Penspen wins pipeline contract
28 March 2025
Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access
UK-based engineering consultant Penspen has been awarded a contract to provide a feasibility study update for the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), according to a statement issued by the company.
The pipeline project has been estimated to be worth $13bn-$25bn.
The company said that the pipeline is “a landmark infrastructure project with the potential to transform African energy dynamics, enhance economic integration and bolster global energy security”.
Spanning more than 4,000 kilometres from Nigeria to Algeria, the pipeline is jointly sponsored by Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Algeria’s Sonatrach and Niger’s Sonidep.
The planned project will facilitate the transportation of up to 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas across West and North Africa annually, ultimately linking to European markets.
Penspen said: “This ambitious initiative is poised to unlock new economic opportunities for transit countries, foster regional cooperation and support Africa’s growing energy demand.”
The TSGP project was initiated by the collaborative efforts of Nigeria and Algeria in 2002, with Niger admitted in 2008 as a co-sponsor.
In 2006, Penspen delivered the original feasibility study for the project, finding the pipeline to be technically and economically feasible and reliable.
Penspen has been engaged to re-validate and update the feasibility study of the pipeline, considering earlier route options, according to the statement.
Commenting on the award of the contract to update the original study, Arun Behl, Penspen’s sales and marketing director for the Middle East and Africa, said: “The award of the feasibility study of this high-impact project underscores Penspen’s expertise in large-scale energy infrastructure development and our commitment to advancing strategic initiatives that drive economic growth and regional stability.
“We are proud to have been selected to support the next phase of this transformative project, leveraging our extensive experience in cross-country pipeline engineering and development to deliver a sustainable and efficient energy solution.”
The project will be delivered from Penspen’s offices in the UK and Middle East, with support from fellow Sidara brand Dar, which is established and active in the three countries.
The study will cover analysis of the regional gas market. It will also include environmental and social evaluations, as well as economic and financial analysis, including cost estimation, legislation and consultation reviews, risk analysis and the development of the scope of work for the front-end engineering and design work.
In its statement, Penspen said: “By harnessing the vast gas reserves of Nigeria and neighboring producers, the TSGP aims to significantly contribute to Africa’s energy independence while also serving as a critical supply route for European nations seeking to diversify their energy sources.”
Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.
Exclusive from Meed
-
-
Sepco 3 to undertake Al-Zour North 2 & 3 EPC6 May 2025
-
-
Oman’s Manah 2 starts electricity supply5 May 2025
-
Dewa increases 2030 renewables target by 45%5 May 2025
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends
Related Articles
-
Neom invests in US artificial intelligence chip firm
6 May 2025
Neom Investment Fund (NIF), the investment arm of the Saudi gigaproject developer, has announced a strategic investment in MemryX, a US-based startup specialising in edge artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor solutions.
Edge refers to a distributed computing model where the compute and storage resources are located closer to the sources of data, for example within an industrial complex, unlike in a public cloud infrastructure, where the data centre could be located anywhere.
The partnership will accelerate the development and deployment of “next-generation, energy-efficient edge AI accelerators”, which are critical to enabling the responsive and high-privacy intelligent digital infrastructure powering Neom, the gigaproject developer said.
Founded in 2019, MemryX designs AI accelerator chips for autonomous vehicles, robotics, industrial automation, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, drones and healthcare equipment.
Its flagship MX3 chip delivers “industry-leading efficiency, enabling low latency AI performance with a fraction of the power consumption of traditional [graphics processing unit] solutions”.
The technology’s architecture is designed to support a range of edge applications, including intelligent video systems, smart industrial environments and autonomous infrastructure.
The partnership with NIF validates “our technology’s relevance to future cities and autonomous digital environments”, said Keith Kressin, CEO of MemryX.
Peter Watson, head of infrastructure strategy at Neom’s technology and digital sector, said: “MemryX’s breakthrough approach to edge AI allows us to process vast volumes of video data locally, significantly reducing our dependency on centralised infrastructure and limited bandwidth.”
The value of NIF’s investment in MemryX has not been disclosed.
In March, it was reported that MemryX raised $44m in a Series B funding round.
The funding will be used to ramp up production of the company’s MX3 chips and complete the design of the iteration of its MX4 chip, Kressin was quoted as saying.
Digital infrastructure
Neom plans to develop the Gulf region's first net-zero and AI-powered data centre project in Oxagon, its industrial cluster. The data centre will have an initial capacity of 300MW.
The first phase of the data centre facility, which local data centre developer DataVolt will own and operate, is expected to begin operations in 2028.
The data centre’s total capacity is expected to reach 1.5GW, supporting anticipated local and global demand.
The project is estimated to require an investment of several billion dollars.
The facility will be located on a 350,000 square-metre area and will ultimately be powered by renewable energy, primarily from solar and wind sources within the Neom region.
Photo credit: Pixabay, for illustrative purposes only
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13820839/main5408.jpg -
Sepco 3 to undertake Al-Zour North 2 & 3 EPC
6 May 2025
A utility developer team comprising Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and the local Gulf Investment Company (GIC) is understood to have partnered with China-headquartered Shandong Tiejun Electric Power Company (Sepco 3) in its bid to develop Kuwait's second independent water and power project (IWPP).
The Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP will have a power generation capacity of 2,700MW and a desalination capacity of 120 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).
On 5 May, Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE), through the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp), opened the financial envelopes submitted for the contract by the lone bidder, the Acwa Power-GIC team.
The procurement authority said it opened the financial envelopes in the presence of qualified investors that had previously obtained the project's proposal request.
MEED understands that the financial envelopes contain the annual equivalent payment (AEP) value offer and the share price (SHP) offer.
Based on an uploaded picture on the Kapp website, the AEP value is about KD522.38m ($1.7bn).
The signing of the power and water purchase agreement by the Acwa Power team and MEWRE is expected to take place at a later date, an industry source said.
The project company will sign a 25-year energy conversion and water purchase agreement with MEWRE starting from the project’s commercial operation date.
The Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP will use liquefied natural gas and high-pressure natural gas, with gas oil as a backup fuel, and will connect to the national grid via a 400-kilovolt transmission substation.
According to industry sources, Sepco 3 will be undertaking the project's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.
Unlike in most GCC states, where bidders submit separate levelised electricity and water costs – expressed in $cents a kilowatt-hour and per cubic metre – for IWPP tenders, Kuwait has two bid evaluation parameters.
The AEP value is a combination of average power and water costs within a year, while the SHP, or equivalent share price, is the amount of equity divided by the number of shares.
Separate tariffs for the power and water desalination plants may have been submitted but will not likely be disclosed publicly, one of the sources said.
Located about 100 kilometres south of Kuwait City, the Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP will be adjacent to the western border of the first Al-Zour North facility for electric power generation and water desalination, which is currently in operation, and on the northern border of the Al-Zour South station.
The project struggled to take off partly due to stakeholder indecision, with the government undergoing several changes and transitions in the past few years.
The plan to develop Kuwait's second IWPP was first announced in 2016-17, following the commissioning of its first IWPP, Al-Zour North 1, in late 2016.
Following a series of delays and scope changes, Kapp finally tendered the contract to develop the Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP in March last year. The tender was issued three years after Kapp had selected a team comprising three UK-headquartered firms – EY, Atkins and Addleshaw Goddard – as transaction advisers for this project, along with another planned IWPP in Al-Khiran, in April 2021.
First IWPP
Kuwait's erstwhile Partnerships Technical Bureau selected the winning consortium of UK/French company GDF Suez, now Engie; Japan's Sumitomo; and Kuwait's AH Sagar & Brothers Group as the preferred bidder for the Al-Zour North 1 IWPP in February 2012.
According to MEED archives, the successful consortium submitted the lowest bid to build the project, with an AEP value of KD127.1m ($453m) at the time.
The project company, Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula, awarded South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries and France’s Sidem the EPC contract to build the plant.
The combined-cycle power plant produces 1,539.2MW in net contracted power capacity from five General Electric GTG 9F-3 turbines generating 225.8MW each, and two General Electric STG D1 turbines generating 251MW each.
The integrated facility has a multiple-effect distillation unit capable of producing 107 MIGD, the equivalent of 486,400 cubic metres a day of desalinated water.
Public trading of shares
In line with Kuwait's Public-Private Partnership Law, Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula began trading shares on the Kuwait stock exchange in 2020, after Kapp distributed 50% of its total shares to individual Kuwaiti investors in the last quarter of 2019.
Several public and private entities own the remaining 50% of the company's shares. They are:
- Azour North One Holding Company, owned by a consortium comprising Engie, Sumitomo Corporation and Abdullah Hama Al-Sagar & Brothers (40%);
- Kuwait Investment Authority (5%);
- Public Institution for Social Security (5%).
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13820520/main.jpg -
Kuwait opens Al-Zour North 2 & 3 financial envelopes
6 May 2025
Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy (MEWRE), through the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp), has opened the financial envelopes submitted by the lone bidder for the contract to develop and operate the state's second independent water and power producer (IWPP) project.
Phases two and three of the the Al-Zour North project will have a power generation capacity of 2,700MW and a desalination capacity of 120 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).
A utility developer team comprising Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and the local Gulf Investment Company (GIC) submitted an annual equivalent payment (AEP) value, the yearly payment to the developer over the project's lifetime, Kapp announced on 5 May.
The procurement authority said it opened the financial envelopes in the presence of qualified investors that had previously obtained the project's proposal request.
Based on an uploaded picture on the Kapp website, the AEP value is about KD522.38m ($1.7bn).
The signing of the power and water purchase agreement by the Acwa Power team and MEWRE is expected to take place at a later date, according to an industry source.
The project company will sign a 25-year energy conversion and water purchase agreement with MEWRE starting from the project’s commercial operation date.
It is understood that Al-Zour North 2 & 3 will use liquefied natural gas and high-pressure natural gas, with gas oil as a backup fuel, and will connect to the national grid via a 400-kilovolt transmission substation.
Unlike in most GCC states, where bidders submit separate levelised electricity and water costs – expressed in $cents a kilowatt-hour and per cubic metre – for IWPP tenders, Kuwait has two bid evaluation parameters.
The AEP value is a combination of average power and water costs within a year, while the SHP, or equivalent share price, is the amount of equity divided by the number of shares.
Separate tariffs for the power and water desalination plants may have been submitted but will not likely be disclosed publicly, one of the sources said.
Located about 100 kilometres south of Kuwait City, the Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP will be adjacent to the western border of the first Al-Zour North facility for electric power generation and water desalination, which is currently in operation, and on the northern border of the Al-Zour South station.
The project struggled to take off partly due to stakeholder indecision, with the government undergoing several changes and transitions in the past few years.
The plan to develop Kuwait's second IWPP was first announced in 2016-17, following the commissioning of its first IWPP, Al-Zour North 1, in late 2016.
Following a series of delays and scope changes, Kapp finally tendered the contract to develop the Al-Zour North 2 & 3 IWPP in March last year. The tender took place three years after Kapp had selected a team comprising three UK-headquartered firms – EY, Atkins and Addleshaw Goddard – as transaction advisers for this project, along with another planned IWPP in Al-Khiran, in April 2021.
First IWPP
Kuwait's erstwhile Partnerships Technical Bureau selected the winning consortium of UK/French company GDF Suez, now Engie; Japan's Sumitomo; and Kuwait's AH Sagar & Brothers Group as the preferred bidder for the Al-Zour North 1 IWPP in February 2012.
However, the project stalled when Kuwait's National Assembly voted to scrap the scheme in June that year.
According to MEED archives, the successful consortium submitted the lowest bid to build the project with an AEP value of KD127.1m ($453m) at the time.
The project company, Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula, awarded South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries and France’s Sidem the engineering, procurement and construction contract to build the plant.
The power generation plant is a combined-cycle power plant that utilises gas and steam turbines to produce up to 50% more electricity than a traditional simple-cycle plant.
It produces 1,539.2MW in net contracted power capacity from five General Electric GTG 9F-3 turbines generating 225.8MW each, and two General Electric STG D1 turbines generating 251MW each.
The integrated facility has a multiple-effect distillation unit capable of producing 107 MIGD, the equivalent of 486,400 cubic metres a day of desalinated water.
Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula began trading shares on the Kuwait stock exchange in 2020, after Kapp distributed 50% of its total shares to individual Kuwaiti investors in the last quarter of 2019.
Several public and private entities own the remaining 50% of the company's shares. They are:
- Azour North One Holding Company, owned by a consortium comprising Engie, Sumitomo Corporation and Abdullah Hama Al-Sagar & Brothers (40%);
- Kuwait Investment Authority (5%);
- Public Institution for Social Security (5%).
Photo credit: Kapp
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13817267/main0307.jpg -
Oman’s Manah 2 starts electricity supply
5 May 2025
Oman’s Manah 2 solar independent power project (IPP) has begun supplying electricity to Oman's electricity grid, four months after the project achieved commercial operations status.
Singapore-based utility developer Sembcorp leads the team that won the contract to develop and operate the 500MW solar photovoltaic (PV) scheme.
The firm marked the formal commencement of the supply of electricity under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Nama Power & Water Procurement Company (PWP) on 4 May.
Located in Oman's Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate, Manah 2 covers 6.8 million square metres and features 1 million bifacial solar PV panels mounted on 8,691 tables and connected to 60 central inverters, Sembcorp said.
The IPP supports Oman’s Vision 2040 goal of deriving 30% of its electricity from renewables by 2030.
PWP signed the 20-year PPA with the developer team, comprising Sembcorp and Hong Kong-based Jinko Power Technology, in March 2023.
The project was the first renewable energy contract the Singaporean firm had won in the Middle East region.
Sembcorp owns an 80% stake in a joint venture comprising its subsidiary, Sembcorp Utilities, and Jinko Power, which will implement the project.
China Energy Engineering Corporation – Shanghai Electric Power is the project's engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
Manah 2 and another project, Manah 1, were previously named Solar IPP 2022 and 2023.
Three developer consortiums submitted technical and financial proposals for the Manah 1 and Manah 2 contracts in late September 2022.
Located 150 kilometres southwest of Muscat, the Manah 1 and 2 solar projects comprise the second utility-scale renewable energy projects to be tendered by PWP, after Ibri 2, which has been operational since 2021.
The bid evaluation process is under way for the 500MW Ibri 3 solar IPP.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13815359/main0028.jpg -
Dewa increases 2030 renewables target by 45%
5 May 2025
Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access
State utility Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has increased its flagship solar project's 2030 target installed capacity by 45%, from 5,000MW to 7,260MW.
In a statement, Dewa said the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park will have a production capacity of more than 7,260MW by 2030, with a total investment of AED50bn ($13.6bn).
The utility said the total capacity of the solar energy projects commissioned at the solar park has reached 3,460MW from photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and concentrated solar power.
The total alternating current (AC) capacity of contracts awarded in the first five phases of MBR Solar Park is about 2,860MW, with construction under way for the 1,800MW sixth phase of the solar scheme.
Based on the official solar installed capacity of 3,460MW, as of early 2025 clean energy accounts for 20% of Dewa's total power capacity of about 17,179MW. Natural gas-fired capacity accounts for the rest.
The Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and the Dubai Net-Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050 aim to ultimately provide 100% of Dubai's energy production capacity from clean energy sources by 2050.
The procurement proceedings are under way for MBR Solar Park's seventh phase, which will include a 1,600MW solar PV plant and a 1,000MW battery energy storage system (bess) plant, providing up to six hours of storage.
The 250MW pumped hydropower storage project in Hatta is also nearing completion.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13814968/main1706.jpg