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issue 171 August
A cleaner future Gibraltar’s homes and businesses are benefitting from the reliable, cleaner energy that Shell’s LNG Regasification Terminal Project has helped to create
Great potential
Does a regulated asset base model hold the key for funding new-build nuclear projects?
Preparation is key
Advice for employers as the North Sea resurgence fuels a recruitment drive in the region
News: Ørsted installs 100th wind turbine at the world's largest offshore wind farm, Hornsea One
Editor Editors Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond - libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Assistant Editor Will Daynes Staff Writer Vladi Nikolov Art Editor Fleur Daniels Advertising Designer Fiona Jolliffe
How can this facility fit into a world defined by factors such as the electrification of the transport fleet, the phasing out of the combustion engine, reductions in CO2 output and the UK’s commitment to reach a target of net zero carbon emissions?
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Embracing change Within this issue, we are fortunate enough to feature Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland – a refinery that is undergoing a radical transformation in order to be ready to meet the changes that are ahead for the industry. This involves short, medium and long-term plans, and includes strategies to deal with changes in fuel oil specs from the IMO, the ongoing shift away from diesel vehicles, changes in biofuels legislation, and indeed the long-term future of refining. How can this facility fit into a world defined by factors such as the electrification of the transport fleet, the phasing out of the combustion engine, reductions in CO2 output and the UK’s commitment to reach a target of net zero carbon emissions? Petroineos is embracing the changes – for the full story, take a look at page 30.
Energy, Oil & Gas Magazine
@EOG_magazine please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, and correct at time of writing, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.
editor LIBBIE HAMMOND
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1
Regulars
4
Energy from waste
We have a huge global problem with waste plastics, and energy generation is one way to give them a value
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Disruptive technology
The oil and gas industry has been talking about digitalisation for decades and now the tech has caught up
10 Nuclear
Developing a new RAB model specific to the nuclear sector could be a giant first step in energy funding reform
4
14 News
Some of the recent developments within the oil and gas industry
16 Energy prices
The energy price cap rise has highlighted the need for the energy industry to do improve the customer experience
18 Human resources
As employers bring more talent into the North Sea region, they need to make sure they are adhering to immigration rules
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20 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain
Report 2019
The London Stock Exchange Group’s sixth annual edition showcases the entrepreneurial drive of Britain’s SMEs
23 SPE Offshore Europe 2019
September sees the arrival of the SPE Offshore Europe event at Scotland’s brand-new events venue in Aberdeen
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Contents
Profiles
30 E EXCLUUSRIVE FEAT
26 CMP Products Limited
IVE EXCLUSRE FEATU
28 Wave Energy Scotland (WES)
IVE EXCLUSRE FEATU
30 Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland 42 JDR Cable Systems 48 Shell - Gasnor 52 Jordan Oil Terminals Company (JOTC) 56 Wood 58 Georgia Renewable Power (GRP)
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62 Wozair EXCLUSIV FEATURE E
28 42 ENERGY,oil&gas
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Industry, innovation
and energy Jane Gaston analyses new technologies in waste management, and how the right approaches can help deliver clean energy
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Energy from waste
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A
t the end of last year, the Government set out its new strategy for Resources and Waste. New waste policy rarely tends to grab the headlines but the commitment to eliminating avoidable plastic waste struck a chord. Six months later and celebrity Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall launched his latest campaign – to fight the war on plastic. While tackling plastics is only one part of the challenge, it’s one that highlights a number of issues and opportunities for the waste and energy sectors. We have a huge global problem with waste plastics. This has come into sharp focus as many developing economies – like China who until recently imported most of the world’s plastics – have started sending waste plastics back to their country of origin due to the poor quality of the imports. In the UK, we produce around 3.7 million tonnes of plastic waste each year – around 1.5 million tonnes being packaging waste. Of all this, only around 32 per cent is sent for recycling. Reducing the amount of plastic we use in society has to be the long term solution. We’re already making progress with single use plastics with a ban on the
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sale of plastic straws, drink-stirrers and cotton buds from April next year. But we’re far from being able to eliminate plastic all together. Indeed, for many applications plastic will remain the sensible and most sustainable option for the foreseeable future. We therefore need to look at innovative solutions for that end of life plastic. If these solutions can ultimately provide a value to waste plastic we can then start to look at how we can remove the generations of plastic that has accumulated in the environment. Whilst this doesn’t achieve the ultimate aim of elimination, it can play an important role in delivering a low carbon, cleaner future. That’s what we’re looking to do at Protos, our £700m strategic energy and resources hub near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Located alongside the University of Chester’s Thornton Science Park, Protos is a destination for innovation and new technologies. We’re planning a number of facilities to deal with plastic throughout its lifecycle, including recycling and energy generation. Waste2Tricity have plans to deliver a ‘first of a kind’ waste plastic to hydrogen facility using pioneering technology from PowerHouse Energy. Not only helping
Energy from waste
to find a solution to waste plastic it will also contribute towards the development of a hydrogen economy that is both lower carbon and also helps to provide cleaner air in our towns and cities. The technology was developed at Thornton Science Park, which is adjacent to Protos, and demonstrates our ambition to create a seamless link between industry, innovation and energy. Technologies such as this are likely to be transitional. And, so they should be. Transitional in the way that the plastics market will change over time, with less plastics produced and more recycled. And transitional in that we should always be striving to use the best technology available. We should be developing waste management technology that is fit for purpose and new technologies will continue to be developed to improve environmental outcomes. This is why simply saying that we have sufficient waste management capacity can never be the answer. We must continually innovate and improve. Technology will continue to influence and impact waste management – designing away waste; making products more able to be re-used or recycled; or dealing with the unrecyclable element in a better way.
Technology will always improve and therefore will always be transitional. The danger is that if we don’t embrace transitional technology, in the fear that it is not the ideal solution, we end up doing nothing. One of the biggest challenges with new technologies is their risk profile. While there are many investors, including from overseas, looking at clean energy technologies as the future, there’s naturally a bigger job to do to prove they will deliver a return. At Protos we bring together technology providers, waste producers and energy users and package up projects that are investor ready. We can commercialise new technologies that have been developed and tested next door at Thornton Science Park, and provide support around real estate, infrastructure and contracts. While initial stage investment produces a more sustainable waste management system for the UK, the real potential is for these technologies to be applied worldwide to help with the global shift to the lower carbon and cleaner future. We’re leading the way in the North West. A new group of industry, university and local government leaders recently came together to form a powerful new collaboration to secure game-changing investment in the future of clean growth in the region. The North West Energy and Hydrogen Cluster covers the traditional industrial powerhouses of the Liverpool and Manchester City Regions as well as Cheshire and Warrington. Under the direction of the North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT) the Cluster aims to become the UK’s first low carbon industrial cluster by 2030 and could see at least 33,000 new jobs created and over £4 billion invested. New and transitional technologies, such as those at Protos, will be key to delivering on the zero carbon aims of the Cluster giving the North West the opportunity to pave the wave for the rest of the UK and beyond.
Peel Environmental Jane Gaston is Development Director at Peel Environmental. Peel Environmental, part of Peel L&P, owns and develops waste infrastructure projects. It has achieved consent for a range of energy infrastructure schemes including a 35MW Energy from Waste plant at Protos in Cheshire, 22MW Energy from Waste plant and 250,000tpa AD and MRF in Glasgow; and a 20MW Energy Centre at Houghton Main, Barnsley. Peel works with investors, waste management companies, technology providers and contractors to secure a deliverable business model for each project. For further information please visit: www.peelenvironmental.co.uk
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Defining the digital revolution Why the time is now for downstream operators. By Ron Beck
T
he downstream energy industry has reached a tipping point. Competition is fierce for a stagnant demand in Europe, prices volatile and margins thin as operators consider needed technology investments. All this is creating a logjam of capital investment, delayed by uncertainty of the marketplace future directions, and an urgent necessity for operators to deliver lean operations that maximise asset uptime and utilisation. Global oil and natural gas demand is shifting, as energy sources for transportation shift, leaving executives desperately searching for the key to applying digital technologies to
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react quickly and gain an edge on their rivals. Digital transformation holds that key and operators need to grasp it if they are to survive and thrive in the future. There is a great opportunity opening up here that they can’t afford to ignore. Today, with the successes of AI, machine learning and multivariate analytics based energy solutions, early-mover companies have gained an advantage, addressing issues they’ve never previously been able to solve quickly enough, and at the same time attracting the best of the new generation of workers to the companies seen as exciting places to work and to take part in digitalisation.
Disruptive technology
Key areas where digitalisation is already helping refiners include extending asset life; maximising return on capital employed and driving additional profit. The ability to detect faults in advance of machinery and process unit breakdown can save vast sums. A compressor failure at an oil refinery, for example, can lead to downtime losses running into millions of pounds. Enough advance warning can yield operating changes to avoid the downtime; or planning and commercial changes to maximise results in face of unavoidable downtime. Given the challenges in the market today, operators simply can’t afford to be late movers in adopting these already valuable technologies.
with lead times of 24-45 days, and the refinery also expects to reduce unplanned shutdowns by up to ten days, increase revenue by one to three per cent and reduce refinery maintenance costs and operating expenses by one to five per cent1. This project is one of a number of similarly successful implementations underway at refineries across the world. Now that companies are able to see and talk to implementors of successful applications of prescriptive machine learning, momentum is building in this area. The numbers projected by several refiners range from two to seven additional days uptime per year. Depending on the size of the refinery, that incremental revenue is economically significant.
Grasping the opportunity The good news is that oil and gas companies are increasingly looking to embrace digitalisation. But in doing so they face a problem. How do they prioritise the multitude of digital initiatives they could get involved in without potentially reducing the chance of success? Two significant areas present immediate opportunity. The first is autonomous dynamic optimisation. Following years of promise, tying together refinery and petrochemical economic planning with advanced process control in a closed loop process is possible. It is an approach that delivers both short-term economic benefits but also provides insights to push the limits of what’s possible. The second area is prescriptive maintenance (based on machine learning), which gives operators the opportunity to reduce downtime across both their upstream and downstream operations. With this approach, embedded AI/machine learning provides real-time insight into plant assets, not only helping to determine weeks in advance if assets are likely to degrade or fail, but also, most importantly, providing information as to process conditions causing that degradation. That, in turn, helps make changes to improve uptime and operational efficiency for energy companies worldwide. Operators must adopt a pragmatic approach to implementing these new digital technologies. That does not mean going after small problems or profit opportunities. Organisations can be pragmatic around a significant problem that represents major value. Italian energy provider, Saras took this approach at its 300,000-barrel-per-day refinery in the Mediterranean, applying machine learning to four equipment areas: feed pumps, wash oil pumps, makeup H2 compressors and recycle compressors. It delivered its digital effort in a matter of weeks, able to accurately identify the specific failure mode for each component — without false positives in the same short timeframe. These capabilities enabled Saras to predict failures
The time is now These are times of opportunity for energy operators. The tools, services and solutions needed to overcome complexity and achieve new levels of reliability and profitability are now available, enabled by breakthroughs that make them accessible to any business. By asking the right questions and targeting these digital technologies to their needs, oil and gas companies can apply them where they create most impact. This will help them achieve the highest possible return over the entire lifecycle. The oil and gas industry has been talking about digitalisation for decades. But it is only now that enabling technologies and sophisticated machine learning and analytics algorithms have converged to tackle process degradation and equipment failure in real-time. This level of analysis opens a whole new area of value creation and reliability improvement for owner operators. The time is now to define the digital revolution. 1
“Prescriptive Maintenance Software Helps Saras Improve
Business Performance and Drive Operational Excellence,” April 2018 www.aspentech.com/en/resources/case-studies/prescriptivemaintenance-software-helps-saras-improve-business-performance
Aspen Technology Ron Beck is Strategy Director at Aspen Technology (AspenTech) a leading software supplier for optimising asset performance. AspenTech uniquely combines decades of process modelling expertise with machine learning. The company’s purpose-built software platform automates knowledge work and builds sustainable competitive advantage by delivering high returns over the entire asset lifecycle. For further information please visit: ww.aspentech.com
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RAB
Great
potential Collaboration for UK nuclear – does a Regulated Asset Base model hold the key? By Vince Zabielski
M
any, including EDF energy, have pushed for a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model to be put in place at the nuclear new-build plant, Sizewell C, and across the industry – bringing the funding approach firmly into the spotlight for the energy sector. RAB funding has enjoyed success when used for funding notable UK infrastructure projects, such as the Thames
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Tideway ‘super-sewer,’ but critics claim its use would just pass costs onto end-users. For a sector currently faced with debate over its funding, with Sizewell C near collapse, its future is up for grabs.
RAB explained In short, the RAB model passes the costs of developing a project through to the end users, allowing
Nuclear
Governments to encourage private investment in large public infrastructure projects by ensuring that investors will not lose their investment. As such, the overall costs of the project can be lower, as interest rates on borrowing decline in line with risk. But how much lower? EDF Energy has stated that the cost of finance represents a staggering two-thirds of the Hinkley Point C price. Under an RAB model, the risk
for investors would be reduced to the point the cost of financing would be on par with the Government’s cost of borrowing. For nuclear plants and other energy sector infrastructure projects this makes RAB a perfect fit. The end cost is divided between so many consumers that the small addition to their energy bill should not be felt by most.
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So, what’s the catch? The key problem with RAB funding in the energy sector, and nuclear in particular, is that the development of new build projects is often plagued with cost overruns, delays and technical issues. For example, almost every major nuclear project in the West has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. So, should RAB funding be used for one of these catastrophically-delayed projects, the consumer would suffer directly from the cost-overrun. Under this scenario, confidence in using the RAB model for future projects would be shaken, threatening application of the model on future new-build projects. The application of the RAB model for new nuclear cannot simply be a ‘blank cheque’ to the developer, but must have a comprehensive suite of checks and balances built into it. This is a formidable, but not impossible, task. Projects must be built on-time and on-budget, and this can be done by identifying and eliminating risks from the outset. The developer must be focused entirely on delivering a safe and reliable power plant but with minimal delays or cost increases. As with all things, this is easier said than done.
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A key first consideration is using a ‘nth-of-a-kind’ design that has been successfully built to plan elsewhere. Cutting-edge technology might promise the world, but until suppliers have built and installed it elsewhere, it is an unknown quantity that introduces risk. Similarly, when choosing suppliers, firms should opt for those that are just as much a known quantity as their tried-and-tested design. Suppliers with a recent, successful track record have shown that they can work to budget and timescale with the current team they have. If they performed well last year, then they will likely produce the same results for you this year. Equally, if a supplier has a successful track record, firms should let them do the job as well as they know how. Asking a reactor vendor to alter their methods, for example, undermines the entire purpose of selecting a vendor with a proven history of success by forcing them into untested waters. Finally, it is important to prevent risks being pushed onto the supplier that they cannot control. This simply serves to hide a growing risk, as each group assumes it is the responsibility of another.
Nuclear
The way forward
Risks must be identified early and mitigated quickly, and the skeleton in the closet of the energy sector – especially when it comes to nuclear builds – is that this risk-management has failed in recent decades. RAB funding won’t address this, and consumers will bear the cost if the issue is left unaddressed. In the worst case, the RAB model may even exacerbate sub-par project planning and risk management, as developers that can pass costs on to end-users would be less concerned about overruns – it’s not their finances on the line. Under an underregulated RAB model, the consumer winds up footing the bill no matter how incompetently the developer proceeds. In similar systems abroad, checks and balances on what can be placed in the RAB that serve to mitigate this problem. For example, the ‘rate base recovery’ model used by some US jurisdictions also passes on the costs of new infrastructure to the end-user. However, the difference between this and direct passthrough RAB funding is that an independent prudency board evaluates all costs, and any imprudent spending cannot be passed on, encouraging the developer to mitigate risk to prevent costly overruns.
To develop a robust nuclear RAB financing model that is adaptable to wider adoption by the energy sector, we must first establish a regulatory framework to clearly set out the legal and regulatory underpinnings of RAB models specific to the nuclear sector. The regulations should define the levels of risk that exclude a project from consideration for RAB funding. Developers must demonstrate that they have a viable, buildable and bankable project that has identified and mitigated all major risks. Project spending should be demonstrated as necessary and prudent before it is added to the RAB, ideally even before it is spent. This regulatory framework must address the strength of the management systems and incentive frameworks for the project; the self-assessment of the project developer’s systems and programmes; and the capacity for these programs to self-improve over time. Lastly, an independent expert panel could serve the same function as the US-style prudency boards, but with a more active real-time role in the project. There is a great potential for the RAB model to facilitate cost-effective public infrastructure projects in the energy sector, but to win consumer confidence it must – in its fundamental design – address the chronic nuclear sector problems of cost-overruns and poor project risk management. Developing a new RAB model specific to the nuclear sector that includes not only robust protections for the investors, but also for consumers, could be a giant first step in funding reform for the energy sector as a whole. The Government should act quickly, as we are running out of time to provide reliable carbon-free electricity to the national grid.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Vince Zabielski is Senior Lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, a leading international law firm with offices around the world and a particular focus on the energy & natural resources, financial services, real estate & construction, and technology sectors. Recognised by Financial Times as one of the most innovative law firms, Pillsbury and its lawyers are highly regarded for their forward-thinking approach, their enthusiasm for collaborating across disciplines and their unsurpassed commercial awareness. For further information please visit: www.pillsburylaw.com/en
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In Brief New line for Texas
Schematic illustration of offshore grid connection project DolWin5
ExxonMobil has started production on a new high-performance polyethylene line at its Beaumont, Texas polyethylene plant. The expansion increases plant production capacity by 65 per cent or 650,000 tons per year, bringing site capacity to nearly 1.7 million tons per year. This expansion builds upon supply advantages created by ExxonMobil’s two new performance polyethylene lines which began production in 2017 at the company’s manufacturing site in Mont Belvieu, Texas.
Production and discoveries Eni has announced that production from the South West Meleiha Development Lease, located in the Egyptian Western Desert, some 130 Km North of the oasis of Siwa, has started. The current production, delivered through two oil producer wells, is around 5000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and is expected to reach 7000 BOPD in September 2019. The oil is transported and treated at the Meleiha Plant facilities operated by AGIBA, a company equally held by IEOC and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). AGIBA also recently made two additional near field oil discoveries in the Meleiha development lease in Western Desert, specifically on the
The right connection Enabling the connection of multiple offshore wind farms to the German grid, Prysmian Group has been awarded a major grid connection project worth in region of €140 million by the DutchGerman grid operator TenneT. The project involves the supply, installation and commissioning of a High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) 320 kV XLPE-insulated submarine and land power cable connection, with a transmission capacity of 900 MW, as well as the associated fibre optic cable system, comprising a land route of 30 km and a subsea route of 100 km. The turnkey connections will link the offshore converter platform DolWin epsilon, located approximately 100 km offshore in the German North Sea, to the mainland Emden/Ost converter station, with the purpose of transmitting the generated renewable energy into the German grid. “The Dolwin5 project continues our valued long relationship with the major TSO TenneT and demonstrates our ability to provide tailor-made submarine cable solutions for challenging projects, providing the offshore infrastructure needed to support the growth of clean energy in Northern Europe.” stated Hakan Ozmen, EVP Projects, Prysmian Group. The submarine and land cables will be manufactured at Prysmian Group’s centres of technological and manufacturing excellence respectively located in Pikkala (Finland) and Gron (France). Offshore installation activities will be performed by two of the Group’s state-of-theart cable laying vessels — Cable Enterprise, for deep water installation, and Ulisse, for shallow water activities. Completion of the project is scheduled for the middle of 2024.
New entrant
Basma and Shemy prospects.
Bio combination Bringing together established industry players with complementary assets and experience in one of world’s largest fast-growing biofuels markets, BP has announced a major expansion in renewable energy, combining biofuels and biopower with Bunge in Brazil. In a 50:50 joint venture, BP will combine its Brazilian biofuels and biopower businesses with that of Bunge to create a worldscale, highly-efficient producer of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil, BP Bunge Bioenergia.
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Squire Energy is thrilled to announce as of 2nd July 2019, it has officially been granted a gas transporter licence, making it one of nine Independent Gas Transporters (IGT) in the UK. Granted by the industry’s regulator, Ofgem, the application process has involved months of preparatory work, several submissions and plenty of hard work from Squire Energy’s dedicated team. Stuart Thomas, Director at Squire Energy says: “At Squire Energy, we always strive to give a better experience for our customers and by becoming an IGT, we are delighted to offer a complete and comprehensive service that covers conception, design, connection, delivery and transportation of gas services.” He continues: “It’s a significant milestone for our business and a tremendous achievement for all of the team, as well as being key to our expansion plans in the future.” For 16 years, Squire Energy has been one of the UK’s leading gas infrastructure providers, providing gas services for some of the country’s most iconic buildings, including The Shard, The Cheesegrater and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. As the UK’s newest IGT, Squire Energy will help to extend the national gas network to hard-to-reach homes and communities, as well as connecting new developments to the main gas network. Squire Energy’s IGT customers can expect the same high-quality, reliable and effective service that has been the root of Squire Energy’s success for over one and a half decades.
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News Hornsea One has now commissioned 100 of its 174 turbines.© Ørsted
Perfect partners The Dales Voe decommissioning facility in Shetland is one step closer to becoming a centre of excellence for recycling offshore structures from the North Sea with the arrival of two new installations for decommissioning by strategic partners Veolia and Peterson. The structures from Spirit Energy’s ST-1 arrived in the dedicated port facility on 15 July. Now at the end of their working life, recovering these platforms is important to maximise the value of the materials and assets they contain, and further the sustainability of the offshore industry. With a recycling target
100th offshore wind turbine
of 97 per cent the project includes recovery of approximately 2500
Ørsted is well on its way to building the world’s largest offshore wind farm as the 100th wind turbine has been installed at the Hornsea One site. Once fully online, the site will generate enough to power well over one million homes with clean, renewable electricity. The company continues to work towards its aim of creating a world that runs entirely on green energy and with turbine installation expected to finish late summer, it expects Hornsea One to be fully commissioned in 2020. Hornsea One, at 120km from shore, is the furthest from shore an offshore wind farm has ever been built. Not just marginally bigger – this project is a step change in size, nearly double the current world’s largest offshore wind farm, Walney Extension. It will span an area of 407 square km. Featuring 174 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines, with the majority of blades manufactured in Hull, the electricity from Hornsea One is transmitted via the world’s first offshore Reactive Compensation Station, which is around half way between the site and the shore, to the National Grid.
tonnes of materials that will be
Powered up
of materials and created new job
carefully extracted and returned to industry, and where possible assets that have further operational life will be sold for re-use.
REAL COPY
Martin O’Donnell,
Decommissioning Director of
Veolia said: “This work follows the successful recovery operations carried out at the facility, and really demonstrates how collaboration across the supply chain can deliver greater sustainability. We have already recycled over 80,000 tonnes opportunities to meet the growing demand for decommissioning.”
Drax Group is set to make substantial savings of up to £1m per year by significantly reducing the potential overrun of outages during required inspections of Drax Power Station, after a fiveyear deal to implement new digital evidence and workflow technology at the plant. The power company has commissioned digital evidence and workflow platform eviFile to deliver the efficiency project at the UK’s largest power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire. This system allows for inspections to progress from request through to inspection completion and ultimate sign-off. Drax Group’s outage co-ordinator and project sponsor, Michelle Desmond, said: “After an extensive procurement process, eviFile was deemed to be the best-fit solution due to its handling of complex processes and impressive level of configurability. We are confident this technology will make an immediate impact and bring a clear commercial benefit. “We have already upgraded two thirds of the power station to run on sustainable biomass instead of coal. We’re looking to replace our remaining coal units with gas, which will extend the life of the plant, protect jobs and deliver cleaner, reliable energy for millions of homes and business. The efficiency savings through eviFile will allow us to focus as much attention as possible on our vision for a zero carbon, lower cost energy future.”
James Johnson, Decommissioning Manager at Peterson added: “This project is a great showcase of how our collaboration with Veolia is enabling us to provide a full decommissioning service which provides a better customer experience.”
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Light bulb moment Chris Proctor examines how the energy price cap rise has highlighted industry failings for customer experience
T
he energy industry is a fickle thing. Last November Ofgem announced its longawaited energy price cap to the delight of customers, promising a ‘fairer deal’ and minimum savings of around £76 annually to come into play from 1st January. For consumer groups and political lobbyists it seemed that the sector, or at least the regulator, was at last understanding and responding to customer demands. Yet in April with the price cap barely taking effect, the regulator announced an increase, which saw the average household tariff increase by £117 to £1254 per year, which is furthermore a ten per cent increase on prices prior to the January implementation. With energy prices heating up, the reception is understandably frosty from customers and poses a real reputational risk for the regulator. Indeed, British Gas owner Centrica recently announced a challenging financial first-half having lost 234,000 customer
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accounts, in part owing to the new price cap. In the eyes of the consumer the cap increase is mocking their faith in the industry by disregarding their requests for fairer service. The gulf between words and action here is part of the issue, while the watchdog talks around raising standards in “customer service and financial resilience”, the lack of evidence for this so far is only exacerbating customers’ discontent. The original cap had sought to protect customers from unfair price hikes as well as increasing competition for the players who dominate the market and as the reverse has become true, frustration and distrust are becoming routine in the customer’s experience. Indeed, a recent survey from Oneserve found that out of 2000 energy customers, 50 per cent of these reported receiving a poor customer experience from their provider. Two fifths of whom having experienced bad service at least once every three months. It is unsurprising that customer dissatisfaction is
Energy prices
so high given the recent events, which indicate the customer’s best interests are not yet at the heart of industry regulation. The sector is at a turning point and if it intends to truly transform customer service, good intentions must give way to concrete action. Ofgem’s original price cap communications did conveniently state that fluctuations in wholesale gas and electricity costs may affect the cap in February, a caveat which has come to fruition. As an industry watchdog that promotes customercentricity Ofgem has a duty to lead providers and ensure the best possible service for customers, and with this prior knowledge Ofgem might have managed expectations better. Ultimately the desire to do better for customers must become integral to industry practice and it seems the regulator is redoubling efforts to change this. Recently Ofgem announced that it will introduce more stringent entry tests for new energy suppliers in June. A key part of this test will require companies to provide a customer service plan which will elevate customer experience standards. While it is important to ensure upcoming providers do not bring bad customer experience practices into the sector, it still remains prevalent within the industry now and must be eradicated at the source. This will require a fundamental transformation in the way suppliers perceive and interact with customers. So how can such a complex sector restructure its very DNA towards a better customer experience? To start with, the sector must acknowledge why change is not being maintained. The challenge is that the cap rise speaks of deeper problems underlying the industry. E.On led the Big Six pack by increasing prices accordingly for customers, with EDF following suit. A hasty move, which confirms that most energy providers measure their standards by competitors alone. These energy companies are determining and justifying their actions using the sector as the benchmark, rather than considering the real experiences and expectations of customers. As a result, the sector is failing to make true customer-centricity a part of its approaches. Now with customers more willing to abandon the Big Six following the cap, as British Gas has seen, it is imperative that suppliers take a more outwardlooking approach. Providers must appreciate that their customers do not exist within a vacuum; they are equally consumers from across a wide range of sectors from retail to financial services, which are constantly elevating their expectations for high-quality, reliable experiences. Customers simply want value-for-money as well as great customer service from energy providers just as they expect it from their high-street brands. The customer does not see a difference between
the level of service expected from Amazon or E.On, and so energy companies should be looking at the customer experience champions in different industries for inspiration on how to deliver great service for modern consumers. The onus is on suppliers to be benchmarking correctly against other sectors, rather than against previous levels of competitors, to encourage innovation and actively improve customer service. Customer experience reform means providers must consider the individual who is living the experience of the price inflations. Customers are facing greater pressure to meet rising costs and perhaps the hassle of switching in pursuit of more cost-effective providers. Indeed, the number of customers who switched providers in March 2019 was 12 per cent higher than the total number of switches this time last year, according to Energy UK. The risk for providers further extends beyond customer churn; a continued inability to deliver on expectations could result in stronger regulations and repercussions as demonstrated by Economy Energy and Centrica. Actions speak louder than words with customer service. With E.On, EDF and other major energy players pitching their prices as close to the cap as possible, there is even less differentiation between providers for customers. Suppliers should look to other industries as their touchstone for customer experience and start delivering superior service if they hope to restore faith for consumers, and win their loyalty. Providers who do so will stand out and take advantage in an increasingly crowded market, which does not yet appear to be taking the customer seriously enough.
Oneserve Chris Proctor is CEO of Oneserve. Oneserve specialises in providing award-winning Field Service Management software that brings a fresh approach to workforce planning, service delivery and performance management. Since 2010 Oneserve has been empowering entire teams to constantly improve business efficiencies and maintain superior customer satisfaction through its self-managed Field Service Management software. Through one system, Oneserve enables organisations to intelligently schedule jobs, record and share information, reorder parts, evidence work and monitor performance. For further information please visit: www.oneserve.co.uk
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Preparation is key As the North Sea resurgence fuels a recruitment drive into the region, Anne Morris warns employers to proceed with caution to avoid scrutiny from Home Office immigration enforcement
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iring specialist workers from overseas has become a mainstay of workforce planning for energy, oil and gas companies with UK operations. As activity in the North Sea steps up, employers are bringing more talent into the region. Where vacancies can’t be filled by UK-resident workers, companies are relying on skilled nationals from non-EEA countries to work under the Tier 2 visa route. While international recruitment offers an immediate workforce solution for energy companies, it also brings a number of practical challenges.
Rigid visa processing The UK’s immigration regime is far from conducive to the commercial needs of global energy companies, whose recruitment and mobility requirements demand agility, flexibility and pace. The process of hiring non-EEA nationals under the
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Tier 2 visa route, however, is protracted and frustrating. Emergency and short-notice recruitment of visa nationals in response to important or urgent needs is simply not supported by Home Office processing. Tier 2 visa applications for skilled workers are reviewed only once a month by the Home Office, on the first working day after the 10th of every month. To be considered for that month’s allocation, employers have to ensure their Tier 2 application(s) are made by the 5th of that same month. Applications submitted after the 5th have to wait until the next month’s allocation date for consideration - with no guarantee the application will ultimately be successful. In practical terms, these timeframes clearly have to be factored into companies’ recruitment and onboarding planning and expectations. All personnel involved in recruiting personnel (HR, operations managers, project managers and others) should be made aware of the
Human resources
process restrictions. Visa documentation preparation and application planning need to be in synch with the Home Office schedule to avoid missing the limited window.
HR compliance risks Reduced recruitment levels and lower numbers of migrant employees within the sector over recent years have seen employers dedicating fewer resources to compliance and managing immigration risks. Fall foul of UK immigration rules and employers face Home Office enforcement action and penalties, including fines of up to £20,000 per illegal worker and suspension of the company’s sponsor licence and permission to employ overseas workers. Employers currently recruiting under Tier 2 should be assessing the status of their organisation’s sponsorship licence to ensure it remains up to date and compliant with Home Office regulations. Standard working practices could also be exposing organisations to enforcement action. Sponsor licences are highly prescriptive in specifying what sponsored workers can and cannot do under their Tier 2 visa, covering, for example, working hours, location and duties. Sponsored employees can only carry out tasks that correspond directly to the job description and the assigned Standard Occupational Classification (SoC) code. In practice, this can render ostensibly reasonable and accepted working practices non-compliant, such as the Tier 2 worker providing temporary relief support at a different site. Should the Home Office conduct an unannounced inspection of your premises – a commonly used tactic by enforcement officials particularly when considering sponsor licence renewal applications - and find any sponsored employees present and working outside of their permission, this would be considered grounds for enforcement action. Similarly, working hours must reflect the licenceapproved working pattern. Significant and consistent overtime working for example would be considered non-compliant. Effective record keeping is also a top priority as the Home Office relies heavily on employer documentation for immigration enforcement purposes. This means copying and retaining ‘right to work’ documents in the correct manner and ensuring the information on your Sponsor Management System (SMS) is updated with employee and organisational changes within prescribed timeframes. The Home Office has the right to request employee documentation for up to two years after an employee has left your employment. Deleting or destroying
personnel records before this date will be regarded as a breach of your right to work duties. The Home Office has the ability to cross-reference the information it holds with individuals’ HMRC records. This is providing unprecedented quality of intelligence, which in turn is leading to more informed immigration investigations into Tier 2 employers. One particular area of concern relates to Tier 2 worker salary payments. The minimum salary level is a highly contentious requirement of the skilled visa route, and is currently the subject of a governmentcommissioned review into how it can be better structured to meet industry needs. This could see the introduction of regional weighting, with employers in Scotland for example having to meet a lower salary threshold to reflect local labour market salary levels. While the salary threshold remains under review, employers should ensure they continue to observe the current salary requirements by paying the full amount as proffered under the initial application. Employers routinely deducting visa costs and other recruitment expenses from employees’ salaries are acting in breach of both immigration rules and employment law legislation.
Preparing for post-Brexit reform As the Government formulates the detail of a new immigration system timetabled for 2021, employers should be looking now at how their recruitment strategies, budgets and processes will be impacted by the biggest overhaul in the UK immigration rules in recent times, Preparation will be key. Ensuring your immigration practices are up to date and compliant will position you well to adapt to the changes and take a competitive stance within the talent market.
DavidsonMorris Anne Morris is the founder and managing director of immigration law firm DavidsonMorris, a leading provider of UK immigration support to the energy and petrochemical sector. From offices in Aberdeen, London, Cambridge, Manchester and Birmingham the firm helps clients ensure their global mobility programmes are both fully compliant with UK immigration requirements and strategically effective in supporting the commercial operations of large, multinational corporates. For further information please visit: www.davidsonmorris.com
ENERGY,oil&gas
energy-oil-gas.com
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Showcasing Britain’s growth engines This year marks the publication of the sixth annual edition of London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report
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ne of the most widely tracked reports of its kind, it has proudly identified the UK’s fastest-growing businesses since 2013 and helped to showcase the entrepreneurial drive possessed by the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The purely data-driven report also continues to examine, in detail, the opportunities and challenges facing SMEs, while looking at the sectors and trends that are projected to shape the future of the British and European economies. As has been the case with its predecessors, the 2019 edition of the report showcases the depth and breadth of high-growth British businesses across all sectors. This year, over two-thirds of the companies listed appear for the very first time, while a number are welcomed back as they continue to thrive, including six making their
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fifth consecutive appearance. “One of the first things that stands out from the report is that overall revenue growth of the companies featured was 108 per cent, which we believe is a real cause for celebration,” begins Marcus Stuttard, LSEG’s Head of UK Primary Markets and AIM. “It is also a hugely positive thing that growth is occurring across multiple regions, with companies across the North East of England, Wales and Northern Ireland recording the biggest increase in representation from last year’s report,” Marcus continues. “What this is showing us is that there is an increasing number of clusters of knowledge, expertise and support forming all around Britain, and these are helping produce, incubate and facilitate the growth of a wide variety of successful businesses. It also means that these businesses are able to benefit from the help of readily available support
s
London Stock Exchange Group 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019
mechanisms and peer groups as they embark on their own journey.” The top five industries represented by the 1000 companies within this years’ report – accounting for 44 per cent of the list – are manufacturing, engineering and construction, information technology, retail and healthcare. “With this particular statistic, what shines through is the continued strength of multiple sectors and level of the diversity that we see in the report,” Marcus explains. “In the case of manufacturing and engineering companies for instance, a 2018 report from Engineering UK states that the sector helped generate approximately £1.23 trillion of the UK’s total turnover, the scale of which shocked even me. Meanwhile, in the food industry, some 97 per cent of the companies documented would be classed as SMEs, which is a real barometer of the appetite that consumers today have for placing their trust in not only big brand names, but also innovative, artisanal businesses.” What also appeals greatly to Marcus when reading the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019 report, is how it drills down into how the companies featured have successfully managed to scale up their respective operations, and in turn contributed to job creation and, ultimately, Britain’s GDP. Companies in this year’s report
are believed to have created 95,827 jobs over the past two-year period alone, a 39 per cent increase compared to the 2018 edition. “The above numbers provide great confidence and optimism that not only are we a nation that is excellent at starting businesses, but that we have the conditions present to allow those businesses to scale up to a higher tier,” Marcus declares. Ensuring that companies with such high-growth potential as those featured within the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019 report can continue to grow, innovate and create jobs, of course requires access to finance, and one of the UK’s great strengths is the wide variety of finance available. What can be a barrier to this, however, is a lack of awareness of the options available, and among the other things that the LSEG endeavours to do is ensure that companies are aware of these, and provide access to both financial and non-financial support for their development. One of the ways in which it facilitates the above is through ELITE, its specially devised platform and ecosystem for private high-growth companies that provides business support, mentoring and access to finance companies need to scale up their businesses. Since 2015, more than 180 UK companies have joined ELITE, and 2019 also marked the launch of ELITE Scotland, with a tailored offering and network for the country. “ELITE has very much become a community – underpinned by a platform – where the broadest group of people that truly understand the requirements of scaling up businesses can come together to provide finance, guidance, insight and wisdom to the next generation of business owners,” Marcus states. “What ELITE does is provide a valuable environment in which these owners can engage with their peers, address the challenges they face and, ultimately, apply what they have learnt in order to accelerate the growth of their own businesses.” At the various launch events for the 2019 edition of the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report, Marcus was also very encouraged by the level of interest business owners displayed in gaining more information about the IPO process and the possibility of raising capital on AIM. “AIM has become a vital source of capital for growing businesses in the UK, and has helped to provide those admitted to it with all the benefits of being a public company, whether that be access to capital, higher visibility, greater credibility or increased transparency, all of which can aid in the winning of new business,” he adds. “AIM today boasts a large range of companies – with over 40 sectors represented – and this show of diversity, much like that within the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019 report, provides huge comfort for what the future holds for UK businesses.” www.1000companies.com
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SPE Offshore Europe 2019
Breakthrough
to excellence The 2019 edition of SPE Offshore Europe is set to host a wholesome debate on key topics in the upstream oil and gas industry, while also enabling companies from all over the world to display their latest developments in offshore E&P
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ithin the first full week of September, Scotland’s brand-new, state-of-the-art events venue will open its doors to host SPE Offshore Europe for the very first time, establishing itself as the event’s new home. Aberdeen’s P&J Live opened only earlier in 2019 and its 48,000 square metres of exhibition space are ready to welcome hundreds of oil and gas companies and in excess of 36,000 attendees. Scheduled to take place between 3 and 6 September, Offshore Europe is recognised by professionals as the continent’s leading event in offshore E&P. Attending the exhibition will bring visitors up to date with the most significant technologies, enabling them to engage directly with technical experts from more than 900 suppliers. These include international market leaders, as well as new innovative technology companies presenting their effective solutions for the attendees to source and compare. In addition, the industry’s largest free-to-attend conference – produced in association with the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) – will allow visitors to expand their technical knowledge with second-to-none insight
and best practices discussed at length over the four days of the event. The SPE is a renowned resource for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas E&P industry, whose members number more than 164,000 individuals from 143 countries worldwide, and whose long-standing support has defined the immense popularity Offshore Europe has enjoyed over the years. The previous edition of the event (2017) saw companies from 130 countries take part as exhibitors, of which almost 60 per cent stated their intention to return this year. The possibility of making a big impression on thousands of potential customers is clearly there, with 2017 stats showing that 72 per cent of the visitors had the ability to either initiate or influence financial transactions on behalf of their company. Countless opportunities for networking and setting up valuable business relationships are also available, as well as the chance to reach your targeted audience and gain exposure to the crème de la crème of the energy community. Among the main highlights of the exhibition will be a newly-created feature called The StartUp Village. As the name betrays it, the zone will allow new UK and international start-ups to showcase their latest
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SPE Offshore Europe 2019
technologies, products, and solutions, and make these innovations easy to find for attendees. Dedicating a specific area to these sorts of companies reflects the desire event organisers have to help start-ups get noticed and to encourage delegates to discover cutting-edge innovations from various sectors. Following the success of the inaugural ENGenious Exhibition and Symposium in 2018, the second edition of the event, which aims to drive radical digital transformation across the upstream oil and gas industry, will be launching at SPE Offshore Europe 2019. Tying in perfectly with the exhibition’s focus on data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, ‘ENGenious at OE’ will provide digital companies with a platform to demonstrate their capabilities before ENGenious returns in 2020. Another highly popular feature from 2017 that will be present again this year, is the free-to-attend Decommissioning Zone. Expected to bring over 11,000 industry professionals, it will include decommissioning technology and service providers, together with a conference theatre programme. Some of the major talking points at the SPE Offshore Europe Conference will be artificial intelligence, energy diversification, and the transformation of the workforce. Senior international industry figures will co-chair the keynote sessions, which will also include late life and decommissioning, underwater innovation, transformation technologies to lower the carbon footprint, digital security, integrated technologies, digitalisation, standardisation, and finance. In order to streamline the content that is to be presented, a technical committee was selected and charged with shortlisting more than 80 technical papers, which will be revealed to attendees over the course of Offshore Europe. Michael Borrell, Senior Vice President, North Sea and Russia at Total, will be the Conference Chair during the 2019 edition and he is optimistic that an excellent programme has been developed, which gets to the heart of the main opportunities and challenges facing the region. “Offshore Europe 2019 is a great opportunity for us to challenge ourselves in the North Sea basin. I want the event to not just look at what is going well in the North Sea, but to engage with the best of what is happening across the world. It is only by sharing best practice and being open to new ideas that we truly have the opportunity to break through to excellence,” he commented, making a reference to the theme under which this year’s event will be held – ‘Breakthrough to Excellence – Our licence to operate.’ The opening session of the Conference will bring together industry luminaries, as well as an internationallyrecognised leader on global climate change. The executive keynote address will be delivered by Patrick
Pouyanné, President & CEO of Total. Bernard Looney, Chief Executive of Upstream at BP; Wael Sawan, Shell’s Upstream Director; Doug Pferdehirt, TechnipFMC CEO; Karl Johnny Hersvik CEO of AkerBP and Hinda Gharbi, Schlumberger’s Executive Vice President Reservoir & Infrastructure will form the opening plenary panel, alongside Christiana Figueres, former UNFCCC Executive Secretary and Convenor of Mission 2020. “We have a truly world-class selection of speakers at this year’s Conference. As well as leaders from the oil and gas industry such as Patrick Pouyanné, we also have senior international figures from the climate change debate such as Christiana Figueres. This will allow us to have a really high-quality discussion about our license to operate and the future of energy,” Mr Borrell enthused. In another first for this year’s event, SPE Offshore Europe is partnering with the Financial Times to provide delegates with an insight to the role of finance in the upstream oil and gas industry. The FT Oil & Gas Finance and Investment Forum will take place on the second of the four days (4 September) and its main theme will be ‘Securing the Future in a Rapidly Evolving Energy Landscape.’ With only a couple of months remaining before Offshore Europe kicks off, registration for the exhibition and the conference is still open and potential exhibitors are urged to book their space before the venue is filled to capacity. Gathering the elite of offshore E&P, Aberdeen is the place to be in early September, if businesses are to take advantage of the latest industry developments.
SPE Offshore Europe 2019 Venue: P&J Live, Aberdeen Dates: 3-6 September 2019 Show hours: Tuesday, 3 September 09:30 – 18:00 Wednesday, 4 September 09:30 – 18:00 Thursday, 5 September 09:30 – 18:00 Friday, 6 September 09:30 – 14:00 For further information please visit: https://www.offshore-europe.co.uk
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EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
Mitigating electrical installation risk as standard Electrical installation standards exist to ensure the safety of people and infrastructure, with all elements of a cable management system working to achieve this, including the cable glands. Not all cable glands are equal in their level of protection or certification however, which may lead to serious safety concerns, so project owners and their engineers should exercise caution. There are specific standards relating to the installation of cable glands. In most developed countries, safety requirements will be endorsed by local, national or international standards and subsequently written into national legislation. This ensures that electrical equipment is selected and installed to prevent physical harm or injury. The prevailing standard IEC 62444:2010 and the European derivative EN 62444:2013 provide requirements and tests for the construction and performance of cable glands and have been developed for a variety of domestic, commercial and industrial applications. In addition, cable glands used in explosive atmospheres should first meet the requirements of any relevant standard for industrial installation e.g. IEC 62444, and then comply with the requirements of IEC 60079-0 (general requirements), as well as IEC 60079-7 (Ex “e”) and IEC 60079-31 (Ex “t”) for example. Adopting both IEC and EN 62444 standards allows cable glands with metric and NPT threads to be tested, certified and rated for a number of different mechanical and electrical attributes. As a performance standard, IEC 62444 allows compliance with different degrees of ingress protection (minimum IP54), impact resistance, and cable pull out resistance, however, not all cable glands are tested or certified to IEC 62444. The suitability of the product or equipment cannot be verified if it does not comply with a standard. A fully tested product will comply with all technical data related to impact values, electrical current values and cable retention categories, and will demonstrate evidence of obtaining third party certification.
Meeting Standards IEC 62444 applies to metallic and non-metallic cable glands and classifies cable glands according to the following: • Materials
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• Mechanical properties • Electrical current values (A, B or C) • Sealing systems • Resistance to external influences • Cable retention twist tests • Cable retention tests for non-armoured & armoured cable (class A, B, C or D) • Resistance to impact (categories 1 to 8) Establishing some basic product performance expectations for cable glands helps customers to form a specification; the importance of which should not be overlooked. The specification could include requirements for robust construction, corrosion resistant materials, reliability in design, and long term technical integrity of installations.
Over and Above 62444 Depending on the type of cable gland and the application, some users may require further tests, over and above those required by IEC 62444, including: • EMC tests • Vibration tests • Salt water spray tests • Enhanced testing for cable pull out • Dynamic repetition flexion testing
Application Specific Requirements As IEC 62444 is a performance standard which enables different compliance levels to be achieved, it is not enough for users to only ask for adherence to the standard. Moreover, it is imperative that the requirements are clearly documented in formal specification to ensure that the additional application requirements are captured relating across the cable management system. By way of illustration, the mechanical protection of electrical enclosures in the IK Code system (IEC 62262) demonstrates that when properly tested to IEC 62444, cable glands may have a variety of different impact values: IEC 62444 Table 4 – Impact values • Categories: 1 (0.2 J) to 4 (2.0 J) equal to Domestic / Commercial Service Use • Category: 5 (4.0 J) equal to Light Duty Industrial Service Use • Categories: 6 (7.0 J) and 7 (10.0 J) equal to Medium Duty Industrial Service Use • Category: 8 (20.0 J) equal to Heavy Duty Industrial Service Use
CMP Products Limited
It would logically follow that the selected cable glands should maintain the same degree of protection as the electrical enclosure. This would include the minimum mechanical impact values of the IK code system (IEC 62262) being met which are more than adequately catered for by the IEC 62444 standard. IEC and EN 62262 allow electrical equipment manufacturers to test and certify their products to obtain a rating with an IK code from IK02 to IK10; identifying the impact resistance from <1.0J to 20J. An impact resistance test allows engineers, designers and specifiers to select tested products and equipment to suit the applications defined by their environment. Below is a typical illustration of mechanical protection and what the options may be: • IK Codes: IK02 (<1.0 J) to IK07 (2.0 J) equal to Domestic / Commercial Service Use • IK Code: IK08 (5.0 J) equal to Light Duty Industrial Service Use • IK Code: IK09 (10.0 J) equal to Medium Duty Industrial Service Use • IK Code: IK10 (20.0 J) equal to Heavy Duty Industrial Service Use A similar theme also applies to electrical current values and cable retention tests; however the former
only applies to cable glands made from conductive materials which are in direct contact with metallic cable sheaths; electrical values would not be applicable to nylon or polyamide cable glands. Plastic cable glands may be suitable for use with some enclosure types, but it is important to ensure that they are mechanically robust and can be verified by this IEC 62444 impact value.
Steps to Safer Practice Any products that may look the part but do not have the necessary third party test certificates may become a safety risk if it cannot be proven that they fulfil all of the requirements of the relevant standard, in this case IEC or EN 62444. Often seeing published data in manufacturers’ catalogues is still not enough and users should insist on verifying this by checking the third-party certification that the manufacturer should be able to provide for its products. When evaluating cable glands, users should always take into account the relevance of current standards, both industrial and explosive atmosphere, as well as the verification of testing that should be carried out. This is ultimately the only way to prove that they are suitable for the environment.
CMP Products Limited www.cmp-products.com
Products and services: Cable gland and cable cleat specialists
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EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
Driving wave energy development The wave and tidal sectors have, to date, created significant economic benefits for Scotland. As per research conducted by the representative body, Scottish Renewables, the marine energy sector has invested over £190 million in Scotland – boasting high levels of Scottish content at around 62 per cent – making it an industry that has truly been ‘born and bred’ in Scotland. In addition to its strong domestic marine resource (Scotland provides up to 25 per cent of Europe’s total tidal power and ten per cent of its wave power), it is estimated that 337GW of marine energy could be installed worldwide by 2050, creating a global market worth as much as £460 billion. A subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Wave Energy Scotland (WES) was formed in 2014 at the request of the Scottish Government with the aim of ensuring that the country maintained its leading role in the development of the industry. “Early failures within the wave energy sector prompted a major re-think of how best to approach the challenges posed,” begins WES Managing Director, Tim Hurst. “What WES did was set out a fiveyear strategy, aimed at bringing continuity,
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structure and long-term confidence to the industry, in a bid to attract future investors.” Through its competitive procurement programme, WES today supports a range of projects focused on the key systems and sub-systems of wave energy converters, with the goal being to produce reliable technology that will result in cost effective energy generation. Through its work, WES has funded no fewer than 86 contracts, invested £38.6 million, and been involved with 200 separate organisations, across 13 different countries. This includes work with a number of academic institutions in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and Italy, as well as UK and European companies. At the heart of WES’ efforts to promote R&D within the sector is the WES Technology Programme, which Tim goes on to explain in more detail. “WES offers 100 per cent funding for R&D proposals through our three-stage programme, and in the past, it has not been uncommon for us to fund several projects at once through this means,” he says. “At stage one, when we open what we refer to as an ‘Innovation Call’, we typically ask for concepts. From here, rigorous assessment and evaluation is carried out before we select the best
Wave Energy Scotland (WES)
projects to continue to stage two, where they receive further funding. A similar process then occurs at stage three, until we are left with the best possible technology. These evaluation stages ensure that we are working with the best in all of our four programmes for power take-off, novel wave energy converters, control systems, and structure materials and manufacturing processes.”
Innovation Call It is the above documented approach that WES will now be looking to apply to its new call for quick connection systems. “Quick connection systems represent the next subcomponent to be developed by WES in its multimillion pound wave energy technology programme,” Tim continues. “The ideal technological solution would function in large wave conditions, connect quickly to reduce maintenance costs, and increase safety by operating remotely. The connection systems would be an integral element of the mooring system, the electrical system, or both for the wave energy devices. Furthermore, it is likely that suitable systems can be used or adapted for other sectors in the future, such as automotive, offshore wind, mining, aerospace, defence, robotics, maritime, and oil and gas.” Successful applicants to the Innovation Call for quick connection systems will undertake a feasibility study on their proposed technical solution in stage one, followed by the design and analysis of this solution in stage two, before moving to the build and test phase at stage three. WES will offer up to £70,000 (excluding VAT) per project of up to a duration of three months, with applicants free to contribute further funds if desired. Applications must be submitted by 12:00BST (GMT+1) on 16th September 2019.
Industry event As each year comes to a close, WES holds its Annual Conference in December, and plans are taking shape nicely for the 2019 event. “This year, we have invited the Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands to give our keynote address for what will be the second time, and we anticipate in the region of 200 delegates to attend,” Tim reveals. “The event brings together a huge number of industry representatives and, as you can imagine, provides for an excellent networking opportunity.”
The rest of 2019 will no doubt prove to be highly fruitful for WES and the wider sector, with four of its power take-off devices being tested this summer alone. Meanwhile, it also has its sights set on what next year will hold. “2020 will be an exceptional for WES,” Tim enthuses. “We anticipate having two wave energy devices in the water for at-sea testing in Orkney. These devices have proved themselves in the tank testing phase, and we expect positive results from the larger scaled models operating in sea conditions.”
Wave Energy Scotland (WES) www.waveenergyscotland.co.uk Services: Supporting wave technology developments
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Leading a renaissance
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PROFILE
Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland
As an industry, we need to be forward looking and actively seek to make ourselves a strategic part of any future energy mix. Only by doing so and focusing on things like energy efficiency, and adopting new blends and products, can we begin to build a future energy cluster around a refinery itself. Make no mistake, there will always remain a role for refining in one form or another, but change is coming and our industry needs to start embracing it now!
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PROFILE
Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland
The area around the town of Grangemouth, Scotland, has long been at the forefront of innovation and technology, ever since shale oil refining began to shape its industrial landscape in the 1850’s. Since 1924, Grangemouth Refinery has been the main industry of the town, and the wider Falkirk council area, existing as the country’s only crude oil refinery and one of the largest facilities of its kind anywhere in Europe. Since December 2005, the refinery – which as well as petrol and diesel, also produces significant quantities of kerosene, jet fuel, gas oil, LPG and petrochemical feedstocks – has been owned and operated by privately owned, UK-based chemicals company Ineos. It was then, in 2011, that the Ineos Refining business (which included both the Grangemouth and Lavera, France, refineries) entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Chinese state oil company Petrochina, to form Petroineos Refining & Trading. Since its acquisition, Petroineos/Ineos have invested more than £1 billion into the Grangemouth Complex, which today processes some 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and produces over nine million
tonnes of clear fuel per annum and around one million tonnes of chemical product each year. As Refinery Manager, Russell Mann, details, 2019 has been another important year so far for Grangemouth. “In 2019, the refinery undertook its largest ever turnaround programme. This scheduled event, where more than half the Refinery was taken off stream for an extended period of renewal, involved around 3500 people and was completed in the first half of the year. It was also carried out without any disruption to the fuel supply of Scotland, which is something we take great pride in.” Energy, Oil & Gas magazine spoke with Russell at a particularly significant time for the refinery, one in which it describes itself as undergoing a radical transformation and investment that will herald a new era in petrochemical manufacturing. In fact, at the time of our conversation, UKPIA had just published a new booklet looking at the future vision for refining in the UK, and for Russell the big topic of conversation on his mind revolved around what the next 15-20 years will mean for Grangemouth. Continued on page 36
“In setting out its Future Vision report, UKPIA has, for the first time, tried to show that a successful downstream oil sector is not something that is in conflict with the UK’s net-zero targets and other emissions goals. Now – when awareness and willingness to change in light of climate change is at the highest it’s ever been, downstream oil sector companies each have an opportunity to synchronise with society’s goals of sustainability and continued economic growth. The sector can do so by reducing its own emissions; by making refineries more efficient, and working more with other industrial sectors in clusters to reduce emissions even more, but also by looking at different products, producing more low-carbon liquid fuels that use existing infrastructure and working alongside electric vehicles and other technologies to reduce carbon emissions in transport.” Jamie Baker, Director of External Relations, UK Petroleum Industry Association
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SONOMATIC
is committed to providing accurate proactive inspection solutions that enable clients to manage the integrity of new and maturing assets, while making informed and cost-effective decisions crucial to the extension and safety of life. The integration of various divisions strengthens the company’s range of innovative approaches specifically aimed at improving the effectiveness and efficiency of inspection and how it contributes to the integrity process. Sonomatic provides a number of important areas of innovation offering benefits to our clients, including Petroineos. The 2019 TAR was a huge success for both Sonomatic and our client Petroineos, working closely together towards solutions and completions while consistently ensuring that safety is our number one priority. Sonomatic had more than 100 technicians on site at the refinery for more than 200 days, for pre-shutdown planning and shutdown work, managing the NDT and rope access work scopes. Sonomatic RAIS (Rope Access & Inspection Services) offers clients a seamless NDT service; managing, term contracts, off-shore and on-shore projects via our handpicked technicians, admin and management teams. RAIS. We know we are different. We want to be. Sonomatic RAIS is committed to the internal development of our technicians and operations teams. Our commitment to our teams and in-turn their developed skill sets, allow us to continue to grow. Sonomatic RAIS has the passion and determination to make things better for our clients, to help build our vision and to continue to change the way people do business. We believe in what we are doing, and we are heading where we want to go. We back this up by proving consistently that we offer a better service, we have fantastic facilities and more importantly, we treat our clients and team equally both working together to bring out the very best of our skills, as partners. Sonomatic Specialist Field Services (SSFS) performed specialist inspections for Petroineos during the 2019 TAR for the detection and assessment of High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA). This involved a site team of ten personnel, with a further four off-site analysts performing sophisticated processing and analysis. The team provided 24-hour coverage by formally trained technicians deploying procedures developed through Sonomatic’s own internal, extensive R&D programmes. Petroineos had confidence in Sonomatic performing these critical techniques in light of the training, R&D, dedicated HTHA management systems and Sonomatic’s involvement in the development of the revised standard API 941 Section 6. Sonomatic was able to respond quickly to dynamically changing work scopes and interacted daily with plant management to direct activities. SSFS also provided support to Petroineos through critical inspections in relation to Non-Intrusive
Inspection (NII) programmes. NII provides major advantages to refinery operators in terms of minimising pressure vessel entry. Sonomatic’s Engineering Services group provide a range of services to the refinery, some of which are critical in supporting TAR activity. A key area of support is in Level 3 fitness for service (FFS) assessments based on nonlinear finite element analysis. Sonomatic’s engineers have substantial experience of working alongside inspection colleagues and quickly and reliably interpret NDT data for defect definition in FFS assessments. This, together with efficient processes for finite element model generation allow fast turn-around of critical and complex FFS assessments, thereby supporting rapid decisions which minimise unplanned down time durations. Sonomatic is also working with the refinery to implement methods of statistical analysis to plan for more efficient inspection and for evaluation of sampling inspections, e.g. for storage tanks, heat exchanger tube bundles and NII of pressure vessels. Because of this partnership, Sonomatic has been reinvesting in our technicians, our services and our facilities. We have recently extended the Aberdeen facility by adding in two radiography bays, one of which has a working area of over 11 metres. As we continue our growth in terms of contracts, we are also investing in a new facility in Grangemouth which will allow us to provide radiography, hydrotesting, heat-treatment and facilitate our engineering and specialised inspection teams, as well. We look forward to growing with Petroineos and are thankful to Russell and his team, for giving us the opportunity to work as their incumbents.
Tracy Anderson, Regional Manager
Sonomatic
............................................................................................. T: +44 (0)1224 823960 | E: ndtteam@sonomatic.com ............................................................................................. W: www.vsonomatic.com
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“The way that we can look at what the future holds for both ourselves and the wider refining sector is to take a short, medium and long-term approach,” Russell states. “In the coming months, we will be putting the finishing touches on setting ourselves up for the changes in fuel oil specs being brought in by the International Maritime Organization
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(IMO) at the beginning of 2020. This will result in the current maximum fuel oil sulphur limit of 3.5 weight per cent falling to 0.5 weight per cent. “In order to meet these demands we have been investing in flexibility, de-bottling our systems so that we can work with different crude oil grades – for example, we are seeing more value in US grades than North Sea grades at present – and looking at the potential rise in value of middle distillates that will increasingly be needed to blend down sulphur pressure. We are also examining what changes might be required to export this newly specified fuel as a finished product. By covering all of these different aspects, we are ensuring that whichever way the market moves over the coming months, we can respond in kind.”
Ready for change Turning to the medium-term future – specifically the next five years – the theme of our discussion turns to the ongoing shift away from diesel vehicles and back to petrol, a much publicised and debated topic in the UK at present. “Over the last 12 months, we have seen a rapid reversal of the pattern which was prevalent over the previous two decades, which can be seen in the fact that the vast majority of new registrations in 2019 have swung back to petrol vehicles,” Russell details. “It takes around 20 years to change out the vehicle fleet, so we need to work to reconfigure Grangemouth to accommodate the decline in diesel vehicle production and the resurgence of petrol,” he continues. “Ironically, we find that many of the UK’s refineries already hold a surplus of petrol at the moment, so this swing should actually suit sites like Grangemouth. What we will have to do in the meantime, however, is look at how we address areas such as the refinery’s current tankage set up and its dispatch systems, while also turning our hand to the expected decline in diesel into an opportunity to make greater volumes of in-demand products such as jet fuel and more indigenous petrol.” While the shift back to petrol takes effect, refineries will also face ongoing changes in biofuels legislation. Driven by the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), there has been a gradual increase in the required bio component – bioethanol or fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) for example
PROFILE
Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland
– of transport fuels in recent years, with the current percentage stipulated standing at 8.5 per cent. In 2020, this will rise again to 9.5 per cent, which Russell believes will have a telling impact on the refining market. “Not only is this legislation displacing conventional fuels that come out of crude oil, but it also means that refineries have an entirely new blending component that they have to manage, and it is almost certain that the end result will be the introduction of a whole new fuel grade within the UK for petrol,” Russell states. “For us at Grangemouth, we presently import our bioethanol and FAME, so what we want to do is find a way to relieve the increasing stress on refining logistics by looking at how we can
make more of these components indigenous to Scotland. As part of these efforts, we are working with both the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise to see if we can rebalance the import/export structure of fuels in the country.”
Embrace the future Last, but not least, Russell focuses his attention on the long-term future of refining, and specifically how it will fit into a world defined by factors such as the electrification of the transport fleet, the phasing out of the combustion engine, reductions in CO2 output and the UK’s commitment to reach a target of net zero carbon emissions. “As an industry, we must accept that great change is already
Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) helps industrial customers around the world operate safe, reliable, efficient, sustainable and more profitable facilities. We offer leading technologies from the plant floor to the boardroom as well as comprehensive lifecycle services that help to ensure more productive and stable operations. A business unit of Honeywell International, HPS has pioneered process automation control for more than 40 years with a continuous evolution from legacy process control systems to today’s leading innovations such as Experion® PKS, protecting our customers’ investments in automation assets. With more than 12,000 employees around the world, HPS has the global expertise and breadth of resources to execute projects of every size and complexity in the oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, industrial power generation, chemicals and petrochemicals, biofuels, life sciences, and metals, minerals and mining industries.
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ENGINEERING CHANGE Engenda Group provides an integrated end-to end-solution for the delivery of essential outsourced engineering services within the Power, Refining, Chemical, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing and Infrastructure sectors, both in the UK and overseas Since inception, Engenda Group has been progressively formed through a careful and selective acquisition strategy. This, complemented by impressive organic growth, means Engenda Group has continued its development into a market leader in the delivery of outsourced engineering services to multiple market sectors across the UK and into Europe. It is now uniquely positioned to deliver essential, value adding mechanical, electrical and instrumentation (ME&I) engineering services. Engenda Group can be trusted to deliver high quality, technically advanced, accurate, educationally specified equipment and facilities on time and within budget. Engenda Group prides itself on being an organisation powered by innovation, founded on a reputation of trust, integrity and ethical business practices.
Its accredited services include: • Manufacturing • Installation and Servicing • Column Rescue • Industrial Competency and Safety Training • Design and Engineering • Electrical System Installation and Containment • Inspection and Testing • Commissioning and Specialist Technical Services • Outage and Turnaround Support • Pressure Vessel Design and Manufacture The company enhances the traditional supply of outsourced engineering services to deliver optimum solutions achieving reductions in fixed costs, plus improvements in asset availability and life cycle cost performance. Its team can provide support in developing a maintenance strategy and associated development plan. It can provide the necessary support to deliver planned outages, bringing all current maintenance practices and operations together with industry best practice.
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Engenda Group recognises the increasing challenges facing its clients’ manufacturing operations. Its approach is tailored to suit the specific requirements of each project to deliver proven improvements in productivity and competitiveness. Day-to-day operational delivery is achieved via an experienced team of professionals with current knowledge and expertise of manufacturing operations, maintenance strategy, work management processes and leadership of change. The Group’s highly skilled teams deliver challenging change programmes within its customers’ organisations, operating as intelligent partners rather than instructed suppliers. They are engineers. Engenda Group understands the importance of your business values. Its people, tools and processes are aimed at ‘Engineering Change’, with fit for purpose solutions that take into account its customer capability, constraints and required levels of external support. Engenda Group is proud to be accredited to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. Winning successive RoSPA Gold Awards further demonstrates its commitment to high standards within health and safety.
Working with Petroineos Engenda Integrated Services mobilised a multidisciplined management team to support Petroineos on its recent 2019 refinery TAR.
Industrial and Competency Training
The team mobilised at short notice and consisted of area lead engineers, QA manager, planning engineers, superintendents, supervisors and admin staff who were all integrated into Petroineos cell teams providing support during preparation, execution and close out phases of the event. The area leads were responsible for delivery of all works within their designated area, co-ordinating sub-contractors, off site fabrication and equipment overhauls whilst maintaining scheduled critical path works and process priorities in this fast-moving environment. They brought both knowledge and experience from Engenda managed events within the petro-chemical sector. Engenda EPC (formerly Clark Eriksson Associates Ltd) has provided Engineering and Design services to the Grangemouth Complex for decades; the services began when the site was owned by BP. One of the major projects it carried out was Line Walking for Inspection Isometrics in the early 2000s. It was successfully audited in 2010 for Finnart Projects and then in 2013 for the whole complex for all the engineering and design services it provides: Process, Civil/Structural, Mechanical/Piping and Instrument/ Electrical. The majority of the work undertaken more recently has been Design Services for Finnart, with some small test Instrument/Electrical projects for Petroineos. It has also carried out Civil/Structural Inspection and remediation reports for the Utilities Infrastructure Steelwork Gantries around the old Power Station. Since being acquired by Engenda in the February of 2015, it has carried out some major capital and de-bottlenecking projects for Ineos Oxides Hull Plant.
Engenda Manufacturing has also recently supplied a new DHT Feed Drum to the Grangemouth site:
Fact file: • Test weight • Shipped weight • Width • Length • Thickness • Material
220t 50t 5m 13m 25mm NL2 Carbon Steel
We will honour promises and deliver ‘on time in full’ to all with whom we interact and in doing so ensure that as individuals and as an organisation we are trusted implicitly. Lee Foundation, Managing Director
Engenda Group Dee House, Hampton Court, Manor Park, Runcorn, WA7 1TT ........................................................................................... T: 01928 594900 | E: info@engenda-group.com W: engenda-group.com
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Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland
underway and that there is no point in trying to fight it or in refusing to move with the times. Rather, we must embrace what the future holds,” he declares. In the case of Grangemouth, a lot of this means achieving greater energy efficiency. “The total fuel bill for our refinery can be in excess of $200 million per year, making it our biggest single cost. Therefore, we have a massive incentive right away to become more energy efficient,” Russell says. “The Site is currently in the process of investing £350 million in a new energy plant to bring efficient steam power generation capacity to the whole of the Grangemouth complex. The new plant will play a key role in the future development of the refinery.” What is clear from speaking with Russell is that he is steadfast in his belief that if change is not embraced now by refineries, then they may find that they cease to exist altogether in 20 years’ time. “As an industry, we need to be forward looking and actively seek to make ourselves a strategic part of any future energy mix. Only by doing so and focusing on things
like energy efficiency, and adopting new blends and products, can we begin to build a future energy cluster around a refinery itself. Make no mistake, there will always remain a role for refining in one form or another, but change is coming and our industry needs to start embracing it now!”
Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland www.petroineos.com ........................................................ Services: Crude oil refinery
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Providing the vital connection More than three years have passed since we last caught up with JDR Cable Systems. Since then JDR has been acquired by TFKable Group, a leading producer of wires and cables, with major production facilities in Europe and global sales offices. Both companies have a long history of collaboration, with TFKable being JDR’s important business partner providing power copper cores for its cable and umbilical systems. JDR also compliments TFKable as its highly technical subsea systems allow its customers to power and control their offshore operations, and enhance the range of cable solutions TFKable can provide to its customers. Back then, the market-leading provider of
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subsea technologies and services connecting the global offshore energy industry expressed its satisfaction with the growing number of renewable projects it had secured. Halfway through 2019, this trend is stronger than ever, with the company’s renewable activities now amounting to 70 per cent of the business. A specialist in designing, engineering, and manufacturing subsea power cables, production umbilicals, intervention workover control systems (IWOCS), and end terminations and accessories, JDR has led the development of inter-array cable design and manufacture, creating comprehensive product systems for some of the world’s largest offshore renewable energy projects. Significant examples of these would be the
PROFILE
work it has delivered on the Greater Gabbard and London Array wind farms in the UK, the Meerwind wind farm in Germany, Aberdeen Bay (European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre) and Beatrice in Scotland but some of its recent and current contracts have also seen JDR expand into other geographic areas.
International contracts In December 2018, the company signed a contract with Vattenfall for the Danish Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm that will see JDR manufacture more than 170 kilometres of aluminium core interarray cables and a range of termination accessories. The wind farm is located 15 kilometres east of the Danish coast in the southern part of the Baltic Sea and will be Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm, incorporating 72 turbines of 8.4 MW with an installed capacity of 605 MW. The interarray cables connecting the turbines will carry the clean generated electricity to an offshore substation for transmission to shore. Within the space of just over six months between 2018 and 2019, JDR made significant strides into the Taiwanese market, too. In June of last year, the company was selected by Jan De Nul Group to manufacture and supply inter-array, export, and land cables for the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm – Formosa 1. Impressed with JDR’s work on this project, Jan De Nul selected the British supplier once again in January 2019 to design and manufacture subsea power cables and accessories for the Taiwan Power Company Offshore Wind Farm Phase One. Situated off the coast of Fangyuan in Changhua County in Central Western Taiwan, the project’s first stage will see the installation and commissioning of 21 5.2 MW offshore wind turbines giving a total capacity of approximately 110 MW. As part of its commitment, JDR will design and manufacture 65 kilometres of array and export cable to transmit power from the wind turbines to the shore. The 33kV cables will be manufactured at JDR’s state-of-the-art facility in Hartlepool with additional support from the Polish facility of its parent organisation TFKable Group. After that, the cables will be shipped to Taiwan for installation by Jan De Nul. Discussing this particular project and the future opportunities for JDR in this part of the world, CEO, Jaroslaw Romanowski
JDR Cable Systems
said: “The region has exciting prospects with the growth of its offshore market and as Taiwan becomes an increasingly popular choice for investors and developers. We are delighted to be a part of the local success story and to bring not just our technology, but our experience to the developers and supply chain in the region. Therefore, this project really aligns with our growth strategy and localisation in Taiwan, where our aim is to work alongside local partners to share knowledge, skills, and expertise.”
Focus on innovation Back home, in the summer of 2018, JDR secured a multimillion contract for the second phase of the construction the world’s biggest offshore wind farm – Hornsea. The contract, awarded by Ørsted, includes the supply of 100 kilometres of interarray cables and termination work. Mr Romanowski commented: “Hornsea Project Two is a 1.4 GW offshore wind project that will be built at the lowest ever price seen in the UK. This incredible achievement is being enabled by organisations like JDR and Ørsted working collaboratively to push the technical boundaries of offshore wind projects – making them more economic than ever before and leading the way for future developments.” Certainly, this focus on innovation and redefining the concept of the possible is one of the characteristics exhibited by JDR that keeps the company ahead of the curve. Capable of combining its expertise in both the renewable and oil and gas sectors, this is best reflected in the delivery of the industry’s first application of dynamic cables operating at 66kV for the Windfloat Atlantic 25 MW floating wind farm based off the coast of
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Viana de Castelo in Northern Portugal. The company was selected by WindPlus in June 2017 to design and manufacture array cables to suit V164 floating turbines. To support the project, JDR designed a unique and easy to install dynamic cable breakaway system, which protects the floating platform in the unlikely event of a mooring line failure. Furthermore, the supplier’s proposition also included HV termination and testing. And JDR’s successes keep coming, with news announced in June 2019 that it has won a contract for Belgium’s largest offshore wind farm - the SeaMade project. JDR will design, manufacture and deliver 78.1 kilometres of aluminium core inter-array cables and a range of cable accessories, including repair joints and connectors. The inter-array cables connecting the 58 Siemens 8.4MW turbines, will carry clean generated electricity to an offshore substation for transmission to the offshore grid. The offshore wind power generated is transmitted by a 33kV cable system with hang-offs and connector terminations for 128 cable ends.
for the oil and gas industry on the leading edge in the customisation of cables using different alloys and outer encapsulations. Through relationships with equipment manufacturers and a thorough understanding of customer needs in the market, AFL is able to serve this high-tech industry with a cable portfolio no other company can offer. in-house, AFL can serve customers from any location worldwide. Let AFL your precise application.
www.AFLglobal.com
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+44 1793 647200
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The project, operated by SeaMade, which is a consortium of DEME Offshore is expected to be operational by 2020.
Entry to rental business Notwithstanding the fact that renewable energy projects make up more than twothird of JDR’s business, the company maintains its strong positions in the oil and gas market, too. Last summer, it won a five-year long-term service agreement with Houston’s Wild Well Control for the design, manufacture, and assembly of IWOCS to be deployed in conjunction with the client’s 7Series subsea intervention systems. The partnership promises to broaden JDR’s presence in deep water markets such as the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa, as the area remains of strategic importance for the company in its long-term considerations. The continuous flow of new business coming JDR’s way renders the future bright and the organisation is now hoping to develop a new element of its offering. Since this year, JDR has branched into the
PROFILE
rental business, thus opening up a new service for its customers. Following the oil price downturn that began in 2014, the US IWOCS market truly embraced the leasing model, with operators extremely keen on cutting their expenses. Back in the day, buying using capex investment was a standard procurement practice, but since that market shock, companies have started to reassess their aggressive spending. Due to the fact that most wells requiring intervention (around 80 per cent globally) are in water less than 7000-8000 feet with pressures below 15,000 PSI, JDR advances the proposition that these wells can be serviced by ready-configured standard IWOCS. In this case, rather than having to buy a system and move it from well to well one after another, operators can easily rent as many as required,
JDR Cable Systems
whenever required. Given the favourable market response to a solution of this kind and JDR’s unrivalled expertise and experience in the creation of these systems, the company can be assured of the success of its undertaking.
JDR Cable Systems
Parker Parker’s Nautilus20 subsea hose offers an unprecedented 20,000 psi (1379 bar) design working pressure, allowing offshore oil and gas companies to overcome the constraints of common 15,000 psi hoses. This enables customers to target reserves in deeper waters with higher reservoir pressures and greater step-out distances. Coupled with high collapse resistance (more than 7250 psi), a smooth-bore design and the non-sticky outside cover, the polyflex Nautilus20 hose easily outperforms comparable subsea hoses. Nautilus20 has a seamless extruded thermoplastic core tube with a wide range of media compatibility, and it is similar in weight and bending to standard 15,000 psi hose.
www.jdrcables.com ............................................ Services: Design, manufacture, and installation of subsea production umbilicals, power cabling, and IWOCS
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PROFILE
Shell – Gasnor
Gibraltar LNG Regasification Terminal Project
Creating a cleaner future The geography of Gibraltar, located to the south of Spain on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, makes it one of the most unique locations in Europe, if not the world. With its landscape dominated by the iconic Rock of Gibraltar, it sits alongside the logistically important Strait of Gibraltar – the only water passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean – and holds the status of being a British Overseas Territory with its own democratically elected government. Gibraltar’s independence means that it has developed its own self-sufficient energy network, and in much the same way as the majority of developed and developing nations are taking positive strides forward, it too has taken significant steps in introducing cleaner methods of generating power. One of the more significant projects to take place in this field has been the construction of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal, which was completed in May 2019 by Shell and its 100 per cent owned subsidiary Gasnor. With the commencing of its activities that same month, Gibraltar is officially making the switch from dieselfuelled power generation to cleaner-burning natural gas, using a newly commissioned 80MW gas-fired power plant. “Discussions between Shell and the government of Gibraltar formally began in 2014, with the expressed purpose revolving around updating and modernising the territory’s power infrastructure, with the clear intent of establishing a cleaner, more environmentally acceptable and reliable power network,” begins Shell’s General Manager of LNG Market Development, Markus Hector. “Initially, plans had revolved around the construction of a small floating storage and regasification unit that would connect to the power station. What we did was identify a more effective, efficient and cheaper alternative, which was to build a small-scale onshore LNG terminal, directly
adjacent to the power station so as to allow for a seamless integration of their respective systems, while also ensuring extremely high reliability of delivery.” Construction of the terminal followed an LNG supply agreement being signed in 2016, with operation of the facility to be handled by Gasnor, which has more than 15 years of experience in small-scale LNG projects in north-west Europe. “While from a technical perspective this project was not massively complex, it was unique in that Gibraltar is a geographically constrained territory, where space comes at a premium, so this had to be taken into account during our ongoing considerations,” Markus continues. “The finished project sees LNG vessels load into the terminal approximately twice a month, with the LNG stored in five double-walled stainless-steel tanks, each with a capacity of 1000 cubic metres. The burning of this natural gas results in a reduction in nitrous oxide emissions by some 85 per cent, a major decrease in CO2 emissions, and virtually eliminates the production of sulphur oxide and other particulate matter, greatly improving things like the air quality in what is a space-constrained community.”
With an evergrowing natural gas infrastructure likely to arise from this increase in demand, we also foresee an improved ability to bring LNG to market as a fuel source to marine vessel operators. We believe that we will see the rise of a flourishing energy system where ships use LNG as fuel, much as is the case today in the Strait of Gibraltar
Delivering power Understandably, Shell and Gasnor are incredibly proud to have completed the Gibraltar LNG Regasification Terminal Project, and Shell now hopes to replicate the approach taken here in other parts of world, where there is a need for cleaner, more reliable energy through similar LNG projects. “This project represented the first time that we have placed a small-scale supply chain into action to deliver power, and to have done so according to the planning parameters placed upon us by the government of Gibraltar is especially pleasing. In doing so, we have proven ourselves to not only them, but the rest of the world, that we are ENERGY,oil&gas
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Why Chart LNG Equipment?
Picture Courtesy of Shell, 2019
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Shell – Gasnor
Gibraltar LNG Regasification Terminal Project
more than capable of advancing such energy systems,” Markus declares. “We are also well aware that there are lots of customers around the world living in coastal communities that presently do not have access to LNG as a clearer burning fuel, and we want to transfer the lessons learnt in Gibraltar to bring this source of power generation to them in the future.” As a business, Shell believes it to be incredibly important to offer LNG as an alternative to those customers that are currently utilising diesel or other liquid fuels. As Markus goes on to add, there are also other potential uses that it can take advantage of. “In addition to the aforementioned ambitions, we are keen and committed to delivering LNG as a fuel to the transportation sector, particularly to large ships and carriers. In many ways, the engines of these vessels are similar to those that run the power station in Gibraltar, so the experiences we have had here will help us to develop our LNG offering in that direction.”
Process of change Today, Gibraltar’s homes and businesses are benefiting from being powered by the reliable, cleaner energy that Shell’s LNG Regasification Terminal Project has helped to create. Yet, as Markus reveals, the company hopes that a longer-term legacy can one day be traced back to its efforts here. “I believe that in five-to-ten years’ time, we will see a number of other customers in both Europe and the wider world will have taken on board similar energy supply concepts – as well as other forms of renewable energy – in order to facilitate a more reliable supply to communities. “With an ever-growing natural gas infrastructure likely to arise from this increase in demand, we also foresee an improved ability to bring LNG to market as a fuel source to marine vessel operators. We believe that we will see the rise of a flourishing energy system where ships use LNG as fuel, much as is the case today in the Strait of Gibraltar. Placing all of the above together
leaves us with a powerful sense of pride that we have played a part in beginning a process of change that will ultimately create a more sustainable, cleaner energy future for the world.”
Chart Ferox The Gibraltar LNG terminal is the latest to feature Chart expertise, and is designed and scaled to provide maximum efficiency and prove the financial viability of small-scale LNG. Like the receiving terminal at Klaipeda, all items in the cryogenic section, including the storage tanks, are shop built, which minimises site civil engineering and associated time at site. Chart Ferox has a proven track record in delivering complete turn-key solutions for complex LNG installations. Modularisation is another important feature that facilitates simple scalability and replication for similar projects. “Chart provides a competitive edge through a complete service offering, including design, manufacturing, total installation and EPC work,” says Chairman and President, Chart D&S Hans Lonsain. “We operate across the complete LNG small-scale value chain, from liquefaction to end use, giving the customer full control and visibility over the entire project.”
Shell – Gasnor Gibraltar LNG Regasification Terminal Project www.shell.com www.gasnor.no ............................................ Products: LNG regasification terminal
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Transforming Jordan’s petroleum industry
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PROFILE
Jordan Oil Terminals Company (JOTC)
The process of liberalisation of Jordan’s downstream petroleum sector has been in progress for over ten years now. Since 2008, the market monopoly of the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) has been unbundled after the expiry of the latter’s concession agreement for the supply of petroleum products with the Arab nation’s Government. As a result, multiple new players have emerged and competition between these entities has been injected into the market and fostered ever since. One of these new companies that have been established in this period, is the Jordan Oil Terminals Company (JOTC). Founded in 2015 and wholly-owned by the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, JOTC is the first independent, open-access storage provider in the country, offering world-class storage, handling, transportation, aviation fuelling, and bunkering services for local and regional clients in the petroleum industry.
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“Following the restructuring of the industry in 2008, the supply chain has been unbundled and all the activities that used to be in JPRC’s remit – importing, refining, storing, transporting, and marketing – have been divided into three parts,” begins JOTC’s co-founder and Commercial Director, Basheer Salaytah. “At the end of the supply chain, we now have three oil marketing companies (OMCs); then, JPRC remains engaged with refining and marketing mainly through a subsidiary OMC; while we are responsible for the storage of all kinds of petroleum products, such as heavy fuel oil, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and LPG. In fact, we are the only LPG storage company in Jordan.” Due to the fact that the market in Jordan is relatively small, JOTC operates on an openaccess principle, providing its storage capacity to every player serving the local market. “This is of great significance, because any new entrant can use our infrastructure, instead of having to build its own terminal. By leasing our tank terminals to a diversified base of customers, we encourage competition. In turn, the presence of multiple marketing and distribution companies gives more choice to the Jordanian customers in the market. “The second key benefit of the open-access policy is that we can develop our assets in Aqaba in such a way that they become Jordan’s gateway of petroleum products imports,” Basheer points out. “We are also
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targeting the markets in Levant, like Iraq, Syria and Palestine. We are currently holding talks with a number of Iraqi exporters of heavy fuel oil and importers of gasoline to use our storage tanks in Aqaba and we also hope that once the political situation in Syria is settled and trade restrictions are lifted, we will be able to supply finished petroleum products to the Syrian market through Jordan, too.” As Jordan’s only coastal city, Aqaba’s strategic importance for the country’s oil and gas industry cannot be downplayed. Alongside the Aqaba Heavy Oil Terminal, which was built in 1978, JOTC also runs the Aqaba Oil & LPG Terminal, whose commercial operations began in July 2018. Designed to make the storage and handling
PROFILE
Jordan Oil Terminals Company (JOTC)
of gasoline, diesel, and LPG a smooth and hassle-free process, the automated terminal is presently handling 95 per cent of Jordan’s gasoline imports. Eager to strengthen its position in the country, JOTC is looking to shortly close the deal for the acquisition of JPRC’s logistics assets and aviation fuelling capabilities. Basheer details: “When we complete the acquisition, we will be able to handle more than 90 per cent of all oil and petroleum products imported into Jordan. The 220,000 m3 facility that we will have at our disposal, will increase our overall capacity to 860,000 m3 and our market share in Aqaba will grow from around 42 per cent to 69 per cent. “Furthermore, we are set to become the exclusive provider of aviation fuelling services in all three airports in Jordan. We will be covering all kinds of aviation activity, including general aviation, short-haul, long-haul, and commuter flights; cargo or passenger services; military aviation; and fuelling with hydrant dispensers or bowser trucks.” Notwithstanding the undisputed significance of Aqaba’s two terminals, Jordan’s most strategic asset is and will remain the new Amman Strategic Terminal. Even though its official inauguration took place in June, the Kingdom’s biggest reservoir of petroleum products had been operating commercially since January this year. Covering Jordan’s demand for 34 days, the capital-based terminal contributes to the security of supply, especially in the case of an emergency. “The Amman Strategic Terminal has state-ofthe-art infrastructure installed to meet worldclass standards, making it one of the region’s most advanced terminals. It will be primarily used for the storage of the country’s strategic stock of petroleum products and I think that
its operation will guarantee that we do not experience a situation like the one we had during the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Back then, there was a shortage of oil supply from Iraq, which affected the Jordanian economy and, ultimately, the people’s lives. With the new facility, we can rely on its capacity of 439,000 m3 to respond to any shortage that could occur, be it for political, logistical, or technical reason,” Basheer explains. One of JOTC’s key roles as the main oil and gas storage provider in Jordan, is to upgrade and build essential infrastructure in the country to facilitate the operations taking place. Sharing the company’s future intentions, Basheer concludes: “I should emphasise that the following ideas are still in their early stage, but we have plans to build another strategic stock terminal. At the moment, we are still examining the feasibility of this project. We are also looking to build pipelines between the different facilities. If we succeed in delivering reliable infrastructure, it will serve as a conduit to access markets in the Levant.”
Jordan Oil Terminals Company (JOTC) www.jotc.com.jo ......................................... Services: Storage and handling; strategic stock management; aviation fuelling; transportation
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Safety is our number one priority The acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler by the multinational energy services company, Wood, in 2017 proved a match made in heaven for the former’s storage tank services division. Blending the wealth of experience and expertise accumulated over many years under Amec’s brand with Woods vision to inspire with ingenuity, partner with agility and create new possibilities, has enabled the tankage division (now operating under the name of Wood) to grow its capabilities and set itself even more ambitious tasks for the future. “Wood’s desire for excellence has been truly inspirational for us,” says Operations Director, Nick Walters. “We have a Board that is very passionate and proactive about encouraging us to seek constant improvement in our work, create new possibilities, and design with ingenuity.” Having opened up on Wood’s design capabilities, Nick adds that the availability of an experienced in-house team of tank designers, makes the division a lot more flexible, allowing it to provide technical advice to customers more quickly, be it with regards to solving a repair problem or discussing the various methods of construction that can be employed for a new build project. “Not all tank contractors can benefit from an in-house design team that works closely with our field construction and repair experts on a daily basis; and we believe that the agility that our designers working alongside our construction
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experts gives us, helps us to provide a much more differentiated offer to our clients.” Wood’s quest for ongoing improvement has driven the company to create a number of innovative solutions to address some of the ongoing health and safety challenges in the industry. An illustration of this approach is the advancement of the otherwise commonplace storage tank jacking technique, which the company has developed further and now deployed in the new build projects it is currently working on across the UK. “The primary reason for using the jacking technique is to reduce the risk associated with working at height during construction,” Nick notes. “Jacking tanks has been used for many years by all UK tank contractors as a way of reducing the working at height risk that would otherwise occur if the tank were to be built conventionally. When deploying a conventional technique, some of the significant works related to the installation of the roof, for example, would take place at height, whereas when you jack a tank, you build the roof at a low level. “Prior to the introduction of our system, contractors had to attach many temporary beams to the side of the tank, in order to attach the jacks and then jack the tank up. Thanks to our method, we are now able to jack the tank directly from the underneath of the shell plate, eliminating the need to put temporary attachments onto the side of the shell and with that, removing the need for a significant amount of welding, grinding, and manual handling.
PROFILE
Resulting from this is a reduction of safety risk and of the time required to undertake the jacking procedure,” he explains. Since the beginning of 2019, Wood has been working with a UK Palm Oil company on a major project that involves the design and construction of 16 atmospheric tanks for the storage of palm oil. “Halfway through the 12-month programme, we are very pleased to say that the project is going extremely well and we are on track to meet our deadline,” Nick points out. “Another key contract for us is the long-term maintenance agreement we have with a large England based refinery to repair their existing tank infrastructure. We have been their trusted partner since the 1990s and this longstanding relationship testifies to the quality of service we are capable of.” What Nick identifies as the biggest challenge during these and any other projects, is the safe delivery of the work. “There is a significant number of hazards that need to be managed,” he maintains. “Within Wood, we have a set of ‘Nine Life Saving Rules’ that gives guidance on how critical risks should be managed. These are associated with things like working in confined spaces, working at height, hot works, working with suspended loads or working with plant & machinery. These hazards are all prevalent on our projects and need to be managed. “The way we aim to resolve these issues, is through eliminating or reducing these hazards early on in the project,” Nick sheds light on Wood’s approach. “The planning stage is a crucial period for hazard reduction. Once we have looked to design out the construction risk or reduce it, then we can move into the construction phase of the project. Going into construction, we engage with our teams to ensure that everyone understands and is satisfied with the safety practices to be used.” In conclusion, Nick cites the three main areas where Woods storage tank services operations will be directing its attention to in the coming years. “First of all, we aim to have an ongoing portfolio of new builds in the UK. Our goal ideally is to have one or two contracts ongoing each year. Traditionally, there are a relatively small number of new build projects each year and we hope to secure a reasonable market share of these. “Another part of the business that is central, is our ongoing long-term maintenance frameworks with our customers. The work we are doing in the English refining sector is a very good example of this. Refineries are looking for service providers who offer cost effective,
safe and quality services along with ongoing continuous improvement. This fits with the Wood vision, and we want to be in this space for the long term in partnership with refineries throughout the UK, where both parties can benefit and improve through collaboration.” Last but not least, Nick emphasises Wood’s ambition to advance its minor repair services offered through our Workshop Fabrication & installation service; in a way that reflects customers’ current needs. “Smaller storage terminals of which there are many throughout the UK, are looking for companies who are agile and responsive to their needs; can carry out the necessary repairs, and be available again on a flexible basis in the future. In this sense, we shape a service where there is no need for the permanent presence of a workforce on-site. Complementary to this is our inspection service, with our team carrying out fitness for service assessments to determine whether a tank needs repairing or it is good to stay in service. Taken together, the growth of these three sides of the business I just discussed, will ensure continuous employment for our staff and will allow us to expand in a sustainable manner,” he wraps up.
Wood
Wood www.woodplc.com ............................................ Services: Design, construction, inspection, and repair of storage tanks
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Burning bright In Carey Davis’ words, America is definitely trending greener in its energy initiatives. While solar and wind are still the primary drivers of green energy, the Executive Vice President of Georgia Renewable Power (GRP) holds that these are not dispatchable like biomass, and the latter realisation is driving the launch of more and more biomass-to-energy initiatives. “Biomass is a fuel that makes sense in several situations. For example, all of the dead wood killed by beetles in California that create these terrible fires, needs to be taken care of and the best way to do that is to produce power,” Carey suggests. “The same goes for poultry litter and swine litter. Food production is only going to continue to increase and we need to have a plan to dispose of the waste. We believe that burning it and producing power is the best solution.”
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PROFILE
Georgia Renewable Power (GRP)
These plants are the largest investments ever made in these counties, therefore, the tax dollars will provide a big boost to their economies. During construction, we were keen on hiring local labourers and contractors, and this policy of filling the available positions with local people continues during operation. There are also multiple downstream jobs that include fuel supply chain, restaurants, and others, created simply because of the size of the plants
Madison County
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Franklin County
GRP was formed by Raymon Bean and David Shaffer in 2013 when the two acquired a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) from Duke Energy. Along with it, they received offtake agreements for poultry, biomass, and thermal renewable energy credits (RECs). Then, GRP purchased an existing coal-fired facility in Lumberton, North Carolina, and began to retrofit the plant. “It was during this first phase of the Lumberton development that I first met Raymon and Dave as I was part of the company that was performing the retrofit, turning the plant into a biomass burner that included a percentage of poultry litter,” Carey remembers. He goes on, discussing the subsequent stages of the site’s evolution in greater detail: “Phase 2 included the CHP portion of the plant. We worked with Industrial Mechanical Inc. to design a belt dryer that could take the waste heat off of the cooling tower and dry wood. By doing this, we are now capturing thermal RECs associated with our PPA. “Then, the third phase, which is currently in its design and planning stage, will see us build a brand-new plant within the existing facility footprint that will be capable of burning 100 per cent poultry litter, thus creating a solution to the growing poultry litter concerns in the state of North Carolina. Finally, Phase 4 will entail the development of a pellet facility and the belt dryers from Phase
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2 represent the first step to realising our pellet production ambitions. We are looking to add on to this process by creating a pellet division for overseas and domestic contracts,” Carey explains.
Exciting times Around the same time as the acquisition of the Lumberton plant, GRP also began purchasing biomass PPAs in the state of Georgia. The upshot of this activity was the securing of 116 MW of biomass with PPAs tied to Georgia Power. GRP then divided these by two to create two new PPAs, each worth 58 MW. These later became the company’s facilities in Madison County and Franklin County, respectively.
PROFILE
“Both plants are almost 100 per cent ready, having already hit first fire. We will have synchronised to the grid by mid-June and will be commercially operational by the end of the month,” Carey discloses as we hold our conversation mere weeks before these plans materialise themselves. “Other than their overall size (they are of larger scale), we have implemented the same dryer technology that was created for Lumberton. What is different, however, is the purpose the dryer serves at Madison and Franklin. While it plays the role of a thermal REC generator at Lumberton, at the new facilities, we use it to dry incoming fuel, in order to improve moisture consistency and the plant heat rate. If our design basis holds true through testing, these two biomass plants will be the most efficient in the US,” he adds.
Expanding portfolio It is unquestionable that GRP’s Georgia plants will contribute to the energy diversification the state is aspiring for. What is more, their development has already brought patent economic benefits to the region and their future operation promises to position them as a key fixture within the local communities of Madison County and Franklin County. “These plants are the largest investments ever made in these counties, therefore, the tax dollars will provide a big boost to their economies,” Carey comments. “During construction, we were keen on hiring local labourers and contractors, and this policy of filling the available positions with local people continues during operation. There are also multiple downstream jobs that include fuel supply chain, restaurants, and others, created simply because of the size of the plants. We have also made a commitment to purchase county water and provided infrastructure upgrades for the county water systems, which has been to the advantage of everyone living there.” Having got off to a positive start to 2019, in which the company’s main focus fell on getting the Madison and Franklin facilities operational and preparing for the third phase of Lumberton’s development, GRP is aiming to continue in a similar vein in the second half of the year. The organisation is already considering its possibilities to add new facilities to its portfolio and to do this, it will continue to rely on the support of the multiple partners that have walked beside it during its journey so far. These include
Georgia Renewable Power (GRP)
engineers, suppliers, and contractors, as well as Veolia – the organisation that was selected to operate GRP’s plants last year. “We are also thankful to Duke Energy and Georgia Power for their willingness to provide viable PPAs to companies like GRP for the development of biomass projects, and we are hoping to see more large-scale utilities following this trend,” Carey maintains. “In five years’ time, we are planning to have a strong five years of operation for our three flagship projects, as well as two or three other developments we are working on right now. As mentioned earlier, we want to expand our business portfolio into markets like pellet production and export, and to continue changing the biomass landscape in the US, making it a reliable source of energy for consumers and one that helps decarbonise the grid,” he concludes.
Georgia Renewable Power (GRP) ................................................................. Services: Developing biomass-to-energy and poultry litter-to-energy plants
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Cool operators
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PROFILE
Wozair
Originally established in the UK in 1986 as Waterloo Air Technology, and following a management buy-out of Waterloo-Ozonair in 1995, today the company known as the Wozair Group (Wozair) has earned a reputation for innovation in the high integrity heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment market. With over 24 years of established expertise, Wozair designs and manufactures high integrity HVAC equipment and provides a full range of Dampers, Air Handling Units, Air Intake and Diffusion Solutions and Refrigeration Units. Yvan Lavaux, Director of Sales and Marketing at Wozair believes that “this complete and integrated offering is what sets us apart from our competitors. “We also have a dedicated sales and technical team based in offices all over the world as well as manufacturing facilities in UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Houston. This global reach enables us to streamline each project and provide HVAC solutions in shorter timeframes.” Thanks to this comprehensive, global, ISO 9001-certified presence, Wozair has an annual capacity of 250,000 man hours and 15,000 m² of workshop space available.
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PROFILE
Wozair
Wozair provides a more technical and specialised solution for the Nuclear industry and a simpler solution for Cruise and Ferry industries. We use the same range of products and designs but have a dedicated approach for each project, always keeping the requirements of the industry in mind. An example of this can be seen in the Nuclear industry, where high level traceability factory testing and on-site testing are compulsory
Wozair’s head office and primary manufacturing base is in the UK, and its factory includes 7000m² of workshop space and 1250m² of office space. It employs 50 skilled operatives (including 25 coded welders), 45 engineers, five document control staff and an array of contract and temporary staff including controls engineers, welding engineers, structural engineers and acoustic engineers. It employs the latest technology, including new CNC laser cutting equipment and manufactures all types of Wozair products. Over the years, Wozair has learnt to adapt and respond to the changing demands of the market and its clients by developing innovative and bespoke solutions. Yvan describes an example of this where “a client was looking for a blast protection solution with water penetration protection on the air intake and winterisation under very cold conditions. Our classic solution would be to install several products behind one another which would take up more space and would complicate testing. “Therefore, we developed the SE1 Atom which removes rain and sea spray from the air whilst withstanding small blast events. Its streamlined design resulted in a much smaller product, which benefited areas where space is restricted. This unique product provided a complete solution which enabled us to meet their exact requirements.”
As well as finding new solutions for its clients, Yvan describes a number of other products that have become increasingly popular over the years and somewhat synonymous with Wozair, particularly in the oil and gas industry. Wozair’s recent projects include work with major industry names and their facilities such as, Chevron TCO Kazakhstan, Petrovac UAE, Wood Group Canada, Dubai Petroleum Shell and Total. “Firstly, the Wozair Blast Tube Array (BTA) is a technical revolution in blast protection, mitigating the passage of blast pressure in ventilation systems for the oil and gas industry. The specialised design addressed several technical challenges providing improved safety and protection. “Years of research and development have resulted in a lower pressure drop, no moving parts and maintenance free operational lifetime resulting in an extremely cost-efficient product that has become synonymous with Wozair. The Wozair Blast Tube Array is patented, fully tested and verified, and completely unique. “Secondly, many marine and oil and gas applications are protected from fire by our MFD (Wozair Marine Fire Damper). This is our most versatile and popular damper which holds a number of type approval certifications. Its many qualities and strong construction permit our customers to install
Bearingboys Bearingboys was formed in August 2006 as one of the first online retailers of bearings and power transmission products, and has quickly grown to become a trusted name within the industry. Our growth has been driven by our flexible approach as a company and being reactive to our customers’ needs in an environment that is constantly changing. The supply chain partnership between Wozair Ltd and Bearingboys formed in 2007, with Bearingboys supplying a vast array of stainless steel fasteners, bushes and affiliated products. As time has progressed, and as both businesses have evolved, natural progression and diversification has led to Bearingboys being utilised as a key supplier of a huge range of industrial and maintenance, repair and operations equipment to Wozair. As a business, Bearingboys considers service levels to be of paramount importance. These service levels, along with a “can-do” attitude, has strengthened what was already a strong customer/supplier relationship, into an alliance that both businesses consider integral to future growth and prosperity. Bearingboys Ltd is proud to be a key supply chain partner to Wozair Ltd, and looks forward to the further successes and opportunities this alliance presents.
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on platform, FPSO and many other marine uses. The damper can be used in ATEX areas and we have now a new approved fast closing actuator, which enables us to offer another electrical solution. “Our customers now also have the possibility to use the MFD on landside applications such as a refinery, as we now have a certification under EN 1366-2 (E120 vei o)S, E120 (vei o) and E90 (vei o)S. We already provide this solution for nuclear applications, which is also technically very demanding.” Aside from the Oil and Gas industry, Yvan acknowledges that there have been several sectors performing particularly well in the HVAC industry in recent years for Wozair. In particular, the Cruise and Ferry market for renowned operators in the USA, and Nuclear sectors. “We believe the growth is due to our capability to provide dedicated solutions to our markets. “Wozair provides a more technical and specialised solution for the Nuclear industry and a simpler solution for Cruise and Ferry industries. We use the same range of products and designs but have a dedicated approach for each project, always keeping the requirements of the industry in mind. An example of this can be seen in the Nuclear industry, where high level traceability factory testing and on-site testing are compulsory.” Thanks to the spread of sectors across which it works, Paul Azzopardi, Shareholder and Director at Wozair was also pleased to highlight that Wozair is seeing excellent growth in the Nuclear and Marine sectors. “We are seeing more projects and some new products coming through,” he confirmed. The company has worked on the most significant nuclear and radiology sites in the UK and Europe, including
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Sellafield, Dounreay, Heysham, Sizewell B, Engie Axima and Milwep. Looking through the history of Wozair makes it apparent that the Group is no stranger to acquisitions, and as a result of this approach the Group as it stands includes Veotec (Air Separation and Filtration), Jet Environmental Systems (Warehouse HVAC) and the newly acquired Thermoplant (Offshore Services). This latest addition to the Group was undertaken as recently as July 2019, when a majority shareholding in Thermoplant (Offshore Services) Ltd from Bassaire was completed. Yvan describes the benefits that will arise from the acquisition of the two companies. “Thermoplant specialise in manufacturing refrigeration equipment, control panels and more compact type packaged units, which will enable Wozair to continue to develop our dedicated solutions to our clients for products such as Air Handling Units and Chillers.” Paul noted that he is “very much looking forward to the two companies working closely together and both benefitting from synergies that will create growth, security and co-operation. The combined resources of both companies will provide an unparalleled level of supply and service to customers across the globe.” Thanks to this constant dedication to innovating and ultimately broadening its horizons, Wozair has continuously added to the sectors where its products can be found, while developing and extending their product range. Yvan describes a number of recent investments in new technology and equipment to extend their capabilities. “Due to increased demand over the year, we purchased a temporary manufacturing facility at our Gillingham offices to enable additional IFAT (Integrated Factory Testing) on large equipment which proved to be vital to the completion of one of our largest projects of recent years. “The Veotec acquisition has led to a number of new technologies being implemented at our head offices. These include a Plastic Extrusion Line – this is a process in which raw plastic is melted and formed into a continuous profile, and a Roll Forming Line which involves the continuous bending of sheet metal for use in products. The process of filter manufacture and vane manufacture have also been introduced. “We have also improved elements of our system design by developing automated functions within Drive Works which reduces the workload and time taken to produce technical drawings. All of these additions will
PROFILE
assist in speeding up the production process and will help to keep costs down.” Wozair’s high standards and vast experience have seen it grow to become one of the foremost global manufacturers of HVAC equipment. Its broad product range, comprehensive engineering and site service capabilities and peerless innovation positions it as a company capable of meeting customer requirements in a wide range of sectors and environments. On top of this, Wozair’s uniquely automated design, estimating, drafting and production engineering software enables quotations to be quickly provided and orders processed to manufacture extremely efficiently. As the company approaches its 25th year in business, Wozair can be proud of its development so far into a reliable, trusted experienced supplier. With Group sales of
Wozair
£27m, and worldwide staff in excess of 150, it has firmly established a global reputation for professionalism, cost-effectiveness and innovation.
petz industries
Wozair
petz industries is an owner-run business, established in 1957. With more than 30 years of experience in the field of ventilation, heating, measurement and control, petz industries offers a wide range of safe, innovative and reliable products. Our credo “BeSafe” not only stands for the outstanding quality and reliability of our “Made in Germany” products, but is also a symbol of the philosophy that we are living. Those who have to make the decision need to “BeSafe”. So, when you think Ex, think petz industries. Our products are proven in many critical applications and certified for use on Wozair Firedampers!
Products: HVAC equipment and systems for specialist applications
www.wozair.com ............................................
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