Gary Whalley, chief operating officer of Babcock Ntuthuko Powerlines, says that the company’s long track record of engineering excellence means it is now ideally positioned to expand its footprint across Southern Africa. Jayne Alverca reports.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has announced its intention to sell its shareholding in South Africa’s Palabora Mining.

Rio Tinto currently holds a 57.7 per cent share in Palabora, whose primary asset is a copper mine in the Ba-Phalaborwa area of Limpopo, South Africa.

The mine has a current mine life until early 2016, and studies are underway for a potential extension to 2030.

Owens Corning and Solexel have been awarded $13 million in funding from the United States Department of Energy for projects that will help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies.

The funding is part of the DOE's SunShot Initiative which seeks to make solar energy systems more affordable and sustainable for homeowners.  

McPhy Energy, a provider of solid hydrogen storage technology, has announced a partnership with the UK’s Nottingham University on the mid-term storage of renewable energy in a residential micro-grid.

Construction and infrastructure specialist Ballast Nedam has signed a contract worth around €250 million with wpd for the engineering, supply and installation of 80 foundations at the Butendiek offshore wind farm in Germany.

The wind farm is located in the German Bight, 32 kilometres west of the island of Sylt, and consists of 80 turbines, each with a capacity of 3.6 MW—288 MW in total. The water depth at the wind farm is between 17 and 22 metres.

Flint Energy Services Ltd. has entered into a definitive agreement to Carson Energy Services Ltd, a privately held energy services company based in Saskatchewan, Canada. 

The purchase price to be paid at closing is comprised of $112 million in cash and 2,121,212 Flint common shares, plus up to an additional $30 million earn-out spread over the next three years, subject to closing adjustments. Payment of the earn-out portion of the purchase price is dependent upon Carson meeting EBITDA targets of $40 million per year.

The UK government has announced a £6.5 million investment in engineering skills for the renewable energy industry.

Business secretary Vince Cable said the scheme would provide training for up to 50 of the best engineering students as part of a new Industrial Doctorate Centre in Offshore Renewable Energy, delivered through leading universities and industry.

The students will be trained in technologies such as designing cost-efficient new windmill blades and testing the latest wave energy technology.

The concentrated solar power industry (CSP) is gearing up for its second annual conference in San Francisco, California next week.

The 2nd CSP Plant Optimization Summit USA will take place on the 7-8th September at the Parc 55 Hotel in San Francisco. The event will bring together leading technical experts throughout the CSP industry and will tackle the immediate roadblocks faced in the design, engineering and operation of large-scale CSP plants.

Subjects on the agenda include:

The UK’s Haulfryn Group has returned to 100 per cent family ownership after 43 years, it has been announced.

The group, which is the UK's largest combined holiday and residential park operator, has stated that the return to 100 per cent family ownership is key to its long-term growth and branding.

The group operates 35 luxury holiday and residential lodge parks across north Wales, the south-east and the south west; and last year reported a substantial rise in profits as well as a £60 million refinancing deal with Barclays Corporate.

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp, broke ground today on a new emergency operations facility in Lindsey, Ohio, for the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station.

The new 12,000 square-foot facility will allow for improved coordination between the plant and state and local emergency management agencies during the unlikely event of an emergency at the plant.