Clough-AMEC JV wins work with Yara

The Clough-AMEC Foster Wheeler Australia joint venture has won a five-year contract to provide maintenance services at Yara International’s liquid ammonia plant near Karratha, with the value of the work believed to be about $100 million.

Clough AMEC will provide maintenance services to both Yara’s liquid ammonia plant and the adjacent technical ammonium nitrate manufacturing plant on the Burrup Peninsula for an initial five years, with an option to extend the contract for a further five years.

The value of the contract was not disclosed, however, sources indicated that it could be worth up to $100 million.

“The scope includes providing maintenance planning support, supplying management services, supervision, tradespeople, tooling and systems, including the Clough Automated Maintenance system, to perform routine maintenance services and shutdowns at the Yara Pilbara ammonia plant and the TAN plant,” the joint venture said in a statement.

Clough chief executive Peter Bennett said the joint venture was pleased to have won the contract.

“Over the past two years, Clough AMEC has worked hard to establish itself in the onshore oil, gas and petrochemical maintenance sector,” he said.

“This contract award validates the great work our people have done in delivering fit-for-purpose maintenance solutions, that have a continuous focus on identifying and implementing cost saving opportunities and exceeding operational performance goals."

The new TAN plant is in the final commissioning stages and will have a 330,000-tonne capacity per annum.

Yara Pilbara general manager Chris Rijksen said the two plants represented significant investment by the Norwegian company and joint venture partner Orica.

“Our investment in Clough AMEC’s expertise ensures further skill sharing and development in Western Australia’s downstream processing sector,” he said.

“It also means local jobs for Karratha, which underlines Yara’s commitment to local development in Karratha, via a residential workforce for our Pilbara operations and a $70 million local spend annually.”