Energy

Irish industrial services group DCC has agreed to acquire the Swedish fuel distributor Swea Energi for €22.7 million.

Swea is the leading distributor of heating oils and transport fuels to domestic, commercial and industrial customers in Sweden. Headquartered in Kungsbacka, near Gothenburg, Swea sells approximately 500 million litres of oil per annum to customers throughout Sweden. The company employs a total of 54 staff across a network of seven sales offices with transport outsourced to a number of regional hauliers.

A Balfour Beatty joint venture has been awarded a £414 million contract by Bord Gais Networks in the Republic of Ireland.

The infrastructure group, along with CLG Developments Ltd, was awarded the nine-year contract for the installation and maintenance of vital gas transmission and distribution networks across Ireland, including the delivery of new construction, emergency response and planned maintenance services.

Work will begin early in the New Year, Balfour Beatty said.

AHEB Investment Group and Quicksilver Project Management have formed a joint venture to create the largest biomass-to-energy installation in the world as part of a new UK eco-park.

The Centre of Excellence Eco-Park, based on a sustainable ecological design, will be spread across 300 acres of land and boast a large waste-to-energy facility in addition to the world's largest aquaponics installation.

DTE Energy has awarded contracts worth more than $115 million to Michigan companies, as part of its Pure Michigan Business Connect Initiative commitment.

In the last six months, DTE Energy's supply chain management team has closed deals with three metropolitan Detroit renewable energy companies to provide wind and solar services.

Ben Dhesi, head of energy management at Pulse Commercial Utilities, a leading commercial energy brokers for UK businesses, looks at recent developments in the energy sector and discusses what this could mean for UK energy prices in the future.

Uranium Energy Corp has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Workman Creek uranium project, previously announced on 8 November, 2011, from Cooper Minerals, Inc.

"The Workman Creek Project represents the company's fourth project in pro-business and mining-friendly Arizona,” said President and CEO Amir Adnani. “This acquisition further demonstrates management's commitment to expanding and diversifying our project portfolio at a viable cost for long-term growth."

French power utility EDF has announced plans to construct a 900 MW supercritical coal-fired power plant on the Rybnik site in Poland.

The project, worth around €1.8 billion, will involve the replacement of the four oldest units at the Rybnik plant with a single, more efficient one.

EDF said the advantage of the supercritical technology is its capacity to achieve the highest net efficiency in the market—equivalent to 45 per cent.

Investec has agreed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to establish a €100 million renewable energy funding facility to promote clean energy generation and energy efficiency initiatives in South Africa.

Investec and the EIB are to be equal partners in the programme, with each contributing €50 million.

Enviva LP, a leading manufacturer of processed biomass fuel in the United States and Europe, today announced that it is planning to build a 454,000 metric ton wood pellet manufacturing facility in Courtland, Virginia.

The project, which could be operational as early as the first half of 2013, is contingent on the property where the plant will be located being rezoned by Southampton County and on other permitting requirements.

Wood Group’s new Angola-based joint venture has been awarded a contract by BP, it has been announced.

Wood Group Kianda, a joint venture involving Amílcar Nascimento—Wood Group's Angolan business partner—and Wood Group, is to be officially launched in Luanda, Angola today. Wood Group Mustang, Wood Group Kenny and Wood Group PSN will all provide their services through the joint venture.