarine fleet and half its surface ships are based at the Royal Australian Navy’s largest fleet base, Fleet Base West, also called HMAS Stirling, on the shores of Careening Bay on Garden Island, close to Perth, so the Henderson facility is perfectly situated to serve it being only 10km away. Accordingly, Civmec is going to invest $80mn in building a second facility alongside its existing Henderson yard that will allow it to build ships and carry out maintenance, under cover, 24/7, 365 days a year.

“It’s state of the art, as good as any in the world,”

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Tallon declares, on the authority of the top global consultants. “The building will be around 205m long by 130m wide. That’s a similar area to the existing facilities but it will have significant height, up to 60m, so you will be able to get a ship and all its superstructure in there

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for repair and maintenance.”

The land has already been secured and work started. A large sandblasting and painting facility is being added, but for many purposes the existing yard can support the shipbuilder with steelwork, plate cutting and the like – there

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will be no capacity tight spots.

A compact summary is difficult – Pat Tallon is a hands-on leader and he expects his team to be the same way. “I ask God for a few extra hours each day,” he quips when asked how that is possible given the way the business has grown.

“We don’t want to be a company that talks a lot: we prefer to let the market judge us by what we are delivering.”

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