MURRAY & ROBERTS POWER & ENERGY COMPLETE FLAGSHIP MGO STORAGE FACILITY AT TAKORADI PORT IN GHANA

In April, the Ghana Oil Company commissioned a US$15 million marine gas storage facility, the largest facility in Ghana.

Engineering design of the facility began in June 2015 and construction commenced in September that year. The facility, which is capable of storing 13,5 million litres of marine gas oil, is able to receive and dispatch marine gas oil through a completely automated system. The storage facility is equipped with state of the art flow meters, filters and a coaleser and is able to dispatch marine gas oil at a flow rate of up to 240 000 litres or 210 tonnes per hour.

In support of environmental objectives, an oil-water separator system ensures that all effluent water is captured and then treated before being safely discharged.

The facility also has a comprehensive firefighting system comprising a water sprinkler system, which cools off and extinguishes the exterior of the tanks and facility, and a fire foam component, which will extinguish any fires inside the tanks.

The entire facility was designed, constructed and commissioned by Murray & Roberts Power & Energy, a first for the company. Says Steve Harrison, Power & Water platform CEO, “We are very proud of the team and their accomplishment on this flagship project.” The storage facility has opened economic opportunities in the energy sector for the port and Ghana.

MURRAY & ROBERTS VISITS SHANGHAI ELECTRIC COMPANY GROUP IN CHINA

By 2025, the Murray & Roberts Group aims to be a leading multinational engineering and construction group that applies its project life cycle capabilities to optimise fixed capital investment.

It was with this vision in mind that Murray & Roberts Power & Water platform CEO, Steve Harrison led a team to visit the Shanghai Electric Company Group ("SEC") in the People’s Republic of China. SEC is a mechanical and electrical equipment manufacturer and develops equipment for industry sectors related to power generation, power transmission and distribution, electromechanical integration, transport and environmental mitigation. The company’s products include power generators, heaving castings and forgings, wind turbines, pressure vessels, steam turbines and water treatment systems.

The visit to SEC coincided with Aquatech China 2017, an international water technology exhibition. Vusi Tsale, Business Development Director at Murray & Roberts Power & Energy, Harry Singleton, Operations Executive at Murray & Roberts Water and Steve, visited the exhibition and also had the opportunity to visit an Organica Water plant being constructed in Shanghai.

Henry Laas, Murray & Roberts Group CEO was also part of the Murray & Roberts delegation and together with Zhang Ke, SEC Vice President, signed a cooperation agreement.

Shanghai, on China’s central coast, is a global financial and transport hub and has a population of more than 24 million people.

ELECTRICAL AND INSTRUMENTATION CONTRACT AT SASOL SECUNDA

Murray & Roberts Power & Energy has secured an electrical and instrumentation contract with French multinational Air Liquide on Sasol’s Train 17 project.

Air Liquide won the contract to design, build, own and operate one of the largest air separation units (“ASU”) ever built. The ASU has a total capacity of 5 000 tonnes per day, supplying oxygen and nitrogen to Sasol’s proprietary synthetic fuels and chemicals complex in Secunda, South Africa. This is the 17th train to be built
at the complex.

This train will be the most energy efficient oxygen train on site, using the latest air separation technologies and economies of scale to reduce the impact on the environment.

The contract is a fast-track project and is being implemented by an experienced electrical and instrumentation team lead by Hardus Robinson, Murray & Roberts Power & Energy Site Manager.

Says Hardus, “We have made good progress and anticipate the installation and construction work to be completed by the end of August, with some commissioning expected to continue until the end of October.”

The ASU is expected to be fully commissioned by December 2017. “We are committed to delivering safe, quality work for our clients and are proud to be part of this cutting-edge project” concludes Hardus.

SOLAR-POWERED WATER TREATMENT SOLUTIONS FROM AQUAMARINE WATER TREATMENT

Aquamarine Water Treatment engineers and manufactures a range of water treatment processes that can treat most water sources. Their solar-powered water treatment solutions harvest the sun’s energy to provide clean drinking water and deliver an off-grid solution for rural communities.

A typical containerised system that includes both power generation and water treatment comprises a 1 x 12 metre and 1 x 6 metre container and can provide good quality drinking water for up to 8 000 people.

Says Lee Hodgins, Business Development Manager at Aquamarine Water Treatment, “We are proud of the benefits that our solarpowered system provides and look forward to implementing these solutions across the continent.”

COMMUNITY AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AT SECUNDA OIL & GAS

Murray & Roberts actively facilitates and supports opportunities for growth and socio-economic development within the communities in which we work. Central to this is a considered focus on education and skills development.

Secunda Oil & Gas, part of the Murray & Roberts Power & Water platform, established a nine-month training programme, in partnership with Fluor Training Centre. The programme offers students competent training within the oil and gas industry and focuses on the critical areas of welding, pipe fitting and rigging. It includes theoretical learning at the Fluor Training Centre, as well as on-site training in Secunda and all costs are covered by Murray & Roberts.

After an extensive recruitment drive, 10 local students from the Govan Mbeki district were selected and began the programme in April 2017.

The successful students are energetic and actively participate in the programme and have received excellent feedback from the training centre.