ROUND-UP NOVEMBER /DECEMBER 2020
In Depth 1,400
Fast facts: BAE’s OPV programme
jobs supported
– including 200
BAE apprentices
£240m
spent with 150+
suppliers across
the UK & Europe
90%
reduction in emissions
thanks to a NOxreducing
urea filter
BAE Systems Glasgow delivers final
Offshore Patrol Vessel to Royal Navy
HMS Spey, the fifth and final River
Class Batch 2 Offshore Patrol
Vessel (OPV), has departed
BAE Systems’ shipyard in Glasgow on
her delivery voyage to her new home of
Portsmouth Naval Base.
HMS Spey’s departure marks
the completion of the Batch 2 OPV
programme build phase, which has
seen BAE Systems design, construct,
commission and deliver five River Class
OPVs to the Royal Navy in six years.
Having recently completed a
programme of successful sea trials to
fully test the vessel, HMS Spey will now
join her four sister ships (each also
named after a UK river: HMS Medway,
Trent, Tamar and Forth) in the Royal
Navy fleet. Thanks to a urea filter which
reduces nitrogen oxide emissions from
the diesel generators by about 90%,
HMS Spey will be one of the most
environmentally friendly ships to join
the fleet.
At its peak, the OPV programme
sustained approximately 1400 jobs
within BAE Systems and delivered a
supply chain spend of almost £240m to
more than 150 suppliers across the UK
and Europe. The pace of the programme
also provided a valuable opportunity for
more than 200 BAE Systems apprentices
to experience all aspects of ship design,
construction, outfitting and test and
commissioning.
“We are immensely proud of our role
John Linton/BAE Systems
in delivering these ships to the Royal
Navy and this is a landmark moment for
the River Class Batch 2 OPV programme,
which showcases the skills and expertise
we have here on the Clyde,” said Mike
Macfarlane, OPV delivery director at
BAE Systems Naval Ships. “As the final
OPV to leave the Clyde, we will be sad
to see HMS Spey go, but wish her, her
Commanding Officer and crew all the
best in their new home with the Royal
Navy in Portsmouth.”
The OPV programme has provided
a significant opportunity for BAE
Systems to invest in new cutting-edge
technologies and processes to deliver
greater capabilities to the Royal Navy.
It has also supported the development
of new talent that will now go on to
contribute to the successful delivery of
the next generation City Class Type 26
ships, which are also being designed and
built by BAE Systems on the Clyde.
Upon arriving into Portsmouth, HMS
Spey was officially handed over to the
Royal Navy. Once commissioned, she will
enter a period of ship’s staff workup and
her first maintenance period under the
Contractor Logistics Support programme
(CLS) which will be delivered by BAE
Systems’ Maritime Services business,
which delivers upkeep and maintenance
for the entire Royal Navy surface fleet
based at Portsmouth.
Brunel waste project
wins European grant
Helping energy-hungry industries such
as manufacturing scoop back and reuse
vast volumes of waste water and heat is
the goal of an ambitious new project
led by Brunel University London.
Europe’s Horizon 2020 fund is
pouring almost €10.6 million into the
pan-European Innovative Water
Recovery Solutions (iWAYS) project,
which sees Brunel engineers, plus
researchers from nine European
countries and 18 universities and
organisations, aiming to develop a new
generation of water treatment, exhaust
condensation and waste valorisation
systems which will allow factories to
recycle 30% of waste water and heat.
The technology, which promises
to save billions across several sectors,
will first be perfected for Europe’s
most energy-intensive industries, such
as chemicals, steel and ceramics,
where it will have the biggest impact.
“Industries release one-third of the
global greenhouse gas emissions, of
which 70% stem from heat generation,”
said iWAYS scientific director, Professor
Hussam Jouhara. “One way to reduce
the environmental footprint is to
recover the generated heat and reuse
it in other industrial processes”.
The new industrial-scale heat and
waste recycling technologies are
forecast to cut water use by 30-64%
and reuse water and heat from humid
gases by 30%. They will also sift out
acids and tiny particles from run-off
gases to cut environmental pollution.
Until now, recycling waste heat has
been a challenge in industry because of
the huge costs to build and maintain
the technology and the low return on
investment, but the new solution
drastically cuts manufacturing cost and
time, making it a safe, efficient and
affordable option for any heat source.
iWAYS forms a key part of the EU’s
recently signed European Green Deal,
which aims to make the continent
carbon neutral by 2050.
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