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Weir Power & Industrial Services Alloa and alliance partner, Andritz VA Tech Hydro have been awarded a significant refurbishment contract by Rio Tinto Alcan.
The contract is for the supply,installation and commissioning of five hydro turbine generator units and ancillary equipment at Lochaber Power Station in the Scottish Highlands. The mechanical scope of works will be shared with partner Andritz VA Tech Hydro who will have overall design responsibility to supply the Francis turbine and governors. Weir will supply new main inlet valves, mechanical balance of plant, site infrastructure and installation.
Lochaber Power Station was built with the intention of supplying electric power to the nearby aluminium smelter located at Fort William, between Loch Linnhe and Ben Nevis.
Construction began in 1924 and was completed in 1929 when the station was the largest hydroelectric installation in the United Kingdom. The station will remain in operation during the modernization which involves existing horizontal twin jet Pelton turbines driving double DC generating units being replaced with horizontal Francis turbines driving AC generators.
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Long Service Awards
Over 200 years of service were celebrated recently by six Weir Valves and Controls UK employees at a dinner and presentation of Long Service Awards in Huddersfield. 40 year service awards were made by managing director Neil Williams to John Skilbeck, Ashley Crossland, Alyson Benson and Steve Brooke and 25 year awards to Nick Russell and Mike Cowell.
Earlier in the year, Geoff Firth, a senior draftsman in the engineering department, celebrated his retirement after 15 years service at lunch with work colleagues where he was presented with gifts by engineering director Terence Scrutton.
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Weir Services success with British Energy
Weir services have signed a six year contract with British Energy, covering valve outage and maintenance works across their ARG fleet of power stations.
The major factors that secured the agreement included continued operational improvement, covering health and safety, quality, time and cost.
The agreement which has the option of an additional three years includes the agreement on key performance indicators reviews annually and contained within the annual business plan.
John Gallacher, general manager, field operations based at Weir Services Alloa said “this agreement marks a major achievement for our business but is only the start of the journey. We must continue to raise the bar to consolidate and improve our position with British Energy”
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Territory presence means big business in China
The continued success of Weir Power & Industrial’s China operation has enabled the Emerging Markets team to establish a strong foothold in the territory. From this position of strength the team can provide support to other Weir Power and Industrial companies, maximising the opportunities in the region.
The operation is now looking at developing opportunities and initiatives for Weir Specialty Pumps, now part of the Power & Industrial Division and increased after market support services.
Since the launch of the Chinese sales office in 1998 and the manufacturing operation in 2006, the team has worked with other Weir Power & Industrial facilities to secure a number of important contracts. More recently the team has helped other divisional companies secure contracts totalling over $40m including:
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Alan Stewart, general manager, Alloa operations, Weir Power & Industrial Services Europe
Weir Power & Industrial Services Alloa has secured its first major hydro refurbishment project in Ireland. The project is for the Electricity Supply Board’s Turlough Hill pumped storage station in County Wicklow. The plant was built between 1968 and 1974 and has four units which generate a total of 292 MW and when operating in reverse pumps absorb 272 MW.
The station is the only pumped storage scheme in Ireland and is critical to the electrical distribution system providing security of supply and the provision of peak power.
The contract is for the complete refurbishment of the turbine, including site dismantling, condition assessment, replacement/repair of specified components, site reassembly and commissioning.
The hydro market in Ireland has a similar age profile to the UK and this is the first rehabilitation contract in Ireland for many years.
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Major power contract from Libya
Weir Power and Industrial Division scored a major success in Libya by securing a multi-million pound plant overhaul at a large coastal power station for a steel plant.
The contract will see the division overhaul and re-commission a number of turbines, pumps and valves on the power and desalination plant. The delivery phase will run over18 months..
Project director John Gallacher said: “This is a major success against worldwide competition and puts us in a strong position to capitalise on that success in a country which is undergoing major upgrades and increasing its power capacity.”
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Providing an all-inclusive sales, manufacturing and service support package for the Weir Power & Industrial divisional operations, the Weir Power & Industrial Middle East business has grown significantly since its launch in 2006.
Beginning life back in 2005, the Middle East manufacturing operations developed when Weir Valves & Controls started manufacturing the Hopkinsons Low Pressure parallel slide gate valve in conjunction with Weir Engineering Services in Dubai.
Machine castings were sourced from a local foundry and other components were supplied from the UAE, the UK and India. The valves were kitted at Weir Valves & Controls facility at the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai and assembled, tested and painted by WESCO’s valve servicing team.
In 2006, WESCO’s valve servicing business was merged with Weir Valves & Controls. This was an excellent move as far as the Middle East operation was concerned and since then the valve manufacturing and service business has gone from strength to strength.
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Agents come to town
Weir Valves and Controls UK recently held a two day international agents conference at its facility in Elland. Agents were invited from across the world to meet the UK team and hear the team’s plans for the future. The agents also had the opportunity to address questions directly to senior managers and product managers.
Peter O’Reilly, Weir Valves & Controls UK sales & marketing director said: “It was extremely encouraging to see so many of our agents attend the conference and to hear that they foresee great opportunities for our products in each of their respective markets. They were all extremely excited by our plans providing very valuable feedback.”
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Successful apprenticeship partnership
Alloa apprentices David Bridgeman, Adam Dowd, Stuart Rice, Neil Paterson and Lewis Irvine have successfully completed their first year training. They all achieved the qualifications - SVQ Level 2 Performing Engineering Operations and National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering - during a comprehensive and intense training 36 weeks programme.
The successful partnership between Weir Power & Industrial and East Kilbride Group Training Centre is now entering its tenth year, during which 34 apprentices have undergone training. Training advisor Jim Lewars continues supporting the apprentices in Alloa for the remaining three years of their apprenticeship which culminates in an SVQ Level 3 in Mechanical Manufacturing and an HNC in Mechanical Engineering.
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As part of its 11th five year plan, which runs until 2011, China is increasing the nuclear portion of its electricity production from 1.6% to 4% targeting 40 GWe generated output by 2020. The country is also forecasting an additional requirement of 30 GWe, or 30 new reactors of 1000 MWe each.
Currently 11 reactors are in operation with 22 under construction or at design phase. In order to speed up the process, Chinese authorities have decided to build several “copy models” of the existing pressurised water reactor 1000MWe design installed in Ling Ao in Guangdong province.
The China Nuclear Power Engineering Company Ltd (CNPEC), subsidiary of CGNPC, is working on the construction of 14 new reactors on three different locations – Hongyanhe, Ningde and Yangjiang.
Weir Power & Industrial France has signed a multi-million euro contract with CNPEC, a subsidiary of China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC). This contract is for the supply of SEBIM brand pilot operated safety valves for the protection of the primary, reactor heat removal and chemical/volumetric control circuits of these 14 units.
The first equipment is due by November 2009 with projected deliveries through till 2014.
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Investment brings new opportunities to Barton
Weir Power & Industrial’s new workshop facility at the Barton on Humber site was officially opened in April by Steve Simone managing director Services, when customers and suppliers from all over the UK and overseas attended. .
The £1.25 million investment in the new building brings a number of benefits to the business as the workshop manager John Fillingham explained. “As well as expanding our facilities our craneage capacity has been trebled, meaning we can accommodate much larger machinery than before.
“The workshop can handle steam turbines components up to 75Mw; opening up new opportunities and markets and we have the potential to take on larger more technically challenging projects.”
The workshop is also fully insulated, with an energy-efficient heating system and is equipped to recycle rainwater for use in its pressure washing facility.
As a result of this investment, the facility has already won an eight-year maintenance contract at an incineration plant in South East England and significant potential has been identified within local industry.
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Weir specialist coating systems unit has recently moved to a new highly efficient facility integrated within the Northwich centre of engineering excellence. Investment in the new facility provides an excellent working environment and a higher standard in protective coating expertise. Completion and transition of the facility took six months and is now fully operational. One of the first orders completed was for a British Energy power station.
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