Inside this issue
Carbon Footprint Pilot Programme
Global contributions to education advance local communities
"Sustainable energy production is of increasing international importance..."
Allister Langlands
Chief Executive
Focus on sustainable energy
Tim O’Sullivan heads J P Kenny’s Offshore Renewables Division
Sustainable energy production is no longer the niche it was. It’s of international importance. US President Obama’s administration is heralding a push to invest in clean energy technologies. Designed to accelerate the US’s transition from being the leading producer of CO2, to a low-carbon economy, support will be given to accelerating research, development and the commercialization of clean energy technologies.
In 2007, the EU agreed to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020. To meet this target member states have encouraged renewables and low-carbon energy investment, such as wind farms, wave energy projects and developments in biofuel technology. The UK has a goal of deriving 15 percent of its energy needs from renewables by 2020 – much of this from wind power.
Indeed, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) says offshore wind is one of the key technologies for achieving the energy and climate goals of the EU. EWEA estimates that between 20 GW and 40 GW of offshore wind energy capacity (equivalent to the power needs of up to 21 million average EU homes) will be operating in the EU by 2020.
Wood Group offers a full range of services for wind farms, from engineering of on- and offshore facilities, installation & commissioning, to facilities operations & maintenance and performance optimization.
Wood Group’s renewable energy activities
Wood Group is already applying its expertise to offshore wind farm developments as duty holder for the Beatrice Windfarm Demonstrator Project. The demonstrator is a joint venture between Talisman Energy (UK) Limited and Scottish and Southern Energy. Wood Group was recently awarded the design and project management of two offshore substations in the south of England. The Sheringham Shoal wind farm off the Norfolk coast is an 88-turbine, 315 MW facility that will produce energy to power 220,000 homes.
To service the wind farm maintenance segment of the renewable energy sector effectively, Wood Group Renewable Energy Services (WGRES) was recently created. With offices in Aberdeen and Houston, the company is focusing on providing full-service provision for wind farms in Europe and North America.
“We’re looking to become the world’s leading independent service provider for wind farm plant owners,” explains Chris Whitley, marketing manager for WGRES. “We offer a full scope of services from front-end project development, through to engineering, construction commissioning and ongoing operations.”
While there are other companies operating in this field, Chris believes WGRES’ unique selling point is its ability to offer a risk-sharing profile for maintenance over the lifecycle of a wind farm. “The majority of operations and maintenance providers are offering services on a transactional basis and carry out work on a time and materials basis,” says Chris. “Our strategy is to reduce the wind farm operators’ costs over the long run. Nobody else is doing that.”
The goal is to provide predictive and preventative maintenance with monitoring systems and a spare parts solution. “This solves the problem before it occurs and gives a quicker turnaround when a maintenance event does happen. Those units are going to run longer and the customer is going to make more money. It’s definitely going to be a win-win situation,” adds Chris.
Leading independent pipeline and subsea engineering organization, J P Kenny, is another Wood Group company with renewables expertise – much of it in wave & tidal energy production. Its resumé includes the provision of engineering design, fabrication and installation services for an Oceanlinx project that supplies electricity to the local grid in New South Wales, Australia.
J P Kenny is managing the design, procurement and construction of the Wave Hub renewable energy project off the coast of southwest England. With a capacity of up to 20 MW, Wave Hub will allow the pre-commercial testing of wave energy devices on a scale not seen before.
In 2008 J P Kenny was appointed managing contractor for the Wave Hub renewable energy project off the coast of Southwest England. Wave Hub will be an electrical “socket” on the seabed connected to the UK’s National Grid via a subsea cable. With a capacity of up to 20 MW, it will be the biggest marine energy facility in the world and allow the pre-commercial testing of devices on a scale not seen before.
This focus on renewables has led J P Kenny to appoint an operations director, Tim O’Sullivan, for its newly formed Offshore Renewables Division. Tim, previously head of Wood Group sister-company MCS in Aberdeen, is responsible for the delivery of all renewable projects, which includes supporting the offshore wind accelerator programme for the UK’s Carbon Trust. Tim will lead the expansion of J P Kenny’s renewables team and will seek to capture a large share of the market for engineering and project management, according to J P Kenny Chief Executive Steve Wayman.
“Many billions will be invested in wind, wave and tidal energy projects over the next 10 years,” says Steve, adding that J P Kenny’s 30 years of experience would be applied to serve renewables in the same way it has the oil and gas sector.
Helping our customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
But it’s not just renewable energy where Wood Group is contributing to reducing the impact of CO2 emissions. Niall Sullivan, process engineer for Wood Group Russia, explains the company is working on a study to replace the Pokrovka gas processing plant in the Orenburg region. “Approximately 40 million cubic feet per day of lowpressure sour gas is being flared at the plant, which is operated by TNK-BP,” explains Niall. “We are looking to significantly reduce volumes of gas being flared by installing a number of new facilities.”
These include:
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compression to increase gas pressure
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sweetening to remove sour components
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dehydration to dry the gas
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fractionation/dew-pointing (temperature to which gas particles are cooled to condense to a liquid) to split the gas into saleable hydrocarbon products.
"Rather than waste this resource, we will be able to help TNK-BP provide saleable products generated by these facilities," adds Niall.
J P Kenny provided conceptual & detailed design and field supervision for the fabrication and installation of this moored marine structure for OCEANLINX’s prototype wave energy device, offshore New South Wales, Australia.
Elsewhere, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Wood Group subsidiaries Mustang and J P Kenny are providing front-end engineering and design services for a major carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The project, for Abu Dhabi government company Masdar, is the first phase of capturing CO2 emissions from the Emirate’s industrial and power generation plants. The CO2 will be transported by pipeline and injected into Abu Dhabi’s oil reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery and will reduce the Emirate’s carbon footprint.
So while governments take the lead in demanding an increase in the production of clean energy, Wood Group is offering solutions to make it happen.
FactFile
Windy facts
The US is the world's largest producer of wind power, with 389 windfarms producing 27,000 megawatts (MW). More than 99,000 MW, nearly 570 new windfarms, are in the early planning and advanced development stages.
The UK has potentially the largest offshore wind resource in the world. Its relatively shallow waters and strong wind resource extend far into the North Sea. The UK is estimated to have more than 33% of Europe’s total potential offshore wind resource - enough to power the country nearly three times over.