News

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has appointed ILF to carry out a feasibility study for the development and upgradation of Agatti Airport.

This airport is the gateway to the Lakshadweep islands and is the only airport off the West Coast of India. The runway is to undergo a change in design and is to be extended to enable Airbus A320 operation. The terminal building, the apron, the runway end safety area (RESA) system and the taxiway are also to be upgraded for passenger flights. The upgradation of this airport is a challenge due to its special location, the required reclamation of land and the non-availability of local construction materials and labor.

Along with the feasibility study, ILF is also performing the surveying works and environmental studies for this project in which environment protection – e.g. marine and wildlife activities such as coral reef rehabilitation – will play a key role.

The Austrian supermarket chain and food producer MPREIS appointed ILF as the Owner’s Engineer for the largest single-stack electrolysis plant in Europe.

The now realized hydrogen plant, with its 3.2 MW pressurized alkaline electrolyzer, produces heat for the client’s bakery and fuel for a new fleet of hydrogen trucks.
Three 100 m3 hydrogen storage tanks (33 barg), a hydrogen refuelling station (350 barg) and a hydrogen trailer filling station have been constructed. A dual-fuel gas burner (H2/natural gas) heats the thermal oil system in the production facility.
ILF managed the technical interfaces of this project and was responsible for preparing and submitting the challenging permitting documentation to the approval authorities. Furthermore, ILF prepared the tender documents and supported MPREIS during the bid evaluations. All involved parties broke new ground with this project, and thanks to the pro-active cooperation at eye level, this innovative project has been implemented successfully.
ILF is proud to have worked on and successfully taken such a lighthouse project from the early conceptual design phase up to the construction supervision and commissioning support phases.

ILF has been chosen to be part of a 4,155 km² luxurious tourist destination project, focused on wellness, sports, lifestyle and culture. Located on the Red Sea coast, the AMAALA project consists of ultra-luxurious hotels and residential complexes, which will be built on land and offshore. ILF will take on the role of PPP Technical Advisor for the tender preparation and the bid evaluation and will provide advisory services for the commercial and financial close for the entire project, which involves the following utilities:

» Off-grid energy (generation, network and storage systems, including system stability simulation and energy modeling)

» Water (reverse osmosis plants, water networks and irrigation systems)

» Wastewater (sewage treatment plants)

ILF is proud to be part of such a remarkable and prestigious project. AMAALA, together with the other tourism destinations located on the North Western coast of Saudi Arabia, will be a turning point in the luxury tourism industry in the region.

ILF is proud to have been the Owner’s Engineer for the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant, Rabigh 3. The Rabigh 3 plant is located in Saudi Arabia and produces 600,000 cubic meters of water per day.

After completing the project, ILF’s client, ACWA Power, and Saudi Brothers Commercial Company received the Guinness World RecordsTM title for creating the world’s largest plant of this kind. The ceremony was attended by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture – His Excellency Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al Fadhli, the Chairman of ACWA Power – Mohammad A. Abunayyan, and the CEO of the Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) – Khaled Alqureshi.

ILF is pleased to join the tunnel engineering design team for the Eagle Mountain – Woodfibre LNG Pipeline project, led by Aldea Services Inc.

The project, located North of Vancouver (CAN), will expand the existing natural gas transmission system to transport gas to the proposed Woodfibre LNG terminal. The pipeline tunnel will be 9 km long and will comprise an enlarged rock chamber at the interface of rock and soil tunnels.
The ILF team is responsible for pipeline engineering and design and will execute the work from ILF’s Canadian office in Calgary, Alberta.

AkSu KMG LLP has awarded ILF a PMC contract for a Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plant in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan.

In light of the lack of water resources in the Western region of Kazakhstan, it was decided to build a modern water desalination plant with a capacity of 50,000 m3/day on the shore of the Caspian Sea. The current water deficit amounts to more than 20,000 m3/day. The project investment is estimated at approximately USD 150 to 180 million. It is planned to construct a SWRO plant with a capacity of 50,000m3/day, including pumping stations, a water pipeline (100 km), a water supply network, power supply and civil structures. The new plant will supply the city of Zhanaozen (with approximately 150,000 inhabitants) with potable water.

ILF will carry out an independent technical and commercial review of the feasibility study, including recommendations on how to set up the project.

Vianode, an Elkem company, has awarded ILF a contract for the provision of engineering services for the Vianode Fast Track Project.

This project is part of the company’s effort to establish a large-scale production facility for synthetic graphite for lithium-ion batteries. The Fast Track Project comprises a production facility that will produce up to 4,200 tons of high-quality synthetic graphite per year. The facility will provide the framework and the expertise for a large-scale production facility with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons that will be built at the same location. The project is a brownfield development offering the possibility to utilize the existing building and utility systems. It is located at the Herøya Industrial Park in the southern part of Norway.

ILF’s main task will be to provide a cost estimate for both the Fast Track Project and the large-scale production facilities, as well as to deliver multi-disciplinary engineering services for the plant’s utilities.

SVEVIND Energy GmbH signed a contract with ILF to procure together with a partner the concept design study for its 20 GW green hydrogen facility in the Mangystau region in Western Kazakhstan.

In the Mangystau region, SVEVIND plans the realization of a 30 GW wind and solar PV farm powering a 20 GW water electrolysis industrial complex to produce about 2 million tons of green hydrogen per year from 2030to supply the Eurasian and the Kazakh’s domestic market. The development of the concept design is a further important step in the project development. The Mangystau region is most favorable considering the investment environment, an abundance of renewable energy resources and the proximity to water resources required for the electrolysis process.

Wolfgang Kropp, CEO of SVEVIND group said, “This Concept Design Study will be the first milestone in engineering the Mangystau green hydrogen project, a project unprecedented in scope, size and complexity aiming to deliver large amounts of green hydrogen and ammonia to Eurasian markets at competitive costs. We are glad to cooperate with ILF Consulting Engineers and ROLAND BERGER for this Concept Design, well reputable, very experienced consultants with broad knowledge in energy, hydrogen projects and about the region.”

Dr. Michel Kneller, Director of Hydrogen at ILF, highlighted, “ILF is excited to be part of such a ground-breaking project. We truly believe that hydrogen and its green derivatives are an important component of a sustainable energy policy and SVEVIND´s green hydrogen projects are an important milestone towards the scaling up of green hydrogen projects.”

The concept design study is aimed to advance SVEVIND’s planning across the whole value chain. Using the existing pre-feasibility studies results, a solid cost evaluation will be developed. Different technology routes will be explored to identify and pre-design the most promising options for the local conditions and project-specific demands. Finally, special attention is given to the transport options towards the destination markets in Kazakhstan, Europe, and China.

ILF concurs with the U.N. General Assembly’s vote from 3 March 2022 demanding an immediate end to the offensive in Ukraine.

As an act of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, ILF has donated 100,000 EUR to a humanitarian aid organization “Nachbar in Not” (Neighbor in Need), which like many others is providing immediate humanitarian support to the Ukrainian population within the country and abroad.

Gas Connect Austria GmbH contracted ILF to carry out a feasibility study for the reduction of emissions at one of their compressor stations.

In the considered station, three gas compressor units, each with a mechanical shaft power of approx. 11 MW, are installed. Each compressor unit is driven by a gas turbine. For the feasibility study, two approaches were investigated and compared from both an economic and technical point of view. Furthermore, the time required for the implementation of each approach as well as the potential of each approach for reducing emissions were evaluated.

The scope of the reconstruction work and the amount of investment required for each of the two approaches differs.

One approach would entail replacement of one of the gas turbine driven compressor units with a larger electrically driven gas compressor unit, capable of covering the entire basic supply of the station. The remaining two gas compressor units would consequently only be used when needed, enabling CO₂ emissions to be reduced by 95% and methane emissions to be reduced by 88%.

The other approach would not entail any major reconstruction works, but would still reduce emissions from the existing plant. Great potential for savings was discovered related to process vent gas. On the basis of these findings, ILF elaborated a solution for the reduction of emissions. When the gas compressor units are switched off, the natural gas remaining in the compressor lines is blown out into the atmosphere; therefore by re-compressing and re-feeding this process vent gas into the gas grid, methane emissions could be reduced by 80%.

As part of IG Nuovo Gottardo, ILF has won a contract for further design works for the 2^nd Gotthard road tunnel, the construction of which is scheduled to be completed in 2032. ASTRA, the Federal Roads Office, has extended the existing design services contract until the 2^nd tube of the Gotthard road tunnel is opened to traffic.

The new main tube will be excavated using one TBM starting at each portal. The tunnel will be constructed using two shield machines as well as segmental lining. The excavation diameter will be 12.26 m. The northern section of the 2^nd Gotthard road tunnel will have an excavated length of a little less than 8 km, and the southern section will have a length of a little more than 8 km. The inner lining of the main tube will be installed in the rear section simultaneously to the excavation works taking place in the front section. While the TBMs will excavate the last few kilometers towards the breakthrough, the structural works for the tube will be completed in the area of the portals. In the course of the design works, the experience gained during projects such as the Belchen Rehabilitation Tunnel could be used to the advantage of the client.

The scope of work rendered by ILF, as part of the IG, comprises the design services for two large underground control centers and a total of 67 cross-connections, some with sub-stations and some with expanded tunnel roof sections accommodating stations for longitudinal ventilation.

Within the IG, ILF takes on the role of partial project manager for underground structures as well as for the TBM northern section and the mined cross connections and for the main works for the underground control centers. In addition, ILF is currently in the process of completing the design works for the northern external facilities – the realization of which is scheduled for mid 2022.

ILF has signed an exclusive engineering and project management consultancy services contract with Wafra Joint Operations (WJO).

As agreed within the contract, ILF shall deliver the entire range of engineering, consultancy and project management services required in upstream facility projects – from early concepts to FEED, all the way to Owner’s Engineering services, supervision and PMC services. ILF’s competence will be required for field redevelopment activities as well as for the upgrade, revamp and modernization of oilfield infrastructure by applying state-of-the-art engineering technologies and considering environmental and climate protection targets.

ILF looks forward to supporting WJO in achieving its ambitious objectives in a challenging market environment.

In 2017, ILF was commissioned by ÖBB Infrastruktur AG as part of the consortium “Northern Railway Line Team” (Austria) to prepare planning documents for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) submission.
Works related to the Southern section of the line were commissioned in autumn 2021. With the contract, an option for further tendering and detailed planning was also awarded.

The project “Upgrade of the Northern Railway Line on the Wien Süßenbrunn–Bernhardsthal Section” comprises the section from Wien Süßenbrunn (at km 11.900) to the state border next to Bernhardsthal (at km 77.993). The Northern Railway Line, which shall be upgraded over a length of around 66 km, connects 17 stations is being Austria’s oldest railway line (opened in 1838). The upgrade of the line will increase the speed at which trains can travel, from 120 or 140 km/h to 160 or 200 km/h, and will enable the structural facilities to meet state-of-the-art standards.

From a railway engineering and permit application point of view, the line has been divided into two sections (the Northern and the Southern section).
Permission for the Southern section was received in autumn 2021; and permission for the Northern section is expected to be applied for in spring 2022.

The entirety of the line (both the Northern and the Southern section) forms part of the “European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Corridor E: Dresden–Prague–Vienna/Budapest–Constanţa” as well as the priority projects “PP 22: Athens–Sofia–Budapest–Vienna–Prague–Dresden/Nuremberg” and “PP 23: Gdansk–Warsaw–Brno/Bratislava–Vienna”. Furthermore, the line is part of the Rail Freight Corridors 5 and 7 and the TEN-T Core Network.

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City in Saudi Arabia (RCRC) selected ILF as the Project Management Consultant (PMC) for the 1,700,000 m³/day TSE transmission network.
This network will provide irrigation water for one of the most ambitious urban greening projects in the world. Green Riyadh is one of Riyadh’s four mega projects launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, HM King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, at the beginning of 2019.

7.5 million trees will be planted in all city features, facilities, and provinces, multiplying green spaces per capita share. All these plants will be irrigated by a network using only recycled wastewater, which is currently wasted. 83 native tree species that can survive Riyadh’s environment were selected for this project. The greening initiative will improve air quality and reduce temperatures (up to 8–15 °C in the shade) in one of the hottest capital cities on the planet. Consequently, the initiative will encourage Riyadh’s citizens to follow a healthy lifestyle and ultimately transform Riyadh into one of the world’s leading cities, following the strategic goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The objective is to support the Green Riyadh initiative by establishing a complex and strategic recycled water network with a daily capacity of 1,700,000 m³ (approx. 400 Olympic pools). ILF will perform design review, procurement supervision, construction supervision and overall project management for three different lots in order to bring treated water from the city’s major waste water treatment plants to its final destinations.

By supporting the Green Riyadh initiative, ILF will not only contribute to the Kingdom’s long-term vision, but our teams will also work at the core of ILF’s very own mission statement, “improving quality of life.”

ILF and engineering partners won a contract for cross-border design services for the Dresden (GER) – Prague (CZE) high-speed railway line.

The key element of ILF’s contract is the preliminary design of the Erzgebirge base tunnel, with a minimum length of approx. 25 km, involving two alternatives, a “partial tunnel” and a “full tunnel”, including surveying services.
The contract also involves design services for the following construction activities:
• Design for engineering structures, such as the Seidewitztal bridge or trough structures
• Transport planning for railway lines, roads and rescue areas
• Design for an overtaking station

The planning and design works, all of which shall be carried out using the BIM method, comprise the German HOAI service phases “basic evaluation” and “preliminary planning” (SPHs 1 and 2 for project planning and structural planning). The design works are well underway and will be completed by the end of 2024. ILF looks forward to delivering another successful project.

The Infrastructure Investment Facilitation Company (IIFC) of Bangladesh has contracted ILF to carry out a large-scale feasibility study and to develop the conceptual and tender design for the replacement, modernization and automation of the gas transmission and distribution network of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka and the city of Narayanganj.

The existing gas network has organically grown over several decades, without any overall concept, and is no longer able to satisfy the demands of the millions of industrial and domestic users in the area. The objective of this interesting project is to have a modern and reliable gas network that enables remote monitoring and control at junctions and end points, with the possibility of transforming the existing network into a “smart” grid. The modernization of the network makes a key contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Bangladesh.

ILF is looking forward to developing this demanding project and is pleased about being able to improve the quality of life for the population in Bangladesh.

Hydro4U is an EU project funded under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. In this project, ILF and 12 other partners from eight countries are working together under the coordination of the Technical University of Munich to develop solutions which boost sustainable small-scale hydropower in Central Asia. Two pioneering hydropower types shall be implemented in demonstration plants in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

To this day, small-scale hydropower remains largely unharnessed in Central Asia. Yet there is great potential to transfer European small-scale hydropower schemes to Central Asian regions. So far there are only few European reference projects in this region as they tend to be considerably more expensive than those of Asian competitors.

The Hydro4U project will now adjust two innovative technologies developed in Europe to the requirements in Central Asia. The aim of this project is keeping the costs as low as possible through concept simplification, modularization and standardization without compromising efficiency. At the same time, the project also focuses on key aspects such as sustainability, environmental compatibility and social acceptance.
In the course of the Hydro4U project two eco-friendly demo hydropower plants will be installed and assessed: one low-head plant with a capacity of up to 500 kW in Kazakhstan and one medium-head plant with a capacity of approx. 2 MW in Uzbekistan.

Project duration: 06/2021–05/2026

Countries involved: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Uzbekistan

Learn more here: Hydro4U

As part of the new railway line between Köstendorf and Salzburg, an efficient connection will be built as an addition to the 150-year-old existing line. The 21.3 km long railway line is being planned by ILF within the framework of two joint ventures (open-track section and tunnel), with the 16.5 km long Flachgau tunnel comprising the key element.

The open-track section before and after the tunnel has a total length of 4.3 km and crosses the Fischach tubular bridge which has a span of approx. 42 m.
The planned Flachgau tunnel will have two single-track tunnel tubes. The design services will be carried out using the BIM method and shall, in addition to the early service phases, also include the option for the tender and construction design together with the geotechnical engineering on site as well as the maintenance planning. This tunnel, which will be constructed and advanced underneath the existing line using the New Austrian tunneling method (NATM), a tunnel boring machine (TBM), the cut-and-cover method and box jacking, is a very challenging assignment with complex planning and design works.

ILF looks forward to developing this demanding project.

As part of a joint venture with two partners, ILF was awarded a 5-year framework contract by the North Caspian Operating Company B.V. (NCOC) for the North Caspian Offshore Project – the first major offshore oil and gas development in Kazakhstan.

The project comprises five fields: Kashagan, Kalamkas Sea, Kairan, Aktoty and Kashagan South West. The giant Kashagan field is one of the largest oil discoveries of the past four decades, containing approximately 9–13 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The combined safety, engineering and logistical challenges in this harsh offshore environment make Kashagan one of the world’s largest and most complex industrial projects currently being developed.

The scope of ILF work includes conceptual studies, pre-FEED and FEED development and other services.

The Stadtentwässerung Frankfurt am Main (SEF, https://www.stadtentwaesserung-frankfurt.de/) entrusted ILF Consulting Engineers together with a German partner to plan, execute and implement the expansion of the Niederrad Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).

The Niederrad WWTP is currently reaching its maximum design capacity of 1.35 million PE. The expansion is therefore urgently required in order to be prepared for future developments in the constantly growing Frankfurt area. For this reason, the number of secondary aeration tanks (with a volumetric capacity of 7,200 m3 each) will be increased from 8 to 10, and the number of secondary sedimentation tanks (with a volumetric capacity of 1,875 m3 each) will be increased from 32 to 40. The project comprises the smooth integration of these new tanks, as well as the associated mechanical, electrical and SCADA equipment, into the existing plant while maintaining continuous plant operation and compliance with effluent requirements.

Additionally part of the assignment are the re-routing of existing pipework and the construction of an access road.

ILF will be involved in all eight service phases of this project, which are in accordance with the German Official Scale of Fees for Services by Architects and Engineers (HOAI), including the building permission application as well as construction supervision and commissioning. The completion is scheduled for February 2027.