Australian gas deal a boost for Howden

HOWDEN Compressors, the Scottish engineering firm, has secured a multi-million pound deal to produce parts for a power plant in Australia.

It will manufacture and supply a "substantial" number of its largest screw compressors over a two-year period for a plant that produces liquified natural gas (LNG) from coalbed methane (CBM) in Queensland.

Jim Fairbairn, managing director, announced the contract win to the company's workforce at its factory in Craigton, Glasgow. He said: "This order is a major success for us and will contribute significantly to our ambitious strategy for growth in supplying our products and services to major mature and developing markets throughout the world."

He said the order was a "much deserved reward" for the workers. "Together with the continued support and investment from Howden and our parent company Charter International, (this] will reinforce our Craigton facility as a global centre of excellence for screw compressor design and manufacturing."

Howden is one of the world's largest and longest-established manufacturers of air and gas handling equipment. Established in 1854, the company employs around 3,800 people in 17 countries, including about 400 in the Glasgow area.

To support this and other recent contract wins for screw compressors, Howden has recently boosted the headcount at its Craigton factory by around 30 per cent.

The company's contracts are typically worth anything from 100,000 to 10 million. The exact value of the latest order was undisclosed.

It will see Howden supply large capacity screw compressors for the compression systems at the heart of BG Group's Queensland Curtis LNG project.

These systems will help gather and compress coalbed methane gas reserves, located inland and some 300 to 600 metres underground. This gas will be fed through transmission pipelines to a LNG plant being developed near Gladstone on the Queensland coast.

Howden Compressors has supplied screw compressors for similar gas-gathering projects across the world, particularly coalbed methane projects in North America and India.

Bob Cleland, chief executive of Howden, said: "This win is a major achievement for Howden as it gives us a strategic reference for all up-and-coming CBM opportunities throughout the world. Investment at our compressor facility has enabled us to continue to compete and deliver on a global stage."

Increasing levels of CBM deposits are being identified and gathered in Australia and other parts of the globe. It is considered an important new cleaner source of energy.

Howden has recently invested 4.5m in state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment at its Craigton factory, launched by the Princess Royal earlier this year.