Kuehne+Nagel is all set to organise the offshore project logistics for the power-to-methanol part of the pilot phase of the Haru Oni project in Chile for Siemens Energy

The project is a collaboration between Siemens Energy (Germany), Porsche (Germany) and Highly Innovate Fuels or HIF (Chile). 

It will be the world's first integrated commercial plant for producing climate-neutral fuel from wind and water with the purpose of decarbonising the transport sector.

During the pilot phase, the Haru Oni project aims to produce 130,000 litres of e-fuels by 2022. In two proceeding phases, the capacity is planned to be increased to around 55 million litres of e-fuels per year by 2024 and to around 550 million litres of e-fuels by 2026. The project was launched on September 10, 2021 with a ground breaking ceremony joined by the Chilean energy minister.

By the end of this year, the main wind turbine components – a nacelle, blades and tower sections – are to be transported from multiple ports in China and delivered in one lot as part charter to Punta Arenas, Chile. In addition, there will be various container and flat-rack transports from Europe. The longest components are the three blades just over 65m in the length and the heaviest part is the nacelle at nearly 77 tonnes.

Torsten Dubsky, project director for Haru Oni at Siemens Energy, stated, "Renewable energy will no longer be produced only where it is needed, but where natural resources like wind and sun are available on a massive scale. So new supply chains are going to arise all over the world to carry renewable energy from one region to another. To guarantee these infrastructures, experienced project logistics support is needed and we are excited that Kuehne+Nagel is partnering with us for the Haru Oni Pilot Project."

Mustafa Sener, global head of project logistics at Kuehne+Nagel, said, "As an industry leader, we are not only committed to reducing our contribution to global CO2 emissions through our net zero carbon programme. We also want to actively reduce CO2 emissions in transport. As such, Kuehne+Nagel is particularly proud to be a partner in one of the most prestigious projects in pursuit of meeting the EU 2030 climate targets."

TrinaTracker, a leading tracker manufacturer and business unit of Trina Solar Co Ltd (SHA:688599) has obtained the global safety validation, a UL 3703 Certificate, for its dual-row Agile 1P tracker series

The UL 3703 is regarded as a comprehensive and authoritative evaluation standard for solar trackers.  The certificate is issued by Underwriters Laboratories, an entity approved by the federal occupational safety and health administration in the United States.

TrinaTracker Agile 1P complies with the requirements of UL 3703 standard for solar trackers and exemplifies Agile 1P’s excellent technology, durable performance and high reliability. The UL 3703 standard also certifies the system’s design, electrical and mechanical aspects.

Agile 1P is highly efficient, has great energy output and extra adaptability, a result of its 1P dual-row design and shorter tracker configuration. It also includes advanced wind engineering, a dual-drive system and globally exclusive patented spherical bearing. 

TrinaTracker’s Agile1P passed the complete evaluation required by UL, which includes reliability assessments such as overload, power restoration, locked platform, emergency stop, dielectric test, humidity cycling, metallic coating thickness test, rain and sprinkler test and bonding path resistance tests.

Hua Zhu, certification manager at UL, stated, “Our assessment involves rigorous inspections and evaluations of the tracker, including mechanical and electrical aspects. Agile 1P has passed the UL 3703 certification process. We congratulate Trina Solar on their success.” 

Duan Shunwei, head of the tracker business unit at Trina Solar, said, “As global solar leaders focused on achieving the highest return on investment for our clients, we offer a new-generation of trackers fully compatible with ultra-high power modules, designed to produce maximum energy yield while reducing BOS costs and LCOE.”

Antonio Jimenez, managing director and vice-president for Trina Solar MEA, commented, “The UL certificate shows again Trina Solar's continuous devotion in high reliability research and proven quality. TrinaTracker is dedicated to offering customers high-quality, reliable ultra-high power trackers and service, and will continue to promote technical innovation and industry-wide standardization of trackers to expedite further reduction of LCOE and ultimately deliver better returns to our customers.”

Gravita India, an industrial recycling major, has announced that its step-down subsidiary has begun production of aluminium from its new recycling plant in Mozambique

To achieve a successful data centre transformation, scalable and future-proof designs and careful planning are key elements to understanding the performance requirements, potential challenges, and future needs while maintaining smooth and efficient operations, especially with the continuous dynamic technology evolution

BAUER Maschinen GmbH and the Harren & Partner Group has signed an agreement to establish a joint venture, Seabed Mineral Services GmbH to determine the economic viability and, in particular, the environmental compatibility of the “Vertical Approach”

Seafloor massive sulfides are a valuable mineral raw material found at the bottom of the deep sea. The “Vertical Approach” is a method for extracting seafloor massive sulfides using the trench cutter method, an established technique in specialist foundation engineering that is operated and supported in the deep-sea environment from a ship on the open sea.

The approach was conceived in discussions between BAUER Maschinen GmbH and the Harren & Partner Group concerning opportunities to combine the expertise of both companies and to develop new strategies for sustainable mining approaches in accordance with the standards of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

“We are thrilled to have found an expert partner in Bauer who is willing – just like us – to seize opportunities and take on a pioneering role in the field of deep-sea mining. Ourjoint approach for this venture is based on a combination of established technologies. This enables us to minimize the technological risk while at the same time keeping costs down,” said Heiko Felderhoff, managing director of Harren & Partner. 

Leonhard Weixler, head of the diaphragm wall equipment division at BAUER Maschinen GmbH, added, “The chemistry between us is very good; we share a similar spirit. This partnership is an ideal union of specialist knowledge and experience in the afield of offshore technologies and services with expertise in the development and production of specialist foundation engineering equipment for onshore and offshore customers around the world.”

The concept behind the “Vertical Approach”

Deep-sea sampling undeniably has an impact on sensitive deep-sea ecosystems.

Nevertheless, the “Vertical Approach” makes the utmost effort to minimise the ecological footprint. A serious concern when it comes to deep-sea mining is the stirring 2 up of sediment and the potential impact on sensitive deep-sea species. To prevent fine material from escaping the cutting area, a protective collar is positioned around the cutting wheels at the start and the actual cutting process is protected by the surrounding ore. 

The separation process is carried out within the ore container to separate the particles from the sea water via sedimentation. After this treatment, the water is fed back to the cutting wheels and reused in the cutting circuit. This closed system minimises the volume of sea water that is impacted by the cutting process.

Sampling is selective: the template and trench cutter are lowered using a cable winch instead of being initially positioned then moved horizontally along the seafloor. This restricts the sphere of influence to the base area of the template feet and trench cutter. Zones with ore can be clearly separated from zones without ore.