Utico to expand ‘clean coal’ concept

Following the announcement of the Dh1.5-billion ($408 million) coal power plant in the UAE recently, Utico Middle East, the GCC’s largest private full service utility and solutions provider, is now expanding its mission to provide clean coal power to the rest of the GCC.

Utico is currently in talks with Dubai, which wishes to procure 12 per cent of its power from clean coal, as well as other GCC countries to implement this unique clean energy project at substantially lower power tariffs. Discussions are also under way with the Oman government to finalise power, water and hospitality projects, which includes local employment generation and lowering water and power tariffs.

Utico Middle East and Shanghai Electric, the world’s largest coal power company, announced a joint collaboration to establish the world’s greenest coal-fired power plant in Ras Al Khaimah. The facility is expected to be completed in 2015 and will generate 270 MW of power when fully functional.

GES opens Dammam terminal yard

Globe Express Services (Overseas Group), one of the world’s top 100 global logistics providers, has opened its Dammam terminal yard, a 23,000-sq-m facility in Saudi Arabia that includes an open storage area, warehouses, and office buildings that will house the Dammam branch management and the transportation division. While GES (Overseas Group) has had an office in Dammam since 1995, the $2-million terminal yard, which is strategically located at the Dammam Sea Port Zone on the Arabian Gulf, complements the company’s existing facilities in Jeddah on the Red Sea and in Riyadh serving Saudi Arabia’s Central Region, enabling it to offer smooth handling of all import and export of sea freight shipments in the country.

GES has spent nearly $3 million to increase the company’s fleet of trucks and trailers and to acquire new handling equipment.

Serco wins key Saudi Arabia deals

International service company Serco has won two 'significant' consultancy contracts in Saudi Arabia. The contracts – with the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and ELM (Al-Elm Company) – will be served from its recently opened new consulting offices in Bahrain.

Serco Consulting offers a range of management and operations consulting services across the financial services, telecommunications, utilities and public sector markets.

Serco’s Manama office director and consulting regional leader Damon Dermody said: 'The combination of well-developed financial services and business process outsourcing markets, as well as the geographic proximity to Saudi Arabia, means we are well placed to serve our clients from Manama.'

Al Wa’ab City restarts work on villas

Al Wa’ab City, one of the largest privately owned real estate developments in Qatar, has relaunched construction works for both Nour Al Wa’ab and Janayin Al Wa’ab Villas.

Main contractor Arabtec resumed full construction work last month. Al Wa’ab City expects to deliver the first set of fully fitted villas by July next year.

Nour A Waab Villa project comprises 92 villas, each covering an area of 850 sq m. Janayin Al Wa’ab Villas will consist of 181 distinct four-bedroom villas, which will be built on an area of 450 sq m each. Al Wa’ab City is planning to complete the delivery of the 273 villas within two years along with all recreational amenities.

Tasco wins its first Playtop project

Tasco, Playtop’s new newly-appointed agent in Saudi Arabia, has been awarded its first project for the UK-based company’s products.

The project for Saudi oil company Aramco will include the surfacing for a playground at a national cultural centre. Playtop’s Italian licensee has installed the first playground in Milan that is completely accessible for wheelchairs. Its Dutch licensee has installed 900 sq m of playtop totally pink, in an East Amsterdam park.

Playtop has been involved in impact-absorbing play surfacing and has pioneered the use of rubber in wet-pour.

Sitech to serve Gulf market

Trimble said that a Sitech technology dealer has been established to serve Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE. Sitech Gulf joins the premier network of Sitech dealerships, which is described as the first fully dedicated global distribution network offering the most comprehensive portfolio of construction technology systems available to the heavy civil construction contractor.

Sitech technology dealers represent Trimble and Caterpillar machine control systems for the contractor’s entire fleet of heavy equipment regardless of machine brand, along with Trimble’s portfolio of Connected Site solutions, comprising site positioning systems, construction asset management services, software and powerful wireless and Internet-based site communications infrastructure.

Oman awards $54m contracts

Oman's Tender Board has awarded RO21 million ($54 million) contracts for projects including infrastructure works for the Oman International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Contracts have been awarded for the construction of infrastructure and internal road works for the first stage of Phase Five of the convention centre. Other contracts include the construction of 97 houses, a mosque, a majlis and public utilities in Al Awabi village in the Wilayat of Bausher in Muscat.