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Successful start-up of Egyptian Refinery

Qatar Petroleum has announced the successful start-up of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) Refinery project located in Mostorod, north of the Egyptian capital Cairo. Qatar Petroleum owns 38.1% in the Arabian Refinery Company, which in turn owns 66.6% in ERC. All the units of the ERC Refinery are now operating, and are expected to ramp up to full production before the end of the first quarter of 2020. Qatar Petroleum has participated in this project since 2012, which has cost 4.4 billion US dollars with the aim to process around 4.7 million tons per annum of mainly atmospheric residue feed from the adjacent Cairo Oil Refinery Company. It will mainly produce Euro V refined products such as diesel and jet fuel. This project aims ti reduce Egypt’s dependence on imported petroleum products as well as create job opportunities for the local workforce.

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EDF Renewables and the Elsewedy Electric Group launch two solar power plants in Egypt

EDF Renewables and the Egyptian manufacturer Elsewedy Electric Group have announced the launch of two new solar power plants. The two structures, which each have 65 MWp in installed capacity, are located in the Aswan province of southern Egypt. They form an integral part of the Benban solar complex and will soon deliver nearly 1,800MWp.

“We are proud to be playing our part in delivering the large-scale Benban solar complex by commissioning these two solar power plants. With the establishment of our new subsidiary in Cairo, we have reached a major milestone in EDF Renewables’ long-term development in Egypt and across the North African renewable energy market as a whole,” explains Bruno Bensasson, EDF Group’s Senior Executive Vice President, Renewable Energies and Chairman & CEO of EDF Renewables.

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Ports of Normandy thrilled by the new GE Renewable Energy partnership

Following an announcement 2 weeks ago of the United States Offshore projects with Orsted, the provider of offshore wind power technologies, GE Renewable Energy has been selected by Dogger bank as the supplier for three 1 200 MW projects in the UK. GE Renewable Energy is to erect Haliade-X 12 MW, the most powerful wind turbine in the largest offshore wind farm in the world, 130 km off the Yorkshire coast. This project represents a potential overall volume of 400 wind turbines to be manufactured and it is excellent news in particular for Normandy, where the GE factory in Cherbourg produces the rotor blades specific to these turbines. Phase 1 of the project will be underway in 2023.

“These two projects are excellent news for Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and Normandy. They are the demonstration of GE Renewable Energy’s professionalism and their investment in France for the production of wind turbines and rotor blades. They are also a bolster to the investments made in the port of Cherbourg (€60M) by the local authorities and piloted by Ports of Normandy. With these projects, hundreds of direct jobs are guaranteed for at least five years, as well as work for numerous subcontractors.” said Hervé Morin, President of the Normandy Region, Marc Lefevre, President of the Manche département, Benoît Arrivé, Mayor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin and Jean-Louis Valentin, President of Cotentin, all elected representatives of the Ports of Normandy area, in a joint declaration. 

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Engie and EDP join forces

Antonio Mexia, EDP CEO and Chairman of EDPR and Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE CEO, have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to create a co-controlled 50/50 joint-venture (JV) in fixed and floating offshore wind. The new entity will be the exclusive vehicle of investment of EDP, through its subsidiary EDP Renewables (EDPR), and ENGIE for offshore wind opportunities worldwide.

EDP and ENGIE, will combine their offshore wind assets and project pipeline in the newly-created JV, starting with a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4.0 GW under development, with the target of reaching 5 to 7 GW of projects in operation or construction and 5 to 10 GW3 under advanced development by 2025.

This alliance follows EDPR and ENGIE’s successful six-year cooperation as consortium partners in the Dieppe Le Tréport and Yeu Noirmoutier fixed offshore wind projects in France and Moray East and Moray West in the UK. EDPR and ENGIE are also partners in 2 floating offshore wind projects in France and Portugal and in the Dunkerque offshore wind tender currently ongoing in France.

Isabelle Kocher, ENGIE CEO, said: “We are delighted to announce this strategic alliance in offshore wind with EDP that we have been partnering with since 2013. The offshore wind sector is set to grow very significantly by 2030. The creation of this JV will enable us to seize market opportunities while increasing our competitiveness on one of our key growth drivers, renewables. This agreement is also fully aligned with ENGIE’s zero-carbon transition strategy.”

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Engie acquires all shares of Cofely BESIX Facility Management

The Engie Group, active in the energy sector, has acquired all shares of Cofely BESIX Facility Management (CBFM), a leading provider of customer solutions and energy services in the Middle East. With nearly 2,000 employees in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman, the CBFM, created in 2008 through a partnership between Engie and the Belgian construction group Besix, is working on several emblematic sites such as Dubai Mall, Abu Dhabi’s Zayed University and the Quatar Foundation. “This move is strategic to Engie in the Middle East, because it provides direct access to the clients’ needs. It integrates into our portfolio a technical services team with a strong local reputation and provides a robust platform for future development in the region,” said Paulo Almirante, Engie’s Executive Vice-President and Group CEO.
In order to confirm this takeover, Cofely BESIX Facility Management changes its name to Engie Cofely.

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Engie announces the launch of Kathu Solar Power Plant in South Africa

The French group Engie has just announced the commercial start-up of Kathu’s Concentrated Solar Power Plant (CSP). On approximately 4.5 km2 of site, 384,000 mirrors are equipped with parabolic trough technology that will provide an energy of 100 MW. In addition, a molten salt storage system allows 4.5 hours of thermal energy storage to provide electricity in the absence of solar radiation and during peak demand. The plant will provide environmentally friendly energy to approximately 179,000 South African households.

“The completion of Kathu shows our continued commitment to an economic and environmentally friendly development in South Africa. Kathu with its molten salt storage design offers a clean solution to overcome the intermittency of renewable energies. We are proud to contribute to the country’s renewable energy goals, and look forward to continuing the projects initiated with local communities making Kathu a genuine driver of regional economic development,” said Isabelle Kocher, CEO of Engie.

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New solar power plant in 2021 in Niger

A new 20 MW solar power plant should be operational from 2021 near Niamey, Niger’s capital. A windfall for this country which experiences persistent breakdowns in electricity supply and where electrification level is only 12% today according to the Nigelec company. The plant will be financed by the Agence Française de Développement and the European Union for a total amount of 28,5 million euros. The estimated job site start date is still awaited.

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Statoil ASA becomes Equinor ASA

Oil giant Statoil ASA (Norway) has approved by the annual general meeting the new name Equinor ASA on Wednesday, 15 May 2018. This metamorphosis penalizes the evolution of the company, which recently decided to refocus part of its activities towards renewable energies.

By 2030, between 15% and 20% of Equinor’s investments should be devoted to “new energy solutions”.

Founded in 1972, Equinor  ASA (Statoil ASA) is the largest company in Norway with more than 29,000 employees and a turnover of more than $ 51 billion in 2017.

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Sarens transports 580t pile template in UK

Sarens, the Belgian heavy lifting specialist, has transported a 580t pile template in Wallsend, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. The work was done on behalf of a client Van Oord, who is responsible for installing 102 three-legged jacked foundations for the Scottish Power Renewables (part of the Ibedrola Group), which is building the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm in the North Sea. The project equipment included 3×6 axle lines of self-propelled modular transporter, a 400t and a 220t mobile crane and 21m bridge beams (converted to link spans). Most equipment arrived from the UK, while the link spans were delivered from the Netherlands to the UK via the client’s barge. It took one day to set up all of the equipment and prepare it for the operation.

Video © : Igloo Imaging

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Jean-Pierre Clamadieu becomes Engie’s new president

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu has just been appointed as new Chairman of Engie’s Board of Directors. The decision was taken on Friday, May 18 during the General Shareholders’ Meeting which also marked the end of Gérard Mestrallet’s term as Chairman of the Board and was appointed as Chairman of Honour of the Group.

Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, 59, a former graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris, said: “I am proud to succeed Gérard Mestrallet, who dedicated 23 years to make Engie a key international energy and services Group. »

The French group Engie, whose state owns 24.1% of the capital, is today the 3rd largest group in the world in the energy sector (excluding oil) with more than 66 billion euros of C.A.

Photo copyright : Le Journal de l’éco