Europe

A Chinese company has placed an order to purchase 582 Saab vehicles with a total value of €13 million from Saab Automobile, offering the company a short reprieve from its financial difficulties.

The order will allow the beleaguered car maker to pay its employees’ wages and make partial supplier payments.

Meanwhile, Swedish Automobile and Saab Automobile are continuing discussions with several parties in the hope of securing additional short-term funding to restart production.

The UK government has earmarked eight sites across the country as suitable locations for new nuclear power stations.

The announcement came as the government published its finalised Energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) for debate in parliament.

The Energy NPSs provide a framework for decision making and outline the need for a drive on investment in new energy sources, including 33GW of new renewable energy capacity.

The government hopes to have nuclear facilities up and running at the eight locations by 2025.

Stephan Vitus, project development manager of Icon Yachts, talks to Jayne Flannery about the radical new approach to building the iconic super yachts that the company has pioneered.

Karelian Diamond Resources has announced the resumption of drilling on its Seitaperä diamondiferous kimberlite pipe in Finland.

The 6.9 hectare Seitaperä pipe, in the Kuhmo region of Finland, is the largest known kimberlite pipe in the country.

Drilling at Seitaperä will consist of five or more drill holes with an objective to further test the extent of the diamond-bearing kimberlite facies and the shape of the kimberlite pipe to a depth of approximately 100 metres.

AWS Ocean Energy Ltd, the Scottish wave energy company, has secured a major investment from French power giant Alstom.

AWS said that Alstom has acquired a 40 per cent equity stake in the company, giving it the financial capability to accelerate the development of its AWS-III wave power technology.

The investment is Alstom’s first ever in the wave energy sector.

Oil and gas exploration company Premier Oil has raised its interest in the UK onshore oilfield Wytch Farm by 17 per cent.

Premier will pay current operator BP $96 million for the additional interest, which will take its total stake up to approximately 30 per cent.

Wytch Farm is currently producing approximately 13,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Located in Dorset around 17 miles from Poole, the oilfield comprises three separate oil reservoirs that lie under Poole Harbour and Poole Bay.

Rolls-Royce has signed an agreement to be the exclusive engine provider for an enhanced version of the Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.

Rolls-Royce will supply the new higher thrust version of the Trent XWB, incorporating new high temperature turbine technology, increased engine core size and advanced fan aerodynamics.

The UK’s largest airline, easyJet, has announced that it will open a new base at London Southend Airport from April 2012.

The base will open with three A319 aircraft and over 150 employees, with around 800,000 passengers expected to fly in the first year.

Seventy easyJet flights per week will operate to around 10 different European destinations including Barcelona, Faro and Ibiza. Tickets will go on sale at the end of July this year.

The new base will be easyJet’s eleventh in the UK.

Swedish telecommunications operator Ericsson has agreed to acquire New Jersey, US-based Telcordia for $1.15 billion.

Telcordia develops mobile, broadband and enterprise communications software and services within the operations support systems/business support systems (OSS/BSS) field.

Ericsson said Telcordia’s core competence and leading market position within the OSS/BSS market would reinforce and expand its own existing competences.

Wood Group PSN has announced the extension of its contract with TAQA Bratani by a further five years.

Under the terms of the services contract, Wood Group PSN will provide operations and maintenance support, and engineering and construction services, to TAQA's Cormorant Alpha, North Cormorant, Tern and Eider platforms in the northern North Sea.

The contract is an extension of the previous duty holder and integrated facility management services contract that was awarded to Wood Group in November 2008.