Work on a new £650 million biomass plant on the Teesport Estate near Middlesbrough is to begin “within weeks” after the developer MGT Power completed its financing arrangements for the project. An artist’s rendering of the Tees Renewable Energy Plant The Tees Renewable Energy Plant will generate up to 299MW of power fuelled by wood pellets and chips sourced in the US and Europe. Site preparations will begin “within weeks” and the main construction work “a few months later”. The plant is expected to be up and running in 2020. It was granted a contract for difference by the government via the non-competitive Final Investment Decision Enabling for Renewable process with an index linked strike price of £125/MWh (2012 prices). Macquarie Capital and Macquarie Commodities and Financial Markets, along with Danish pension fund PKA, will become the joint owners of MGT Teesside, which will own and operate the plant. It will be built by a consortium of Tecnicas Reunidas of Spain and Samsung Construction and Trading of South Korea. Up to 600 jobs will be created during construction and around 100 full time jobs will be sustained on site once it becomes operational. MGT Teesside chief executive Ben Elsworth said: “The Tees [Renewable Energy Plant] project has had to overcome many hurdles in development but we have now successfully reached the next stage despite the difficult financing environment. “Support from the local region and a big team effort from Macquarie and all of the different parties involved in the project were instrumental in getting there. We can’t wait to get work started on site and make this project a huge success for the Teesside region”.  Source link

Moody’s has downgraded EDF’s credit rating from A1 to A2, potentially hampering the French energy giant’s efforts to pull together financing for the £18 billion Hinkley Point C nuclear project. Vice president and senior credit officer at the ratings agency Paul Marty said: “The rating downgrade reflects Moody’s view that the group’s action plan announced on 22 April 2016 will not be sufficient to fully offset the pressures resulting from a low power price environment combined with a significant investment programme.” The plan included commitments to reduce annual operating costs by €1 billion (£790 million) by 2019 and sell off assets worth €10 billion (£7.9 billion) by 2020.  Marty said: “Notwithstanding a recent rebound, one-year forward baseload power prices in France fell by 21 per cent in the last twelve months to around €30/MWh currently. A prolonged period of low power prices will affect EDF given its exposure to market-exposed generation activities, which Moody’s estimates account for approximately 50 per cent of EDF’s EBITDA.” He said the “high degree of government support” entailed by the French government’s 85 per cent stake in the company had continued to hold the rating several notches higher that what it would otherwise be (baa1). EDF has repeatedly delayed a final investment on Hinkley, primarily because of its struggle to secure sufficient financing. As credit ratings affect the cost of borrowing the downgrade could worsen its struggle, depending on how capital for the project is raised. The downgrade is also likely to affect the cost of servicing its sizeable existing debts, which stood at €37.4 billion (£29.4 billion) at the end of 2015.  Earlier this week EDF reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2016, which showed revenues for the group had fallen by almost by 7 per cent on the same period last year. Yesterday former energy secretary Lord Howell said China has a “plan B” to bypass EDF and take over the Hinkley Point C nuclear project. Source link

Wiltshire-based Electrical Power Engineering company, Fundamentals, has been appointed the exclusive authorised UK representative for Canadian-based independent company, Morgan Schaffer.   Fundamentals designs and manufactures systems for automatic voltage control (AVC) and boasts a wide portfolio of services to improve the health and performance of the electrical power grid. The company is the only authorised representative for Morgan Schaffer (MS) products in the UK. The Morgan Schaffer products, which deliver solutions that simplify the condition assessment of large high-voltage transformers using dissolved gas analysis (DGA), will allow Fundamentals to further enhance its offering in the inspection, maintenance and testing of high-voltage equipment in substations. “We choose to work with Morgan Schaffer because of the reliability and accuracy of their products,” said Geoff Hodge, Senior Engineer at Fundamentals. “In my experience, and I have worked in this field for 22 years, their products are superior to any other in our industry. MS is now the monitor of choice for E.ON, RWE and UK Power Networks.” “Colin and I have fitted over 160 Morgan Schaffer products in the UK over the past 15 years, most of which are still running,” said Hodge. May Scally, chief operating officer of Morgan Schaffer, added: “Morgan Schaffer is very pleased to have Fundamentals join its worldwide network of authorised representatives. Nearly two decades of collaboration have provided the Fundamentals team with in-depth knowledge of Morgan Schaffer’s asset management solutions. The team’s proactive, thorough and professional approach enables it to identify and implement the solutions that best meet each customer’s needs. We look forward to many years of continued partnership.” Source link

Of all the environmental challenges that are prevalent in 2017, the demands created by a growing and increasingly centralised population are perhaps the most impactful. Not only is the global population continuing to grow at a disproportionate rate to the world’s natural resources, for example, but it is estimated that a staggering 70% of citizens will live and work in cities by the year 2050. This trend is already prominent, of course, which is why nations such as the UK are struggling to build the requisite number of houses and facilities to meet the existing demand. In environmental terms, however, the rising demand for centrally-located housing is placing a huge strain on the world around us. Residential and commercial buildings already consume 40% of all global energy, for example, which is why sustainability is such a crucial element of the construction sector and its long-term future. From the use of automation and smart technology to control domestic energy usage to the application of green materials, sustainable buildings offer a viable solution to a growing, global crisis. Beyond Energy Savings and Efficiency: How Green Builds Can Improve Business Performance According to numerous data sets, residential home-owners are increasingly open to the long-term cost and energy savings generated by green builds. Increases in the number of motor and manufactured homes for sale underline the growing credibility of sustainable structures, but there remain concerns that the environmental benefits of these buildings have a limited appeal among business-owner and are not enough (by themselves) to convince traditionalists to invest in such structures. This may change with a recent, landmark study commissioned by Harvard University, which found that cognitive function test scores doubled for people who worked and operated in an enhance, green building setting. These findings have huge implications in the green building sector, as they diversify the appeal of sustainable structures and make a compelling, cost-effective argument for business-owners in particular to make a transition. In simple, numerical terms, employees in high-performance, green-certified structures record cognitive function scores that were an impressive 26% higher than those who worked in traditional buildings. If we break this statistic down further, we see that of the 109 respondents who were tested, there was a 73% improvement in terms of crisis response, a 31% increase in strategic thinking and a 38% rise in focused activity levels. Interestingly, respondents in a green setting also showcased a 44% increase in applied activity levels, hinting at a more productive workforce that could drive higher efficiency and accuracy levels. The same principle can also be applied to individuals that live in a green-certified building, whether they work from home or simply wish to create household tasks more efficiently. The Bottom Line: A Turning Point for Green Builds Make no mistake; these findings are most impactful for businesses and the construction sector has a whole, which has deployed increasingly sustainable materials and waste management practices over the course of the last decade. One of the best example of this is the rise of precious metal incinerators, with ERG technology how used to burn waste materials while minimising fuel consumption and driving greater efficiency. This has also reduced costs for business-owners, creating a growing demand for sustainable processes and materials. Translating this into the popularisation of green-certified builds has proved problematic, however, particularly as some of the initial construction costs are relatively high. This is why the recent research represents something of a turning point within the green building niche, as these costs can now be measured against an actionable return that measurable increase in profitability (both in terms of human and fiscal capital). While we will need to watch this space in the months and years to come, the proven impact of green builds on performance and profitability is sure to see an exponential rise in the number of sustainable projects during both the short and the long-term future.  

Barnsley based digital agency, HMA, has completed a management buyout by its senior management team from founders Diane and Rob Hill as part of a ‘long planned succession strategy’. The MBO has been funded by the three-strong management team Nicola Tiffany (managing director), Steve Pickup (operations director), Emma Casimir (client services sirector) and HSBC. HMA’s focus on health, science and technology projects has recently led to further client wins in the private, public and third sectors including NHS Blood and Transplant, Leeds & York NHS Partnership Foundation Trust, The Big Life Group, Community Links and JRI Orthopaedics. The agency is also moving forward with opportunities to co-create its own products and services with patients and healthcare professionals. To mark the MBO, this week the management team launched a new visual identity following a branding review initiated by Nicola Tiffany when she took the helm earlier this year. Nicola commented: “It’s an exciting time for HMA and I’m delighted that we have been able to complete the MBO at a time when digital transformation in the health, science and technology sectors is at the top of the agenda. “We’re really excited about the changes we’ve made, the challenges ahead and opportunities we can see for our clients and HMA. The rebrand feels like just the start of a new phase that Steve, Emma and I are going to ensure takes the business to the next level.” Rob Hill, former chairman and founder, commented “I have no regrets about moving on as I know the business and everyone there is in good hands. “I look forward to hearing about all the successes Nicola, Steve, Emma and the team achieve.”