GHD wins NCE100 Impact in Energy award

Employee-owned engineering, environmental and advisory services company, GHD, has won the esteemed NCE100 Impact in Energy award.

The Impact in Energy accolade, part of the NCE100 awards ‘Engineering Impact’ theme, recognises GHD’s role on a pioneering project that will produce valuable chemicals and oils from otherwise unrecyclable waste plastic.

The NCE100, published by the UK’s New Civil Engineer (NCE) magazine, is an annual assessment of the most forward thinking, innovative firms operating in civil engineering today. Companies displaying truly outstanding civil engineering practices were shortlisted as finalists for an NCE100 award across the core themes of Technical Excellence, Business Culture and Engineering Impact.

GHD was commended for its role completing front-end engineering design for a new UK plant that will convert a range of feedstocks into stable hydrocarbons that can be further processed into new plastic production or other valuable petrochemicals. The 20,000 tonne per year plant, located in North-East England, will be the first of its kind in the UK, and the application of technology to achieve the range of end products will be a worldwide first.

GHD provided experience in supercritical steam and combustion systems, process plant design, and electrical, civil and mechanical engineering to create a robust and deliverable plant design. The company identified equipment, developed a walk-through 3D model for the physical layout and established a cost estimate.

David Maunder, Technical Director, GHD, says, “The project involved frequent and highly interactive collaboration between the GHD team, our client Tourian Renewables, and technology provider, Licella. Through this connected approach, we were able to develop and optimise the design for this first-of-a-kind facility, supporting its timely transition to the next project phase.”

Tom Foley, Market Leader – Power, UK, says, “Multi-disciplinary and collaborative engineering has a key role to play in the shift towards a circular economy and it has shaped a number of critical elements on this ground-breaking project. The NCE100 award acknowledges the role of GHD engineers in providing premium and technically robust solutions to support our client’s goals.”