Developing new technologies enables Foster Wheeler to maintain a leading position in engineering, construction and power equipment.
Foster Wheeler is a global engineering and construction contractor and power equipment supplier with an increasing presence on construction sites and in oil fields around the world. Its mission is simple and straightforward: to be the best. According to the company, this can only be achieved by investing in its more than 1,300 employees. “Our people are the key to our success,” it says. “They are committed not just to delivering successful projects, but to partnering with our clients to achieve outstanding results in a safe, productive and quality-driven working environment.”
Based in Geneva, Foster Wheeler works hard to maintain its reputation for “delivering high-quality, technically advanced, reliable facilities on time, on budget and with a world-class safety record,” it says. “Our reputation has been built on the quality of our services, products and completed facilities. We constantly strive to raise the bar and find ways to be even smarter, safer and faster.”
Foster Wheeler was formed in 1927 by the merger of Power Specialty Co. – which replaced Water Works Supply Co., established by the Foster family in 1884 – and the Wheeler Condenser & Engineering Co., whose roots go back to 1891. Foster Wheeler’s corporate headquarters were originally in New York City but later moved to Switzerland. “During our long history, we have established a track record of delivering superior project management and execution,” it says. “The quality of our planning, engineering and construction is reflected in the outstanding start-up performance of our plants.”
Powerful Profit Centers
Foster Wheeler’s operations are divided into two business groups – the Global Engineering & Construction (E&C) Group, which offers engineering and construction services, and the Global Power Group, which supplies power equipment.
The company began performing engineering and construction work through its 1927 adoption of the Wheeler Condenser & Engineering Co., which had relocated to London in 1920. An increasing workload prompted the office to relocate to Reading, U.K., in 1974.
At the beginning of World War II, Foster Wheeler established an office in Houston, followed by France in 1949, Italy in 1957, Spain in 1965, South Africa in 1970, China in 1989 and Thailand in 1992. The company has additional offices in India, Chile, Malaysia and Switzerland.
The company serves a variety of industries including oil and gas, refining, chemical and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and healthcare, environmental and power. Its international presence gives it “the flexibility and the strength to be able to deliver large or small projects successfully anywhere in the world,” it says.
“We own industry-leading technology in delayed coking, solvent de-asphalting and hydrogen production processes, and have access to numerous technologies owned by others,” Foster Wheeler says. “We also provide international environmental remediation services with related technical, engineering, design and regulatory services.”
Foster Wheeler’s Global Power Group has served the power industry since 1891. It supplies fossil steam-generator equipment, environmental upgrades, construction, plant start-ups, and boiler services to utilities, independent power producers, cooperatives, municipalities, industrial, cogeneration and resource recovery clients, it says. “Our experience comes from designing, servicing and improving [fossil steam-generator] equipment that has successfully and reliably logged over 200 million hours of operation,” the company says.
“Our network of manufacturing facilities and engineering offices around the world enable us to provide our customers with the best combination of price and schedule regardless of project location or complexity. We also own and operate cogeneration, independent power production, waste-to-energy and process facilities. [These provide] electricity, steam and feedstocks to industrial complexes and local grids.”
Industrial Experience
Foster Wheeler has been involved in the upstream oil and gas industry since the 1930s and can be linked to some of the largest oil and gas projects today, such as the Haradh Gas Development in Saudi Arabia, Dolphin in Qatar and Onshore Gas Development III in the United Arab Emirates.
“Our in-house systems such as SMART-Plant, which enables repaid screening of field development scenarios, and SMART-FEED, which can be tailored to match our client’s investment decisions and value improvement processes, ensures no surprises at the project EPC stage,” the company says. “Our regional strengths enable us to provide local support and knowledge to the project execution phase.”
Recent examples include the Temane Gas Field Development EPC in Mozambique and the Malampaya Gas plant in the Philippines, where Foster Wheeler was awarded the Shell Philippines Exploration Co. Managing Director Award for Outstanding Contractor.
“We are a key player in LNG liquefaction, with a proven track record in designing and building these large, complex process plants,” Foster Wheeler says. “Our latest completed liquefaction train, the North West Shelf Venture’s Train 5 in Australia, was designed and built in modular form, and we’re now taking the modular design/build concept even further on the first train of Woodside’s new Pluto LNG complex, also in Australia.”
The company boasts more than 70 years of experience on refineries and power generation projects. It offers a century of experience in supplying direct-fire furnaces and waste heat recovery units. In addition, Foster Wheeler has a formidable track record for successfully completing facilities in complex industrial sectors such as healthcare, it says.
Green Initiatives
Environmental Services are another Foster Wheeler offering. “We approach green projects with the entrepreneurial spirit of a technology company and the experience of a complete solutions provider,” it says. “In reality, we have been involved in environmentally sustainable projects for many years. From wind and solar projects, to some of the earliest endeavors in carbon capture, as well as gasification and clean fuels, this market area is not new to us.”
In May 2009, SENER-AMSA JV awarded the Global Power Group a contract to design and supply steam-generating equipment for the new Gemasolar Project tower-type concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Seville, Spain.
“Foster Wheeler was instrumental in the design development of solar thermal power technology in the 1970s and early 1980s,” Eric Svendsen, CEO of Foster Wheeler Energia S.A., said in a statement. “The renewed global interest in solar power gives us the opportunity to apply this expertise to the advanced solar thermal power plants being developed today. Coupling our expertise in solar steam generation technology with our capability to deliver competitive, high-quality equipment brings exceptional value to CSP solar projects like Gemasolar.”
The company strives to maintain its reputation as a green-conscious company and leader in sustainable technology. “Foster Wheeler is engaged in technology innovation, sustainable development, green projects and community initiatives to meet the challenges of our environment,” it says. “From greener building for our employees, to community projects that focus on improving health and safety, to technology investment in innovative solutions that will address everything from green fuels to long-term energy security, we are growing our green focus everyday.”
Foster Wheeler developed a carbon-flexible circulating fluidized-bed technology that offers a unique solution to carbon emissions through its ability to burn carbon-neutral fuels like biomass. “Gassifying biomass enables the production of carbon-neutral transportation fuels, chemicals, electricity and steam,” the company explains. “Since biomass power plants are typically limited in size due to limited local biomass resources, co-firing biomass in larger fossil steam plants can capture both the full carbon reduction benefit of biomass while keeping the cost of electricity affordable.”
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