Mauritania—Danish green energy developer GreenGo Energy plans to build Megaton Moon to develop what it says is 60 GW of wind and solar energy to power 35 GW of electrolysis that will annually produce 4 million tons of green hydrogen and 18 million tons of green ammonia. The project first phase would operate by 2028. GreenGo says Mauritania has abundant clean energy resources and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Danish engineer COWI A/S and New Power Partners will design project components. Megaton Moon is Mauritania’s third proposed green hydrogen project since 2021. The U.S. Energy Dept. announced Dec. 4 an agreement with the country to provide technology to advance decarbonization of its steel production. 

—Shem Oirere

FRANCE

Eiffage Wins $4.4B Contract For New Nuclear Power Units

France-based engineer-constructor Eiffage said Nov. 16 it expects to begin work in mid-2024 on two 1,650-MW nuclear power units in Normandy for utility EDF. Permits are expected in 2027. Eiffage said its $4.4-billion contract is for civil work and construction of 69 structures. The projectis part of an estimated $57-billion nuclear power expansion in France announced this year. About 22 countries, including the U.S. Canada, Japan, France, UK and UAE, agreed Dec. 2 at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai to triple nuclear generation by 2050 from a base year of 2020. Total global installed nuclear capacity of about 375 GW in 2020 is forecast to rise to 631 GW by 2050, said S&P Global.

—Mary B. Powers

Chile

Spanish Firm Starts Work on Giant Energy Storage Project

Spanish renewable energy developer Grenergy is building a 1-GW solar energy project and estimated 4.1-GWh battery energy storage system in Chile’s Atacama Desert, which it said will be the world’s largest. The developer will invest $1.4 billion in the Oasis de Atacama project.

UK

Firms Link to Explore Korean Nuclear Tech Use in Britain

U.K.’s Mott MacDonald and Korean engineer-contractor KEPCO have agreed to explore building large-scale nuclear projects in the U.K. using Korean technology. This follows South Korea’s plan to invest $26 billion in U.K. energy and infrastructure projects.

North Sea Energy Emissions Cut Envisioned

Scotland Inks New Deals With Floating Wind Power Developers

Scotland aims for floating wind power projects to reduce emissions at offshore oil and gas platforms.
Photo credit: Getty Images, Igor Aleksejevs

Scotland has signed seven new agreements to develop floating offshore wind projects that would supply renewable energy to help North Sea oil and gas operations replace current gas and diesel power and reduce carbon emissions.

The Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas Program (INTOG) includes large-scale projects set to directly supply 5 GW of wind power to platforms over a 1,534-sq-km area and innovative small projects of 100 MW or less to produce 449 MW over 137 sq km, said government unit Crown Estate Scotland, which is managing the project. Innovations targeted include supply chain development, cost reductions and novel approaches to commercial methods and market development, said the unit.

Final agreements are expected in 2024, but London-based developer Cerulean Winds announced Nov. 28 it has three floating wind agreements with Crown Estate Scotland. Its partners are Worley Ltd. as project manager and engineer, Siemens Energy for transmission, Siemens Gamesa as wind turbine provider and Houston-based NOV as marine contractor for floating units and mooring systems. The developer said its wind projects will be connected to form an offshore ring around the central North Sea, with the first wind power production targeted for 2028.