Longest subsea cables factory
Last week we wrote about Xlinks the ambitious £17bn Morocco-UK renewable energy project that will provide electricity for up to 8% of UK homes.
This week we’ve heard the four subsea cables that will run the 3,800km will be produced in Scotland by green energy manufacturer XLCC.
The High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea cables will be the longest ever produced and will transport Moroccan solar and wind energy to 7 million UK homes by 2030 with construction to begin on the factory in 2023.
BT strikes again
Credit Herald Scotland
Another strike has been announced by BT and Openreach for Wednesday 30th and 31st August 2022. The strike was announced by Communications Workers Union (CWU) as up to 38,000 Union worker members take industrial action over a pay dispute.
It’s the second strike this month following the strike on 29th July and 1st August.
Whilst the BT managing director was awarded a generous 32% pay increase workers were offered £1,200 which was less than 10%, now increased to £1,500 which is still less than 10%.
Delays to installation of fixed lines and maintenance should be expected on these days and possibly into the future if the dispute is not resolved.
Network Rail £1.25bn renewable energy provider hunt
Network Rail has announced it is looking for a renewable energy contract supplier to provide £1.25 of clean energy over the next 25 years.
In total the contract includes 0.5TWh – 1TWh of electricity annually.
Network Rail is one of the UK’s largest consumers of energy using around 4.5TWh per year.
The new contract is in line with the Government’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050.
The contract starts in 2026 and doesn’t restrict the number of suppliers or parties applying under one submission. The tender process will launch in February 2023.
Skanska wins £507m A428 project
Skanska has won a £507m National Highways project to create a 10 mile dual carriageway on the A428 between St Neots and Caxton Gibbet. With the upgrade the entire journey from Cambridge to Milton Keynes will be dual carriageway which will save drivers 90 mins journey time per week, cutting journey time by up to a third.
Skanska will do the design and build of the carriageway and also creation of a bridge and junction.0020
Granite replaces steel in Islington block
The six-story office block in Islington will use granite instead of steel as load bearing structure. It will replace old buildings dating back to the 1880’s with 2,500 sq m modern BREEAM outstanding rated office space, shops and rooftop garden in keeping with the original style and surrounding buildings.
It is in the same style as 30 Finsbury Square which was designed by the same architects, Eric Parry.
£4.5bn Southern framework opens
Bidding has started for places on the £4.5bn public sector framework for the South of England including 3 lots in the South West and 2 lots in the South East and London with lower value lots up to £1m to encourage regional contractors to apply. The tender is being run through SCF (Southern Construction Framework) Construct.
Projects in education, health, local authority and leisure developments sectors is included.
Deadline to register interest is October 2022. Sign up here https://scfframeworks.org.uk/working-with-scf/
VolkerFitzpatrick to lay 240km subsea cables
VolkerFitzpatrick has won a project to lay 240km underwater cables from Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm in Weybourne to the grid in Norfolk.
The contract includes all aspects of installation such as running the cables, connection to the grid and land regeneration following installation.
Hornsea 3 will power 3.2m UK homes with 2,852MW clean energy by 2030. Located 160km off the Yorkshire coast, together with Hornsea 1 & 2 will be the world’s largest wind farm with a total capacity of 5GW or more providing clean energy to 5m UK homes.
Oxford Station to get £161m upgrade
Kier has won a contract from Network Rail to upgrade Oxford Station. The plans include a new track, platform, new accessible entrance, and bridge with walking path.
Work will start later in 2022 and expected to complete in 2024.
Hub South East confirms Tier 1B supply chain winners
Cruden, Hadden and Ogilvie have been appointed to Hub South East Tier 1B framework to deliver a range of projects across affordable housing, social & dementia care, care homes/care villages, crisis response and complex care in Scotland.
Hub South East is a procurement company that manages public sector contracts in parts of Scotland.
Kier industry leading sick pay policy
Unions have urged contractors to follow Kier’s lead by paying £100 per day sick leave. Statutory sick pay in the UK is the lowest in Europe, as little as £16 per day and can deter workers from staying home when they are not well enough to work, leading to long term issues.
Unite the union led the campaign.