Pumps & Valves

Weir Power & Industrial Services at Alloa continued their success in the hydro power rehabilitation market with the award of a major project for ScottishPower. The contract, granted in December 2008, is scheduled to complete in October 2009. The project is for ScottishPower’s Cruachan pumped storage hydro electric station located on the north shore of Loch Awe, on the west coast of Scotland. The plant was built and commissioned in 1965 and the station has four 100MW vertical axis Francis turbine/ pump units; two Boving machines and two English Electric machines which combined generate a total of 440 MW. Weir’s contract is to complete refurbishment of the turbine and generator comprising, site dismantling, condition assessment in the Alloa workshop, rotor pole renovation and stator cleaning, refurbishment of specified turbine components, site reassembly and commissioning. Project manager Stuart Wilkins commented, “We are delighted to receive this prestigious contract which reflects on the groups track record of delivering projects in a safe, environmentally responsible manner, on time and within the budget and performance expectations of the customer.”

Weir Valves & Controls UK Ltd has won a repeat order for Batley Butterfly Valves (BV) 22000 series from British Energy. This follows the successful development and delivery of a solution specifically developed for British Energy. The valves will be used at Heysham 2 Nuclear Power Station which is capable of supplying over 1.5 million homes with electricity. Polyethylene pipe work has been installed within the Reactor Sea Water System to reduce the effects of corrosion and support more durable operation. The valves were manufactured using Super Duplex stainless steel providing improved strength and corrosion resistance, particularly in ambient sea water applications. Mike Craddock, system health engineer for Steam & Rotating Plant at Heysham 2 Power Station said, “We are extremely pleased with the performance of the BV 22000 valves and also with Weir Valves & Controls UK’s ability to develop, manufacture and deliver the valves in a short time frame, which was a key requirement.”

Weir Power & Industrial have secured several aftermarket orders for services, spare parts and replacement valves through its facilities in South Africa and the Middle East. The service orders are for plant outage work at Kriel and Hendrina power stations in South Africa and Dugas in the Middle East. The significant installed base of Weir products in the emerging regions and increasing demand for power plant extensions and upgrades has driven the requirement for increased customer service support and spare parts. This has increased requirements for replacement valve products including repeat business for Maersk in conjunction with Prometal. The Middle East operation recently secured spares contracts for the refurbishment of the Kindasa Water Services plant in Saudi Arabia. Andrew Will, Power & Industrial Emerging Markets, sales & marketing director, said “The availability of local aftermarket support for product overhauls, spares and replacement valves gives Weir Power & Industrial a real advantage in this active key region and is aligned with Weir Group being a truly global supplier.”

Over 100 staff from the Power & Industrial and Oil & Gas divisions in Scotland moved to a new custom built facility in the fourth quarter of 2008. The former Services Division teams, who had been based at the now leased Cathcart site, have re-located to Pegasus House on the Scottish Enterprise Technology Park in East Kilbride. The new offices were officially opened by Group CEO Mark Selway in October and showcased to staff and customers during a day of celebration. Personnel include the technical engineering team, tendering engineers and various support functions with responsibilities covering regional activities for UK, Europe and the Middle East. The site is also home to the Power & Industrial divisional team headed by divisional managing director Phil Clifton.

As part of a consolidation of marketing activities, Weir Power and Industrial has been showcasing its product and service capabilities at key industry exhibitions across Europe, North Africa and China.

The Weir Power & Industrial Emerging Markets operation in India has seen sales output grow by over 100% in the last twelve months. The success is due to a number of factors, including the drive and focus the team has placed on the pump upgrade and overhaul business, as well as the introduction of valve sales into the operation.

Weir Power & Industrial France has been awarded a contract to supply Sarasin–RSBD safety valves for general service applications to the industrial company Maersk Oil.