Press digest from last week

18.09.2017

ICGB to launch tender for Greece-Bulgaria gas link construction by end-2017

ICGB, the project company developing the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (ICGB) said on Tuesday it plans to launch several tender procedures for the construction of the pipeline by the end of the year.

"The company is in the process of preparation of the respective procedures for assigning the main contracts which are necessary for the start of the construction - selection of owner's engineer for the project; line pipe supplies; assigning of the detailed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC contract); archaeological research and selection of the construction supervision company," Sofia-registered ICGB said in a statement.

On September 1, ICGB submitted an application for a construction permit for the Bulgarian part of the pipeline. The permit is expected to be issued by the regional development ministry in the first half of September 2017.

"The market test conducted in 2016 has been successfully completed with the execution of the ARCAs (Advanced reservation capacity agreements) with the shippers submitted binding offers. Five companies, four of which are entirely new for the Bulgarian market, have booked capacity in the IGB pipeline," the company added.

The IGB gas pipeline will be connected with the Greek national gas transmission system in the area of Komotini and with the Bulgarian national gas transmission system in the area of Stara Zagora.

The planned length of the pipeline is 182 km and the projected capacity will be up to 3 billion cu m per year in the direction from Greece to Bulgaria. Depending on interest from the market and the capacities of the neighbouring gas transmission systems, the capacity of the pipeline can be increased up to 5 billion cu m per year, thus allowing for physical reverse flow from Bulgaria to Greece with the additional installation of a compressor station.

The link is estimated to cost 220 million euro ($241.8 million). The company has secured a sovereign guarantee of 110 million euro under the annual state budget act, which gives potential for assuring of loan financing under preferable conditions.

The IGB project is being implemented by the joint venture company ICGB in which state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and Greece-registered IGI Poseidon hold equal shares. Greek public gas corporation DEPA and Italian energy group Edison own 50% each of IGI Poseidon.

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Mitsubishi Hitachi to build desulphurisation unit at Serbian TPP

State-owned power utility Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) said it has signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems to build a flue gas desulphurisation unit at thermal power plant (TPP) Nikola Tesla A.

The contract value of the equipment and works for the construction of the unit is 167 million euro ($199.7 million), with more than 50% of the work to be done by domestic companies, EPS said in a statement on Monday.

The sulphur dioxide emissions in the largest Serbian coal-fired power plant will be reduced to a ninth of their present volume and will be aligned with all the environmental obligations which Serbia has taken, energy minister Aleksandar Antic said in the statement.

The flue gas desulphurisation system in Nikola Tesla A will be built for blocks A3, A4, A5 and A6 and will use a limestone wet scrubbing system. The deadline for completing the construction works is 42 months.

The project will be implemented by a consortium of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Japan's Itochu and Serbian blue-chip construction company Jedinstvo [BEL:JESV].

The Serbian government plans to finance the project with a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

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Shell, Shoreline sign $300-mln gas deal

Shell Petroleum Development Company has signed a USD 300-million agreement with Nigerian company Shoreline Energy to develop, buy, market, distribute and sell natural gas in Lagos, international media reported Sunday.

The agreement provides exclusive rights to sell and distribute gas in the Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lekki and Epe districts. Shell will help to fund and develop a pipeline network to transmit and distribute gas from Shoreline’s operated concession.

“The partnership is a significant boost to the gas supply efforts of the federal and Lagos state governments and will deliver tangible benefits to companies and households in Lagos,” Shoreline chairman Kola Karim was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The Nigerian Cabinet recently passed a national gas policy to wean the country off its dependence on oil and harness its vast gas resources.

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Balfour Beatty Secures £36 Million Contract Extension To Operate And Maintain The M1-A1 Link Road

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, has been awarded a £36 million contract extension to its existing Managing Agent Contract (MAC) for the M1-A1 Link Road (Lofthouse to Bramham) on behalf of Connect Roads, for ultimate customer Highways England.

The extension sees Balfour Beatty continue its operations and maintenance services through to March 2026 on this 18-mile long strategic motorway between the M1 and M62 south and east of Leeds, and the A1 (M) south of Wetherby.

Highways England awarded the Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract to Connect Roads in 1996, alongside the operations of the A30/A35 and A50 DBFO contracts. Balfour Beatty acts as Connect Roads operator on each of these three DBFO concessions

Works undertaken by Balfour Beatty include network management, technical inspections, routine and cyclical maintenance, asset management and lifecycle maintenance, including pavement, structures, geotechnical, highway lighting and signs, vehicle restraint and road markings

Phil Clifton, Balfour Beatty’s Highways Director, Major Projects said: “I’m delighted that we have been chosen to continue to maintain this vital route on behalf of Connect Roads; it is testament to our dedication to providing and maintaining a safe road network across Britain for road users, on behalf of Highways England. This contract extension is another clear indication of the strength of Balfour Beatty’s proven highways asset management capabilities.”

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SOCAR launches new environmental project at Baku oil refinery

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR has launched a new environmental project at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery.

SOCAR said Sept. 12 that after commissioning of a new water cooling unit at the refinery, the amount of polluted industrial water, going to the mechanical purification site of Ekol Engineering Services CJSC, dramatically decreased.

“Construction and assembly works on the new project, proposed by the plant, have been started to improve the process of separating oil products from industrial water. The main goal of the project is to send all water, coming to the mechanical purification site, in one direction, and a three-step cleansing of industrial water from oil products using chemical reagents.”

For this purpose, along with the tanks and equipment used at the mechanical purification site, one mixer, three tanks for storing and supplying reagents, two water pumps, and dosing units for sending reagents will be installed, SOCAR said.

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