Industry News

The University of Idaho’s Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls is slated for completion in August of 2008. The $19 million, 55,000-sf project is a public-private energy research and education facility and is affiliated with Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has selected Amana Contracting and Steel Buildings to build the Dhs85-million Takreer Research Center project at Sas El Nakhl in Abu Dhabi. Located at the Petroleum Institute Campus, the 6,000-sm, three-story facility will include laboratories, a pilot plant, workshops, a gas bunker, and offices. Completion is expected in June of 2009.

The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is partnering with the University of Houston to create the Texas-NREL Large Blade Research and Test Facility (LBR&TF) in Ingleside, Texas. The facility will be designed, built, and operated by the University of Houston with operational support including $2 million in equipment from NREL. Completion is slated for 2010. The project will provide complete testing of wind turbine blades up to 210 feet long.

Chevron’s Gulf of Mexico Business Unit (GOMBU) celebrated the opening of its new Northpark headquarters in Covington, La., in May of 2008. The 300,000-sf headquarters utilizes advanced technology to manage shelf operations and features a visualization center and 18 technology-enabled team rooms and asset decision environments linking offshore and onshore personnel. Northpark is the company's first LEED-certified building and the first LEED-Gold building in the state of Louisiana.

AREVA is planning to build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant in Bonneville County, Idaho. AREVA, based in France, will build the facility near Idaho National Laboratory on a site 18 miles west of Idaho Falls. The plant, which will employ 250 staff, will begin construction by 2011 with completion slated for 2014.