FCC is kicking off the year with two new contracts, one to build a gas pipeline in Lugo and one for a zinc electrowinning plant in Algeria. Together they’re worth 25 million euros.

Gas Natural Fenosa has picked FCC Industrial to build the Marina-Lucense gas pipeline, which will cross a considerable portion of the province of Lugo. The job is worth 10 million euros and will take nine months to complete.

The contract covers the construction of the 65-kilometre-long hydrocarbon pipeline using pipes 16 inches in diameter. The site lies in an area of great environmental and cultural significance, and for that reason the necessary measures have been established to preserve the highly cherished environment.

In Algeria FCC has signed an 18.5-million-euro contract for phase one of the work to expand the zinc electrowinning plant in Gazahouet in a consortium with the German firm Ingenium.

The objective of the project is to boost the industrial plant’s zinc recovery rate by 95%, reduce the amount of waste it produces by a 25-50% margin and introduce new industrial waste treatment processes. Altogether, it will thoroughly transform the industrial processes used at the ALZINC factory.

This is a turnkey project covering engineering, supplies, construction and commissioning. When the work is done, the plant will have increased its production capacity from 36,850 to 42,000 tons per year by upping the index of zinc extraction with jarosite. This process will give Alzinc terrific flexibility in the selection and feeding of its raw material, zinc blende, plus high performance in zinc extraction, with figures of over 98%. More than 98% of the lead and silver content of the blende feed will be recovered, and the plant’s environmental profile will be improved through the reduction of the amount of dry waste it produces by up to 50%, the stabilization and full inertization of the waste from the jarosite process and the reduction of the plant’s power consumption by 400 kilowatts/ton.

FCC Industrial has over 25 years’ experience building and commissioning oil and gas pipelines. It has installed over 2,500 kilometres of pipes for clients like Enagás, Gas Natural Fenosa, CLH and Repsol. It has built the Yela-Villar de Arnedo (South Section) gas pipelines, the Torrejón-Barajas (Section I) oil pipeline, and it is now hard at work on enlarging the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) facilities at the port of Callao in Peru, a turnkey project with a budget of 30.5 million euros that, when finished, will bump the port’s storage capacity up by 90,000 barrels to twice its original capacity. FCC is building the port facilities at Callao, Peru’s premier harbour and one of South America’s biggest Pacific ports, in Lima, a project worth over 200 million dollars.

FCC Industrial, a brand in the Citizen Services group, has consolidated its leadership in electricity distribution maintenance contracts in Spain. It has now won its first contract in Colombia, for the installation of an overhead power line in the centre of the country. FCC Industrial does business in 14 countries and has permanent offices on four continents, showing a clear tendency toward international expansion.