News

The Gut Großlappen Wastewater Treatment Plant has been in operation since 1926 and, together with the Gut Marienhof Wastewater Treatment Plant, treats the entire wastewater generated in the Bavarian state capital of Munich and the neighboring communities connected to it.
In June 2023, ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH, together with GFM Bau- und Umweltingenieure GmbH, was commissioned with the overall engineering services for the implementation of a project to secure and expand the inflow capacities at the plant (assignment stage 1, service phase 1–2). This essentially comprises the screen system, grit chambers, primary and secondary sedimentation tanks as well as centrate treatment tanks. A study of alternatives to determine the most beneficial project solution forms part of the engineering services in service phase (SPH) 2. Taking account all of the assignment stages 1–3, the joint venture’s planning contract includes the construction design (SPH 1–8), structural design (SPH 1–6) and planning of the technical equipment (SPH 1–8).
Execution of the engineering services for SPH 1–7 is anticipated to take place between summer 2023 and spring 2028, an execution of the construction works is expected to take place in the period between fall 2023 and early 2032.

Since it was decided that the S 10 Mühlviertel Expressway (AUT) would be extended in 2002, ILF has been involved in helping ASFINAG with project management and project coordination, performing studies of alternatives, the preliminary design, the EIA permit application design and other individual permit procedures, as well as the detailed design for this project. In addition, ILF has delivered services relating to road design, tunnel design and tunnel safety, as well as geological/hydrogeological design, for certain sub-sections of the road.

For more than 20 years, ILF has proven itself to be a reliable partner for the planning, design and preparation of construction works for the S 10 Mühlviertel Expressway, and we are proud to have been significantly involved along the entire route.

The S 10 runs from the end of the A 7 motorway in the North of Austria, over a 38-km-long stretch, to the border crossing with the Czech Republic. The Southern Section of the expressway (approximately 22 km long) has already been completed, and was opened to traffic in December 2015.

In 2013, ILF was commissioned to prepare a conceptual study for the Northern Section of the expressway, and was subsequently also awarded the contract for project management for the preliminary design, EIA permit application design and other individual permit procedures, as well as the detailed design for the first sub-section. The construction works will start in October 2023.

In 2021, ILF was also commissioned to perform an alignment study and to deliver project management services for the selection of the final alignment for the preliminary design, EIA permit application design and other individual permit procedures for the last section of the road. Construction works for this last approximately 8.5-km-long section of the road are scheduled to start in 2028/2029.

We would like to thank ASFINAG for the trust that they have placed in us over the years, and look forward to continuing our exciting work!

Tbilisi City Hall, in collaboration with the German Development Bank (KfW), is set to implement the Sustainable Urban Mobility Program in Tbilisi (SUMP) – a program which ILF is helping to implement as part of a consulting consortium.

Over a period of five years, the project shall focus on enhancing the city’s transport infrastructure and relevant services by promoting the sustainable development of the capital’s urban transport system and infrastructure, improving the ecological situation and ensuring safe passenger transport.

SUMP will employ an integrated multidisciplinary approach to create a sustainable and environmental-friendly transport network. It will incorporate an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) to enhance passenger safety and improve traffic flow, public transport management and traffic light control.

Furthermore, the project will expand the eco-transport network, establishing a comprehensive system of bus lanes and safe spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. These measures aim to significantly reduce traffic-related air pollution and emissions while also promoting a healthier lifestyle.

The consulting consortium commissioned for the project consists of GOPA Infra (Germany), ILF Consulting Engineers (Austria/Georgia), the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) (Austria) and A+S Consult (Germany). This consortium has recently organized an inception workshop, which was attended by high-level officials from the city municipality, municipal council, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, the KfW, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), municipal transport operators, the police, NGOs and other stakeholders. The consortium was represented at the workshop by ILF Georgia. This workshop summarized the overall objectives of the assignment, the timeline, key deliverables and the next steps; and was followed by a Q&A session.

As the use of renewable energy grows in line with decarbonization targets, so does the need for renewable energy storage. When batteries become too expensive and there is no more potential for pumped storage, electrolyzer facilities for hydrogen production come into play. Hynergy, together with Baywa and Tyczka, as well as the administrative districts of Landshut and Munich (GER), are planning a hydrogen production plant on the site of the Pfeffenhausen Hydrogen Application Center.

Earlier this summer, more than 100 stakeholders from various companies, including ILF Consulting Engineers, came significantly closer to the goal of realizing this plant, with the delivery of the first trailer that can be filled with hydrogen. This trailer will make it possible to transport H2 to various hydrogen filling stations in the region. At the same time, the concrete works are also progressing well, enabling assembly of the pressure-alkaline electrolyzers and other heavy equipment to also take place in summer. The plant, with a design capacity of 5 MW for the first phase, can later be doubled in size. It will be connected via a 20 kV dedicated line to the solar and wind power plants planned to be built in the vicinity of the site, and thus will be supplied with 100% renewable energy. The 1.2 tons of hydrogen produced on average by the plant per day will initially be used exclusively for mobility purposes. The administrative districts as well as the first regional bus companies are gradually converting their bus fleets to hydrogen buses, and hydrogen-powered buses are already being used for local public transportation. In addition, more hydrogen filling stations are being built.

We are proud to have supported the project by preparing the application for approval under the Federal Immission Control Act (Bundesimmissionsschutzverordnung – BimSchV) and the application for the preliminary environmental impact assessment.

The BalWin4 & LanWin1 as well as the BalWin3 & LanWin4 offshore grid connection systems in Northern Germany will, in the future, connect the large wind farms in the North Sea with the onshore transmission grid.

For Tennet Offshore GmbH, ILF is currently mapping the different biotope types for the onshore route of these systems and is identifying protected biotopes so that adverse effects on nature and the landscape can be minimized during construction of the transmission line route. As part of the mapping process, an assessment is also being made as to whether the route of the transmission line needs to be adapted again, or whether areas that are particularly worthy of protection should be crossed using the cut-and-cover method in order to avoid adverse effects being had on nature and the landscape.

The ILF team is responsible for keeping the long-term impact on the environment as low as possible. The results of the mapping process will subsequently be incorporated into the various documents (environmental impact study, landscape management plan, Natura 2000 compatibility studies).

Leran more about both projects here: BalWin3 & LanWin4 (tennet.eu) & BalWin4 & LanWin1 (tennet.eu)

The energy transition in Germany requires powerful supra-regional direct current links for the distribution of electricity from renewable sources. The Rhein-Main-Link, an over 500-km-long underground cable connection, will transport electricity from offshore wind farms in the North Sea to the Rhein-Main region in the future. The Rhein-Main-Link is one of four links that is designed to meet the strong growth in energy demand in the Rhein-Main metropolitan region in the coming years.

The consortium comprising Arcadis Germany GmbH and ILF Beratende Ingenieure will support the grid operator Amprion with a technical planning review of the Federal Network Agency’s preliminary preference area as well as with the necessary route planning services. The goal is to apply for planning approval and to submit the plan and documents.

Heike Hackemesser, Sales Director Resilience of Arcadis, and Fred Wendt, Managing Director of ILF, are delighted about the opportunity to combine Arcadis’ and ILF’s expertise in the areas of energy transition and transmission grids for the first time in a lighthouse project such as the Rhein-Main-Link: “We are excellently positioned to provide consulting and planning support to our client Amprion in this complex major project with its ambitious schedule.”

Due to the decarbonization of industrial processes as well as more electric vehicles and heat pumps, the energy demand in the Rhein-Main region is increasing enormously. In Hesse, not only millions of private households but also hundreds of companies will benefit from the future wind power connection in ten years’ time.

The draft of the 2037/2045 Electricity Grid Development Plan envisages four direct current links in one route for this project. This will bring a combined wind energy output of around eight gigawatts from the North Sea to southern Hesse. The total investment for the four links is estimated at several billion Euros. Completion of the application for planning approval is scheduled for June 2024, with final route planning in March 2028. The first link to the Rhein-Main region is scheduled to go into operation in 2033.

At ILF Consulting Engineers, we’re dedicated to improving the quality of life in communities worldwide.

One of our projects addresses the critical need for water supply in Lyari, the oldest part of Karachi, and reflects our ethos of #improvingqualityoflife around the world.
Water pipelines starting at Keenjhar Lake with an overall length of approx. 110 km and diameters up to 84″ are planned and will provide the area and the local community with potable water for daily use. ILF Austria is working in a Joint Venture with local partners and is also supported by the ILF Pakistan office.
ILF was involved in the system design during the tender phase and is presently responsible for the design review and providing consulting services to the end client WAPDA – (Pakistan) Water and Power Development Authority.

Watch the video to learn how this project is set to transform the lives of one million people by providing clean and accessible water by 2024.
There are English subtitles available (if it doesn’t come on automatically) – click next to the Settings wheel (bottom right)

ILF has built up vast experience in the refinery business over the last decades. Trusting in our capabilities, one of ILF’s major clients asked our engineers to assist them with a turnaround in their refinery in Romania.

The maintenance work for this turnaround had to be completed within one month. While three projects only had to be completed, one of the projects had to be completely implemented within this short period of time. The ILF team completed more than 30 tie-ins for the ongoing tank construction projects during this month.

During the turnaround, ILF’s team of engineers was involved in all activities related to:

• • piping, mechanical, civil, electrical and instrumentation engineering
  • safety coordination
  • logistics

We are very proud to say that in the more than 3,000 hours of supervision and technical assistance provided by ILF, not a single incident occurred.

The Greater Zurich Area is currently much better connected to the Extra-High Voltage (EHV) grid from the North than it is from the South. In the North, the 220-kV grid extends as far as the city of Zurich. In the South, on the other hand, connection points are only connected to the city boundary with one 150-kV line each. Swissgrid therefore plans to connect the new Waldegg Substation to the EHV grid so that the EHV grid in future also extends as far as the city of Zurich from the South.

On behalf of @Swissgrid and @ewz, we – as part of the engineering consortium KiWa220 (c/o @ILF Consulting Engineers in Switzerland, @Suisseplan Ingenieure) – have been responsible, since February, for the overall project management of the planning and design of the new Waldegg Substation. From here, electricity will flow into the city of Zurich. The substation will be built underground to minimize its impact on the landscape and visibleness from the neighboring residential area as much as possible.

We would like to thank the client for the trust which they have placed in us and are pleased to be able to make a contribution to the security of electricity supply in the city of Zurich.

Leran more about this project in detail…

Hyphen’s project is one of the largest green hydrogen projects globally, and will supply and decarbonise Namibia’s energy systems, as well as exporting to international markets. Hyphen is targeting annual production of one million tonnes of green ammonia by 2027, with plans to increase annual production to two million tonnes by 2029, cutting 5-6 million tonnes in CO2 emissions every year. Operating at full scale, Hyphen’s project could produce 350,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.

The project in Tsau // Khaeb National Park will act as a blueprint for future green hydrogen projects globally. Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen) recently announced the signing of a partnership agreement with ILF Consulting Engineers (ILF) to support the delivery of its ground-breaking green hydrogen project.

As part of an integrated team, ILF will provide project management services and technical expertise to drive Hyphen’s project in Namibia, as well as procurement and contract advice. ILF will also provide implementation expertise in support of Hyphen’s socio-economic-development goals.

Marco Raffinetti, CEO of Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, said: “Our partnership with ILF marks an exciting step towards establishing Namibia as a world leader in the green hydrogen sector. ILF’s experience working on hydrogen projects across the world will be invaluable and will help Hyphen meet the project timelines and Namibia’s development objectives. “This appointment, combined with our engagement with potential consortium partners, shows there is massive interest in Namibia from those looking to invest in one of the world’s lowest cost and most advanced large scale green hydrogen projects. We look forward to working closely with ILF in the delivery of this transformative project.”

Dr. Michel Kneller, Director of Hydrogen at ILF, said: “We are proud to be a part of this significant lighthouse project. By providing our engineering and project management consultancy (PMC) services to this unique venture, we can contribute to the energy transition. Hydrogen plays a crucial role in transforming our energy system, and we are convinced it is key to a sustainable future.”

ILF has signed a contract with Gasgrid Vetyverkot Oy, which was founded to promote the development of the Finnish hydrogen network, international infrastructure cooperation and the hydrogen market in Finland and the surrounding area.
The contract includes the basic design for a hydrogen transmission pipeline (approx. 23 km long) in Finland, along with a compressor station and related infrastructure. In addition, ILF will support the client in obtaining the necessary permits and agreements in consultation with local institutions.

The pipeline will transport hydrogen produced at the Kemira Oyj’s plant in Joutseno to the Ovako Imatra Oy Ab’s steel mill in Imatra.
This is the first hydrogen transmission project that extends beyond an industrial site.

The project will enable the implementation of the first complete hydrogen value chain in Finland, from electricity to hydrogen produced as a by-product in the chemical industry and to the end products of the green steel industry.

This will be the first step towards the development of domestic and international hydrogen-based markets and hydrogen transmission infrastructure.

As part of the engineering consortium ʺIngenieurgemeinschaft Fernbahntunnel Frankfurt am Mainʺ, ILF has been tasked with designing/producing the preliminary design for a new tunnel and new underground station for long-distance traffic beneath Frankfurt’s terminus station. ILF is significantly involved in the technical design of the tunnel structures, emergency exits and bifurcation structures in connection with the underground station.

Once the future tunnel has been commissioned and goes into operation, the majority of long-distance trains will be able to approach the new station through the tunnel. This will not only eliminate the bottlenecks at Frankfurt’s existing main station, but will also allow local and regional public transport to flow more smoothly into the main station, as well as enable the expansion of local and regional public transport services as required.

Of the three corridors examined in the feasibility study, the Southern Corridor was the corridor option to be chosen. The advantage of this option is that the future tunnel can be connected to the existing railway lines in the direction of Hanau at two separate points. These connections will mean that all trains heading in this direction will be able to run at optimum capacity, and traffic can be better distributed over the existing routes. To the West, the tunnel will be connected to the planned third Niederrad Bridge.

Further information on the project can be found at https://www.fernbahntunnel-frankfurt.de

Shell has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Energy in Kazakhstan to help Kazakhstan achieve its energy transition targets. Under this memorandum, Shell has implemented the ʺSolar for Schoolsʺ initiative at the Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS), which has involved the installment of grid-connected solar PV systems at five schools across Kazakhstan.

Shell contracted ILF as an Owner’s Engineer to supervise all the technical aspects of this project. This supervision has involved performing the following tasks:

• • Providing support with project development
  • Conducting a study to assess the economic benefits of the solar PV installations
  • Providing support with the EPC tender
  • Assisting with EPC engineering and pre-construction activities
  • Providing support with EPC construction and commissioning

The installed PV systems cover up to 30% of the schools’ annual electricity consumption and feed any surplus electricity that is generated by the system into the municipal grid, generating significant savings. In addition, the project aims to encourage and promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education among younger generations and to raise awareness of the benefits and new opportunities associated with the use of renewable energy.

The first school to benefit from this project was the NIS School of Physics and Mathematics in Astana in 2018. Now, in 2023, the last of the five schools has received its PV system.

The ILF teams in Kazakhstan and Germany combined their global solar expertise and knowledge of local standards and regulations and are proud to have led this project to success.

The Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Weerbach (GKW) Hydropower Plant was inaugurated at the end of June.
​​​​The GKW Hydropower Plant uses the natural hydraulic power of the Weerbach stream. Water is fed via a water intake structure, located at around 1,500 masl, and an approximately 4-km-long penstock, to the power house, located at around 1,100 masl. At the power house, a Pelton turbine with a capacity of 1.7 MW generates around 7.5 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, which is fed into two grids via a 25 kV and/or 10 kV transmission line.

After flowing through the turbine, the water is fed into the intake of the downstream hydropower plant, where it is used once again to generate electricity. A second option would be to discharge the water leaving the turbine directly into the Weerbach stream so that the GKW Hydropower Plant can also be operated independently of the existing downstream hydropower plant.

In the residual flow section at the GKW Hydropower Plant, discharge into the Weerbach stream is varied as ecological flow to ensure compliance with ecological requirements and to maintain the hydrological and environmental balance in accordance with the granted permit.

The short construction period of around one year is remarkable and was only possible thanks to the extremely cooperative relationship between all those involved.
We are proud to have been able to successfully complete our work on this complex project, and warmly congratulate all those involved.

Za’atari Camp is located in the Jordanian desert, about 10 km west of the city of Al Mafraq. Since its establishment in 2012, the camp has developed into an urban settlement, and is currently home to about 80,000 people, most of them refugees who have fled from the civil war in their home country of Syria. While the sanitation system in the camp has gradually evolved over time with the provision of a camp-wide sewer system and a wastewater treatment plant, the sludge management currently practiced is based on the transportation of liquid sludge over long distances by trucks and sludge disposal in remote areas.

In 2022, ILF was contracted to provide consulting services aimed at improving sludge management in Za’atari Refugee camp in an environmentally friendly and cost-effective manner. This multi-donor action is jointly co-financed by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (EUTF Syria) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and is being implemented by GIZ. Under the contract, ILF and its local partner Engicon have produced three main deliverables: 1) a Pre-Feasibility Study, 2) a Feasibility Study and 3) Tender Documents for Consulting Services covering the Conceptual Design, Tendering and Construction Supervision.

The objective of the preliminary studies was to establish baseline conditions and data, identify and evaluate options for sludge management, and select the preferred option. The preferred option that was selected was greenhouse sludge drying in conjunction with a series of upstream sludge treatment facilities at the existing wastewater treatment plant. Consultations and workshops with stakeholders were critical to the decision-making process regarding selection of the preferred sludge management option.

We would like to thank all stakeholders (including the EU, the German government, GIZ, UNICEF, UNHCR, WAJ, Yarmouk Water Company, Oxfam and the FAO amongst others) for their joint support in this assignment and wish them every success for the implementation of the project!

ILF Consulting Engineers has always been deeply involved in the design and management of projects involving storage tanks. It is therefore no surprise that, in recent years, the team at ILF Romania has been working on a project involving a large capacity crude oil storage tank – providing services from the design phase through to the construction management and supervision phase. The crude oil storage tank at the center of the complex project, which started several years ago with a solution and capacity selection study, has a capacity of 60,000 m³ and has been designed based on one of the safest storage solutions in the oil and gas industry in terms of environmental impact and operational safety.

This Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) project, entrusted to ILF Consulting Engineers in Romania since the feasibility phase, has now reached the construction phase (half of the construction period has already passed) and is already showing some quite impressive results.

The design currently being realized has been developed up to the detailed designed phase, and for that the whole team has produced a complete set of documentation including workshop drawings for every detail.

The tank has a double shell and a double bottom, a full contact internal floating cover, which fulfills the role of retaining at least 98% of the vapor emissions, and a fixed aluminum dome cover. The outer shell replaces the retention basin, and the double bottom enables possible leaks to be monitored.
The tank is also equipped with a product heating system (steam coil), a homogenization system (3 mixers on the inner shell) and a system for product sampling at certain levels.

In this context, Adrian Stoica (General Manager of ILF in Romania) would like to express his special thanks to the entire team of ILF Romania for the excellent engagement and dedication during this project.

The preparation of specifications for wastewater treatment will benefit the people of Saudi Arabia for years to come and is in line with the Kingdom’s strategy to provide water and wastewater treatment services of the highest quality. The decision to implement high-quality solutions that meet the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s water management needs is a major step towards Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 regarding water quality, sustainability and environmental protection.

The National Water Company (NWC) has commissioned ILF to develop the following documents:

• • Technical Specifications
  • Design Manual Guideline – for the wastewater system, sewage pumping stations, force (pressure) mains & TSE network
  • Typical drawings/data sheets for mechanical, electrical & control, automation & integration philosophy

The specifications shall consider a number of criteria related to the infrastructure’s ability to ensure operational efficiency. Preparation of such specifications involves assessing the extent to which they can ensure high output performance, a certain redundancy configuration, durability and maintainability. The specifications are also being developed to ensure the required level of safety throughout the infrastructure’s operational life.

Infrastructure Projects: Stakeholder involvement as an important piece in the puzzle

And how are things progressing with SuedLink, one of Germany’s biggest energy transition projects?
The first works on the route corridor are scheduled to begin in autumn 2024, so that by 2028, electricity will be able to flow from the wind farms in northern Germany to the major centers of consumption in southern Germany.
Today, energy transition projects with complex and long-term impacts on society, the environment and economy are reliant on the early involvement of stakeholders. Participatory processes (stakeholder engagement) are immensely important for the successful implementation of this major infrastructure project. The engagement process for SuedLink was therefore on TenneT and TransnetBW’s (the project developers’) agenda from the very beginning, with the aim of integrating landowner’s and the local community’s concerns. During project preparation and development for the southern permit application section E2 – Baden-Württemberg – iterative dialogues with stakeholders were held on two occasions. In the course of submitting the permit application documents in March 2023, six discussions were also held in a third round of dialogues with affected individuals, communities, companies and municipalities in Baden-Württemberg. By engaging in these comprehensive dialogues at such an early stage, potential conflicts can be identified, concerns can be raised, and, finally, joint solutions can be found. ILF Consulting Engineers is engaging in dialogues with clients and is supporting the dialogues with owners with the help of knowledge carriers from various technical departments.

The Zurich Northern Bypass is one of the busiest sections of motorway in Switzerland and is reaching its capacity limits. An expansion of the Northern bypass and the construction of a third tunnel tube in the Gubrist Tunnel shall accommodate increased traffic volumes. The third tube has now been opened and traffic is travelling through this new third tube of the Gubrist Tunnel.

Together with WSP Ingenieure AG and Amberg Engineering, ILF is in charge of the tunnel ventilation and thus plays a major role in the expansion of the Zurich Northern Bypass. Tunnel ventilation is a key safety component in a road tunnel and allows tunnel users to escape safely from the tunnel in the event of a fire. The tunnel ventilation system in the third tube of the Gubrist Tunnel consists of 4 exhaust air fans, 34 dampers, 12 jet fans, various ventilation sensors, 179 control cabinets and more than 80 km of cable.

With the completion of the new third tube, refurbishment of the two old tunnel tubes of the Gubrist Tunnel can now start.

In Norway, the Norwegian Public Road Administration, Statens Vegvesen, is currently building the E39 Rogfast Project. This project, located North of Stavanger, involves the construction of the twin-tube Boknafjord Tunnel, which, when complete, will be the longest and deepest undersea road tunnel in the world being 26.7 km long and 390 m below sea level at its deepest point.

In addition, the Rogfast Project has been selected by Statens Vegvesen as a pilot project to help reach their CO2 targets through the use of electric-powered heavy construction machinery. Statens Vegvesen has commissioned a consortium consisting of ILF Consulting Engineers in Norway, ILF Consulting Engineers in Austria, Graz University of Technology (Austria) and Sovik Consulting (Norway) to carry out a risk assessment for the use of electric-powered vehicles, commonly referred to as Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV s), in the E39 Rogfast Project.

The aim of this study is primarily to investigate potential fire risks associated with the use of battery-powered heavy vehicles for the transportation of excavated rock.
These fire hazards could arise, for example, from overloading during heavy use or from recharging the vehicles. The impact of these vehicles on the construction process and their practical implementation will also be investigated.
With delivery of this service, the consortium is making a targeted contribution to one of the largest tunnel projects ever to be built in Norway and to the sustainability of tunnelling in general.