Clough AMEC bags services contract for Yara’s ammonia plants

Clough AMEC, a 50/50 joint venture between Clough Ltd and Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a five-year contract (with an option to extend for a further five years) to provide maintenance services to Norwegian company, Yara International ASA.

Clough AMEC will provide maintenance services to Yara’s existing liquid ammonia plant (Yara Pilbara ammonia plant) and to the world’s first technical ammonium nitrate (TAN) manufacturing plant (TAN plant) on the Burrup Peninsula, located near Karratha in Western Australia.

The scope includes providing maintenance planning support, supplying management services, supervision, tradespeople, tooling and systems, including the Clough Automated Maintenance System (CAMS), to perform routine maintenance services and shutdowns at the Yara Pilbara Ammonia Plant and the TAN Plant.

The Yara Pilbara ammonia plant forms part of Yara International’s global production facility portfolio and is one of the largest ammonia production facilities in the world, with production capacity of 850,000 metric tons of liquid ammonia exported from the Dampier Port and traded on South East Asian markets.

The new TAN plant, fully integrated with the Yara Pilbara ammonia plant, is in the final commissioning stages and will have a 330,000 tonne TAN capacity per annum. TAN is the main component in explosives used by the mining, quarrying and construction industries. The TAN produced by the TAN plant will be marketed and distributed by Orica predominately to mining customers.

“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," said Peter Bennett, Clough CEO and Clough AMEC director.

“This is an important contract win for Clough AMEC, providing significant opportunity for additional technical and implementation support to Yara Pilbara’s operations and future capital projects. The win recognises our expanded onshore maintenance services offerings and further strengthens Clough AMEC’s position as a leading asset support services contractor,” said Nigel Hudson, Clough AMEC director.

“Our investment in Clough AMEC’s expertise ensures further skill sharing and development in Western Australia’s downstream processing sector. It also means local jobs for Karratha, which underlines Yara Pilbara’s commitment to local development in Karratha, via a residential workforce for our Pilbara operations and an AUD$70 million local spend annually,” added Chris Rijksen, Yara Pilbara general manager.