Ponticelli Frères Group

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Exhibitions, energy and engineering

Leading the market in offshore construction, Ponticelli Frères Group is an ace in engineering, construction and maintenance. With more than 100 years behind it, the Group has been busier than ever, making its mark on the energy sector.

Ponticelli UK Managing Director Olivier Renaud shared the latest news with Inside Oil & Gas magazine. Report by Imogen Ward.

With the energy industry expanding rapidly, Ponticelli aims to accelerate its presence in the sector.

“We are actively investing in renewables, carbon-free energy and nuclear power,”

Ponticelli UK Managing Director Olivier Renaud said: “Nuclear, especially, is developing in the UK and France, with around eight new reactors planned for construction over the next 20 years.

Ponticelli Frères Group aims to partake

in these sectors, to honour its commitment to respecting the environment and providing basic needs to the population in a safe and consistent manner.

“Ponticelli Frères Group is already involved in floating offshore wind, with the construction engineering, procurement, fabrication, quayside assembly, float-off and wind turbine integration of three steel floaters for the EOLMED Project in the south of France. Each one can generate 10MW

of power. It is this capability which we will bring to the UK renewables marketplace”.

Established in 1921 by the Ponticelli brothers, the group has developed a bespoke approach to the design, construction and maintenance of oil and gas production facilities globally. Now with an impressive turnover of more than €1 billion, the group has made several significant acquisitions to add momentum to its continuous growth.

Advantageous acquisitions

“We recently acquired GenSun, which was a strategic sector-based investment,” explained Mr Renaud. GenSun is a provider of photovoltaic EPC for companies, communities and developers looking for sustainable solutions. With the brand successfully integrated, Ponticelli expanded its capabilities,

adding the production and installation of solar panels to its mix.

Ponticelli is always on the lookout for new partnerships, taking advantage of industry events and conferences. The group will be attending Offshore Europe in September, where it has, in the past, established several crucial relationships.

“Events such as Offshore Europe are crucial to Ponticelli,” said Mr Renaud. “They improve our customer base by providing us with a platform to showcase the full and diverse range of Ponticelli’s global capabilities.

“These events are also excellent opportunities for us to create partnerships, and Offshore Europe is actually where we met Brand and Semco.”

Ponticelli UK established its UK operations in 2019, leading Aberdeen-based consortium PBS, alongside Brand Energy

& infrastructure Services and Semco Maritime. This collaborative relationship is responsible for delivering a 5-year general maintenance and operations contract for TotalEnergies E&P UK. Ponticelli believes in strong working partnerships like this one and intends to expand its portfolio to other operators within the UK.

“Our operating partnerships are based on mutual confidence, an agile and flexible approach to problem-solving, and shared values,” explained Mr Renaud.

Another record-breaking year

With the group celebrating a record year, a large portion of its impressive €1 billion turnover came from the nuclear sector, as well as general upstream and downstream installation and maintenance activities.

One project that has been incredibly successful so far is Ponticelli’s brownfield EPCIC contract for the development of Al Shaheen (Qatar’s largest offshore oil field). Under the management of North Oil Company (NOC), the Debottlenecking Produced Water Management (DBN PWM) and AB Overboard Structure (OBS) Project will increase oil production and stop water over-boarding on A and B location Al Shaheen.

“The NOC project includes all disciplines, ” Mr Renaud explained. “We have been performing structural work, piping, E&I, ICSS, diving campaigns, jacket and module fabrications, transport and installations, as well as modifications and interconnecting offshore activities. As we speak we have deployed in Qatar the whole spectrum of Ponticelli’s capabilities.”

Ponticelli appreciates the advantages of having such a diverse skillset on hand : hoping to optimise this portfolio, the

group has also focused its future ambitions internally. “We have a focus on internal investments, especially within the renewables sector, and in particular photovoltaic canopies.” “Over the next few years, we will actively invest in our subsidiary, Enersteel, to double our production rates to 5,500 tonnes.”

Through Enersteel, Ponticelli is a leading designer and installation specialist of photovoltaic car park canopy systems in France. In 2020, the company was even awarded an impressive contract with Disneyland Paris, to install one of the largest photovoltaic car park canopy systems in Europe.

All fuelled up for net zero

Now more than ever, with the advancement of Ponticelli’s sustainable energy strategy , the group is dedicated to improving its environmental impact. Committing to net zero by 2045, the group regularly

assesses its carbon footprint, and has established an Environmental Committee to ensure this goal is achieved.

“Whilst monitoring our carbon footprint, the Environmental Committee actively searches for ways to make improvements,” said Mr Renaud. “Currently, the group is partnered with Air France, to financially support the airline’s transition into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Superseding European Union targets of five per cent, Air France has set its own SAF target –aiming to achieve ten per cent by 2030.

“In the UK we have also launched an electrical vehicle scheme, which is available to all 550 Ponticelli UK employees. In 2021, we celebrated our centenary. For the past 100 years the group has remained under the same family ownership, and

Olivier Renaud UK Managing Director

they want Ponticelli still to be here in another 100 years’ time. For that to be viable, long-term sustainability is essential.”

This year, Ponticelli was also awarded EcoVadis gold status, which places the Group within the top 5% of its sector for sustainability management performance.

Social responsibility and QHSE are hugely important to the group, and as part of its objectives, Ponticelli is committed to ensuring that people’s safety, health and wellbeing remain at the centre of all its operations.

“Safety is good business,” Mr Renaud concluded. “Safety is an integral part of the group’s DNA, and we are committed to the pursuit of a zero-accident working environment to ensure that our workforce thinks safe, works safe and stays safe.”