Technology company The Linde Group has recently signed an engineering and procurement contract for two hydrogen plants in Nizhnekamsk, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. The contract was awarded by PSC TAIF-NK, a leader in the oil refining industry in Tatarstan. The contract is worth around EUR 120 million.

'We are delighted to have the opportunity to cooperate with PSC TAIF-NK and bring in our in-depth expertise in hydrogen technology,' said Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. 'We are confident that this agreement will lead to further key contracts for our gases and engineering business in this important Eastern European growth market.'

Linde will be responsible for basic and detail engineering, procurement and supply of equipment and materials. The two new hydrogen plants, each with a capacity of around 110,000 normal cubic metres per hour (Nm3/h), will supply high purity hydrogen to the heavy residue conversion complex at the Nizhnekamsk refinery site. The new hydrogen plants are planned to be delivered by the end of 2015.

PSC TAIF-NK operates the largest refinery in Tatarstan, including a gasoline plant and gas condensate processing plant.

Siemens and Open Joint Stock Company Fortum have signed a long-term service contract for the Nyaganskaya GRES combined cycle power plant in Nyagan, Russia. Nyaganskaya GRES is the world's largest thermal power plant operating above the latitude of 62 degrees North and is the largest thermal power plant greenfield construction project in Northern Russia. The power station consists of three combined cycle power units totaling 1,254 megawatts (MW). The first unit, with a capacity of 420.9 MW, began commercial operation in April 2013. The commercial operation of the second unit began at the end of 2013, and the third unit is currently under construction.

Under terms of the long-term agreement, Siemens will provide service and maintenance for the gas turbines, steam turbines and generators of all three combined cycle plants for a period of six years.

"As one of Russia's largest combined cycle power plants, Fortum's Nyaganskaya power plant plays an important role in contributing to the region's energy supply," said Alain de Cat, Head of Siemens Energy Service Fossil, Region Europe and Africa. "With our new regional hub in St. Petersburg, Siemens will have the resources and technical abilities available nearby to help ensure the plant operates with high availability, reliability and economic efficiency.

Siemens supplied its SCC5-4000F power train solution consisting of an SGT5-4000F gas turbine, SST5-3000 steam turbine, SGen5-2000H generator and SPPA-T3000 automation system for each of the three units of Nyaganskaya GRES. Earlier this year after the successful Kirishi repowering project, Siemens also signed a long-term service agreement for the Kirishskaya GRES power plant in the Leningrad region. Together, these steps are positioned to support the continuous improvement of the overall efficiency and reliability of the Russian power supply.

PetroKazakhstan Oil Products LLP, a joint venture of state-owned KazMunaiGas (KMG) and China National Petroleum Corp., has let a services-related contract to China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp. (CPECC) for a long-delayed project to upgrade the 5.25 million tonne/year Shymkent refinery in Kazakhstan.

Under the agreement, CPECC will provide the detailed engineering, procurement of equipment and materials, and implementation of construction and installation work for the modernization of the Shymkent facility according to KMG.

Implementation of the First Startup Complex includes construction of a naphtha isomerization unit with a capacity of 600,000 tpy, which will reduce environmental impacts by enhancing the high-octane gasoline production process to meet the latest requirements set by Kazakhstan law, KMG said.Construction of the naptha isomerization unit is planned for completion in 2015, with product delivery scheduled for 2016, according to KMG.

PetroKazakhstan previously let a contract for front-end engineering design of the modernization project at Shymkent in 2012 designed to expand the plant’s crude processing capacity to 6 million tpy from 5 million tpy.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Yokogawa Europe Solutions B.V. has been awarded a contract by Yamgaz, a consortium of Technip and JGC Corporation, to supply integrated control and safety systems (ICSS) for the Yamal LNG Project to build a liquefied natural gas plant and other facilities at Sabetta on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula, which is in northwest Siberia, above the Arctic Circle, in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.

The Yamal LNG Project is one of Russia's largest resource projects and is being undertaken by JSC Yamal LNG, which is jointly owned by Novatek (80%), Russia’s largest independent oil and gas company, and Total (20%), a major French energy company. As part of this project, a major integrated complex for the liquefaction of natural gas will be built that will have a design production capacity of 16.5 million tons per annum. The three process trains that will make up this complex will have an annual production output of 5.5 million tons each, and are planned to be commissioned in 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively.

For this project, Yokogawa will supply CENTUM® VP integrated production control systems, ProSafe®-RS safety instrumented systems, Exaquantum™ plant information management systems, PRM® integrated device management packages for the monitoring and diagnosis of plant equipment, analytical systems, analyzer shelters, and operator training systems. Yokogawa will be responsible for delivery, engineering, installation, commissioning, and operator training. It is estimated that this will be Yokogawa’s largest order ever for a natural gas project in Russia.

Russia holds one of the world's largest natural gas reserves and is particularly active in the LNG field, with many projects underway. It is believed that there are many undeveloped natural gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula and that the amount of LNG produced there will increase. Our systems are in use at 47 gas liquefaction plants and 42 LNG receiving terminals around the world, and are used by or are on order for a total of 54 LNG carriers. Based on this strong track record, we welcome this major role in the Yamal LNG Project, look forward to getting started with it, and plan to use this as a springboard to expanding our share of Russia’s LNG-related market.