Velan S.A.S., Velan Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary located in Lyon, France, has been awarded important contracts for the supply of nuclear class valves to China Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (“CNPEC”), China Nuclear Power Engineering Co. Ltd. (“CNPE”), China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation (“CNEIC”), CHINERGY and HUANENG. These nuclear valve orders represent a sales value of about US$34 million (€30 million) of which US$15.6 million was recorded in backlog prior to our 2015 fiscal year-end. The valves are scheduled for delivery from 2016 until 2018.

For CNPEC, the orders are for valves for the two new ACPR1000-design nuclear plants of HongYangHe Units 5 and 6. The scope of supply consists of nuclear-classified forged valves, electric-operated gate valves, globe valves with pneumatic actuators, and swing check valves. For CNPE and CNEIC, who are both part of the China National Nuclear Corporation (“CNNC”), Velan S.A.S. received orders for the supply of nuclear classified gate and globe valves for the two new nuclear pilot project power plants based on the new Hualong One (ACP 1000) technology to be built at FuQing Units 5 and 6. The scope of supply is mainly high-pressure forged valves complete with electric or pneumatic actuators for service inside nuclear containment.

Velan S.A.S. also signed contracts with CHINERGY and HUANENG for the supply of nuclear-classified bellows seal globe valves for the new High Temperature Reactor (“CHTR”) built in Shidaowan, China.

Michel Monier, Director of Nuclear-China at Velan, stated: “Chinese authorities have just announced plans to resume the construction of new nuclear power plants, which had been suspended following the Fukushima accident. Velan is honored to contribute to these new projects, which have all been designed by Chinese nuclear institutes. With these new orders, Velan valves have now been selected for 49 Chinese nuclear power plants.”

Tom Velan, CEO of Velan Inc., stated: “All these new designs, Hualong One, C-HTR and ACPR1000 are ‘First of Kind’ 3rd and 4th Generation nuclear plants designed in China. These new advanced reactor designs will represent an important part of future projects, not only on the Chinese domestic market, but also for export projects. The Velan group is dedicated to supporting these advanced nuclear reactors by providing advanced valve designs that are helping to increase the safety level of new generation nuclear power plants.”

About Velan: Velan Inc. (www.velan.com) is a world-leading manufacturer of industrial valves with sales of US$455.7 million in its last reported fiscal year. The Company employs over 2,000 people and has manufacturing plants in 11 countries. Velan Inc. is a public company with its shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol VLN.

Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Company. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on management's best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors may include, without excluding other considerations, fluctuations in foreign currency conversion rates and general market trends or economic changes. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.

Technip’s subsidiary in Colombia, was awarded by the Consorcio Constructor Ductos del Sur(2), a front-end engineering design and detailed engineering design contract, on a lumpsum basis. This covers the development of a new gas pipeline to transport gas from the Camisea field to Southern Peru.

Launched by the Peruvian government, the project consists of more than 1,700 kilometers of 32" gas pipeline. It aims to improve the existing Peruvian Energy Network, contributing to the development of an Energy Node and Petrochemical Hub in Southern Peru.

The overall work will be performed by Tipiel’s offices in Bogota, Colombia. Marco Villa, Technip’s Region B(3) President, commented: “This award reflects the importance to accompany the client since the very early stage of an initiative to help design an optimized project execution scheme.”

Riccardo Nicoletti, Tipiel General Manager, stated: "This contract, which is related to one of the most important projects for the development of energy infrastructure in Peru, serves our objective to make Tipiel a leading engineering company outside Colombia as well”.

Tipiel is a Colombian engineering company and a leader in Latin America in project management, engineering and construction for the oil & gas industry. Established in 1975, it has contributed to the design and construction of the main successful projects related to hydrocarbons in Colombia. Its reference shareholders are Technip (44%) and Grupo SURA (41%), a company based in Colombia which is an important player in Latin America through its strategic investments dedicated to the insurance, pensions and banking sectors as well as investments in the processed food, cement production and energy sectors.

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, today announced the winners of the Global System Integrator Excellence Awards for Industry. These awards distinguish our dedicated partners responsible for the innovations, achievements and great service that help our industrial and infrastructure customers meet their technical and business challenges.

“Recognizing the companies and individuals within the Schneider Electric System Integrator Alliance program is an important aspect of the program,” says Andrew Brown, Strategy & System Integrator Program Director, Schneider Electric. “These awards distinguish our dedicated partners responsible for the innovations, achievements and great service that help our industrial and infrastructure customers meet their technical and business challenges. These winners should be very proud of their recognition through these awards.”

The winners of the Global System Integrator Excellence awards are:

Business Development Award: Sintek (Russia) – Sintek is a loyal and driven SI Alliance Partner who excelled in 2014. They are a Certified Alliance partner, displaying expertise in delivering solutions for large projects, encompassing the full PlantStruxure offer.

Certified Engineer of the Year: Mr. Göray Akgün (Turkey) – The Certified Engineer of the year is Göray Akgün, who is a PlantStruxure Certified Engineer from MAS OTOMASYON SIST. SAN. TIC. LTD in Turkey. This is an outstanding achievement and demonstrates Göray’s engineering expertise across the PlantStruxure offer.

Technical Expertise Award: Artiflex (South Africa) – Artiflex is a two-time winner of the Technical Expertise award, which is an outstanding achievement. The company’s highly skilled team of engineers includes two PlantStruxure Certified engineers, clearly demonstrated their technical expertise through their many projects completed in 2014.

Global PlantStruxure Partner of the Year: Raster (Netherlands) – Raster is a dedicated and long-standing SI Alliance partner with a highly skilled team of engineers and project managers, committed to delivering the best Schneider Electric solutions to their customers.

Global Telemetry Partner of the Year: SPP Engineering (Turkey) – SPP Engineering has demonstrated their expertise in the Telemetry field throughout 2014 and are deserving winners of this new award category.

Global PES Partner of the Year: Supertech (India) – Supertech is an early adopter of PES and has displayed their engineering expertise with this offer throughout 2014 delivering projects across a variety of industries and applications. It is a great achievement to win this new award category.

An awards ceremony will be held in Dallas, USA on April 27th to honor the winners, which will be part of Schneider Electric’s Global Automation Conference. The conference will enable partners and customers the opportunity to collaborate, gain insight into what’s new from Schneider Electric and get technical with offer experts in the extensive marketplace.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has opened a new local service office near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The office will provide services and support for ABB’s automation and power portfolio including control systems (System 800xA, Symphony Plus, and heritage control systems), instrumentation, analytical products, low voltage drives, and power systems and products.

The new office will be staffed with engineering, support and training personnel and will offer scheduled in-center training, as well as customized training courses. It is scheduled to open in mid-April 2015. ABB will hold an open house for its customers on April 15, 2015, from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm. The address is 2492 South Cities Service Highway, Calcasieu Parish, Sulphur, Louisiana 70663.

The open house will feature a wide variety of ABB automation and power equipment including wireless communications, measurement and analytical products (instrumentation, level and process analytics), gas insulated switchgear, protection relays and other control and power products.

ABB has established local resources to serve its industry customers in the Gulf region, which is a major hub for energy, oil, gas, chemical and petrochemical industries in the United States, and has recently announced several new investments in the area.

“We are expanding our footprint in the Gulf region to better serve our customers here, with local service and support resources that work with our global experts,” said Kevin Kosisko, Americas Region Division Manager, Process Automation for ABB. “This office nicely complements our recent expansions in this area, including the Automation and Power Center in Houston and new level measurement factory currently under construction in Baton Rouge.”

Last month, ABB held a ground-breaking ceremony for its new 75,000-sq-ft level measurement factory in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and announced that it is developing a new Automation and Power Center in Houston that will showcase ABB’s full offering to help utility, industry and infrastructure companies increase their productivity and energy efficiency while maintaining the highest level safety and reliability.

ABB (www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 140,000 people. The company has invested heavily in North America over the past five years, with acquisitions totaling nearly $10 billion. ABB employs around 30,000 people throughout the region.