CANADIAN ENERGY
Thermo Design Engineering offers the equipment, services, and expertise to create industry-leading energy processing facilities around the world. We learn how the company implements innovative technology with Vice President of Business Development, Nick Hanson, who calls upon the Canadian energy industry to come together
Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Scarlett Burke
INTEGRATED ENERGY
The world needs Canadian energy, and there’s no place better suited to support from a sustainability and responsible development and production perspective.”
Nick Hanson, Vice President of Business Development at Thermo Design Engineering (TDE), firmly believes that Canadians should band together and support the development of the country’s natural advantage.
Indeed, Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer and fifthlargest gas producer, with Alberta – where TDE is based – being the greatest contributor.
“I grew up in Alberta, and oil and gas has always been the cornerstone industry in the province,” Hanson tells us.
However, it’s a case of what could have been as the sector has had to address various challenges and roadblocks – until now.
“We’re starting to look at things from a more pragmatic perspective, so hopefully we’re at a point of change. We can compete with one another and work against each other, or we can all come together and uplift the industry,” he affirms.
“If it’s for the good of what we’re trying to do, it’s for the good of all of us, and part of that is a perspective shift to really help the sector in Canada grow.”
ONE-SOLUTION APPROACH
TDE was established in 1979 in the provincial capital of Edmonton as a fabricator, designing and building oil and gas processing equipment around the world.
Today, the company is recognized as a global leader in the design, engineering, manufacturing, installation, and construction of energy facilities and sustainable projects.
“We try to integrate every part of the energy business chain into a cohesive, one-solution approach, where we can work with and for more or less anybody who needs support in the energy space,” outlines Hanson.
“If we identify a need in the market, we try to blend it into something we can deliver as a value-added proposition.”
Thus, TDE is proud to have advanced all aspects of the energy market in Canada and worldwide, including production, manufacturing, and design.
Some TDE staff members have been at the company for more than 40 years – expertise that is reinvested
into training the next generation.
Self-developing its in-house expertise is a big part of what TDE does, whether that’s in its production facilities or design engineering services.
“We use our expertise and personnel to think from the ground up about what a problem really requires, because there’s very few circumstances where it’s a one-sizefits-all solution, and we recognize that in spades,” Hanson explains.
“THE WORLD NEEDS CANADIAN ENERGY, AND THERE’S NO PLACE BETTER SUITED TO SUPPORT FROM A SUSTAINABILITY AND RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION PERSPECTIVE”
– NICK HANSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, THERMO DESIGN ENGINEERING
Although there’s a lot of things TDE does very well, the company also looks to the market if there’s a challenge it’s not able to solve directly or hasn’t run into in the past.
“If we want to have the best strategy to execute and solve a problem, we need to work with the best people, and we’re not afraid to ask for help to figure it out. I think that’s unique because a lot of companies want to do it themselves and they’re very protectionist and fixed on how or why things are done, but that’s just not us at all,” he acknowledges.
“If there’s a way we can produce a win-win solution that’s responsible, sustainable, and cost-effective, even if it results in us having a relatively smaller piece of the pie, then that’s a positive because we as an industry run into a lot of challenges maintaining the social license for what we do.”
TECH-ENABLED PRODUCTIVITY AND SAFETY
Innovative technology has been implemented by TDE globally, including automated manufacturing systems, which ensure the company’s operations can run 24/7 without any concerns over safety, quality, productivity, or labor shortages.
TDE CORE VALUES
• INTEGRITY – Doing the right things the first time.
• INNOVATION – Embracing new ideas and challenging the status quo.
• COMMITMENT – Standing behind its work and supporting one another fully.
• COURAGE – Facing challenges head-on and acting with conviction.
“We’ve implemented automation in welding, cutting, and robotics to help increase our productivity and improve our safety and quality standards,” Hanson informs us.
“It allows more routine, mundane tasks to be performed quicker and lets our staff focus on the things where they add the most value.”
As an innovator in design, TDE has also come up with several different processes for piecing equipment together.
These processes bring down energy demands within a facility, raise recovery levels, and allow customers to operate their plants with higher productivity and ultimately uplift their bottom line.
“For us, technology can mean
“WE’RE STARTING TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM A MORE PRAGMATIC PERSPECTIVE, SO HOPEFULLY WE’RE AT A POINT OF CHANGE. WE
CAN COMPETE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND WORK AGAINST EACH OTHER, OR WE CAN ALL COME TOGETHER AND UPLIFT THE INDUSTRY”
– NICK HANSON, VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, THERMO DESIGN ENGINEERING
how we do things, a process, or a physical widget we’ve implemented to improve our productivity,” insights Hanson.
“We bring great ideas from markets we’ve been working in for years and ones that we’re just entering and distil them into a top-notch execution strategy.”
Alongside implementing innovative technology, TDE is focused on enhancing safe operations.
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The company boasts an excellent track record thanks to its commitment to creating a working environment where accidents don’t occur and no one is exposed to health and safety hazards.
“Our people have to go home at the end of the day and see their families –that’s non-negotiable. We’re not here to ask someone to risk their health and safety or expose themselves in any way,” Hanson emphasizes.
“Work is work, but you have to be safe doing it. We’ve been industryleading in our reportable incidents for decades and floating near zero for the last four or five years, which we’re proud of.
“It’s not a family business, so to speak, but the business is a family, and we all care about the safety of the person next to us because we work together every day and spend more time with one another than we do with a lot of people in our lives,” he adds.
YEAR-ON-YEAR GROWTH
TDE has experienced significant growth over the course of several years, with each being the company’s subsequent best in existence.
The last couple of years in particular have seen it substantially expand in terms of physical space, manufacturing capabilities, and equipment.
“Our priority is to keep expanding where our reach is; there’s been a lot of projects that wouldn’t have gone ahead until we got involved,” notes Hanson.
“There are some areas where we can come together and bring an opportunity that either transfers risk from a client so they can get their head around the numbers and contracts on their side to make a project work, or we can come up with a real cost saving that improves their returns and make those economics a lot stronger.
“We’ve done that in our traditional space for oil and gas, as well as
TDE SERVICES – AT A GLANCE
• Engineering – Comprehensive engineering services are at the heart of TDE’s operations and often rated the best in the industry.
• Project management – Whether working on a small project or a complex initiative, TDE has thorough experience executing all phases of a project lifecycle.
• Procurement – The company continuously researches and sources the latest technologies and most cost-effective and quality materials that meet client specifications.
• Manufacturing – Known for innovation and quality when it comes to constructing and assembling products, TDE develops customized solutions around the world.
• Modularization – One of the company’s specialties and strengths. As innovators in modular design and manufacturing, it offers significant cost savings over stick-built facilities.
• Logistics – TDE creates modules that fit seamlessly once they arrive on location and sends equipment in the most cost-efficient manner.
• Field services – On hand from conception to completion, TDE coordinates and monitors system solutions, keeping projects on time and schedule.
• TDE Standard Packages – The company has distilled extensive expertise into its TDE Standard Packages, which represent the culmination of over 40 years of design development and operational success.
• Integrated project services – From planning and design to construction, installation, and operation, the company has proven experience in creating total solutions.
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evolving spaces such as biofuels and carbon capture,” he shares.
Then there’s the data center wave that TDE has been surfing, with a focus on reducing time to power.
The company has been working on projects where it would take multiple
years to set up rates of power in the hundreds of megawatts or gigawatts through a traditional execution strategy, and developed a unique approach to reduce both the levelized cost of energy and the time to power of these projects.
“We can get power going within one-and-a-half to two years, then it’s a very sequential and expandable buildout strategy, and we’ve had a lot of success and interest in that,” Hanson reveals.
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing in oil and gas processing and petrochemical development, supporting that space as we have done for over 45 years,” he concludes.
One of TDE’s big focuses moving forward is not only bringing its expertise further across the globe but also helping to develop the energy system in a responsible way.
Tel: 1(780)440-6064
sales@thermodesign.com www.thermodesign.com
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