PE roundup 7 May: EU financing, patents boost, major contracts, project launch, investment

It will provide accurate calibration to traceable national standards for flow measurement and sampling meters using CO₂-rich mixtures, the facility will ensure accurate fiscal flow measurement across the Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) chain. The facility forms part of the EU’s ENCASE project involving 20 partners from across Europe and coordinated by Norway’s Institute for Energy Technology (IFE). Head of CCUS at TÜV SÜD National Engineering Laboratory Gabriele Chinello,  said: " Thanks to the funding and Europe-wide collaborations, the project is poised to make a significant contribution to the fight against climate change and help pave the way for a more sustainable future.”  

After two years of decline, UK innovators are back recording an increase in European patent filings , according to the latest Patent Index, published by the European Patent Office (EPO). Its Patent Index Report 2022 reveals UK-based innovators filed 5,697 European patent applications last year, up 1.9% on the previous year. The increase is mirrored by France while Switzerland’s rose 5.9% and the Netherlands 3.5%. But Germany’s total fell by 4.7% in 2022.

The Materials Processing Institute is leading a £250,000, 17 month project designed to unlock a practical method of removing zinc from by-products produced as part of the iron and steelmaking processes. Part of Innovate UK-funded programme PRISM, which supports research and innovation in the steel and metals sector, the Institute will collaborate with British Steel, Tata Steel, CELSA Group, and Marcegaglia Stainless. Led by project manager Dr Tutu Sebastian (pic), Senior Researcher at the institute, it will seek to identify a sustainable and cost-effective method that will recover more iron for reuse in the iron and steelmaking process and more zinc to be recovered for reuse in UK supply chains.

Global Access Diagnostics (GADx) CEO and co-founder Mark Davis is to step down after 20 years, having created predecessor organisation Mologic Ltd in June 2003 with his father Professor Paul Davis. Clinton Health Access Initiative’s Randy Allen will be acting general manager.

Contract notices of around £3 billion have been issued by Yorkshire Water, to help deliver its proposed AMP8 capital investment programme. An Alliance is sought to deliver its stormwater programme, which will handle  £1.3 billion of investment over the decade with the aim of achieving substantial reductions in sewage overflows into watercourses. Two non-infrastructure framework agreements to deliver £1.5bn of water and wastewater asset investment over 10 years, are also offered

Anaerobic digestion and biogas technology specialist from Cameroon’s Northwest region, Boma Mohammed Chi has won the Education Campaign of the Year Award (pic) in the 2023 AD and Biogas Industry Awards. Chris Huhne, chairman of event co-organiser the UK Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) and host of the awards ceremony, said Boma Mohammed’s outreach to rural communities in Cameroon had particularly impressed the judges.  

Cerulean Winds (pic) has unveiled plans to build wind powered offshore integrated green power and transmission system, the North Sea Renewables Grid (NSRG), to provide clean power to oil and gas platforms. Cerulean and Frontier Power International will develop three 333km2 sites of hundreds of floating turbines, producing multiple GW of electricity, after being offered most of the recent Crown Estate Scotland INTOG round seabed leases. Delivered with a consortium of partners including NOV, Siemens Gamesa, Siemens Energy, DEME and Worley, the £20 billion undertaking is one of the country’s largest infrastructure investment projects, in support of the sector’s decarbonisation targets.

Sector lead for petrochemicals and refining at Aggreko Europe Jordi Camanyes has warned rises in extreme weather could require a rethink of equipment procurement strategies in the petrochemical sector. “Water from riverways is vital to many existing cooling processes at plants and refineries, but climate change across the continent is leading to a situation where this precious resource may become increasingly scarce,” he warned. “Consequently, petrochemical sites currently reliant on local water bodies for cooling purposes should look to adjust their processes accordingly to reduce river water use. Implementing closed loop systems that do not require as much use and subsequent cooling of water, operators could mitigate costly drought-related issues.”

Johnson Matthey has formed a new partnership with STEM Returners to help professionals returning to work after a career break. The company will offer programmes including a fully paid 12-week ‘returnship’ at its sites in Swindon, Culham, and Paddington with opportunities in process engineering and procurement. STEM Returners, will source candidates and provide them with additional support including advice, career coaching, and mentoring; ensuring applicants are ready and confident to return to work. 

Banks Renewable's UK-wide windfarms have produced 3 million megawatt hours of electricity, generating sufficient energy to meet the demands of 1,040,000. It has distributed £3,500,000 to local community funds linked to each windfarm (pic).

Yorkshire Water has completed its £16 million improvement scheme at Sladen Valley water treatment works near Haworth, with a ‘world class’ Magnetic Ion Exchange (MIEX) plant by partners Kier and Stantec. It forms part of the water company’s multimillion pound investment in Keighley water supply. The makeup of the catchment area for Keighley means that water comes from the hills and naturally flows through peatland and moorland before reaching reservoirs and treatment works. The MIEX plant will remove some of the additional colour in the water that flows to the site from surrounding peat and moorland.