LNG terminals

Moffatt & Nichol has, for decades, been an industry-leading consultancy addressing the specific offshore and near-shore marine terminal needs of the oil and gas industry. The firm offers a full range of engineering consulting services for the design and construction management for liquid natural gas (LNG) facilities. Our engineers and scientists have participated in nearly every aspect of planning and engineering of LNG facilities—from pre-FEED and FEED engineering to vessel traffic analysis, dredging and structural design. We have provided these services on more than twenty major LNG projects throughout Asia, Africa, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, in some of the world’s most challenging marine environments.

Offshore wind power

Moffatt & Nichol is uniquely positioned to assist our clients in meeting the challenges of wind power development projects—both offshore and onshore. We combine our expertise in coastal engineering, structural and foundations engineering, marine construction planning, and marine facility development, with our economics and financial services to help our clients deliver these projects. The wind power industry faces challenges to develop design codes and standards that are reflective of the extreme wave and storm conditions present at many offshore project sites around the globe. Moffatt & Nichol, an internationally recognized leader in coastal and marine/offshore engineering, assists clients to define and apply design criteria that will result in durable and operationally reliable installations. We bring proven in-house expertise in a fully integrated range of services from feasibility studies and site selection to design, construction planning and operations support.

Ocean Energy Storage

Moffatt & Nichol, in partnership with General Compression and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is developing a system for economical, grid-scale storage of energy. Ocean Compressed Air Energy Storage (OCAES) uses the pressure of deep ocean waters to avoid the need for an expensive pressure vessel. Air receivers, vented to sea water, are constructed of concrete and placed at the bottom of the ocean in waters 2000 to 6000 feet deep. A pipeline connects the air receiver to expansion/compression modules onshore.
The proprietary expansion/compression modules developed by General Compression represent a major technological achievement that has the potential to revolutionize grid-scale energy storage. GC is backed by Duke Energy, US Renewables, Group, ConocoPhillips, and other investors in this innovative technology. The GC equipment has been designed to firm wind power and make it dispatchable.

Key system benefits include:

• Preliminary estimates show costs in the range of $100/kwh, as opposed to batteries which typically cost four to ten times as much
• Can economically provide 100 hours or more of storage capacity
• It can increase the load factor for a typical wind farm from 35% to over 90%, very economically
• Round trip efficiency is 75-80%
• Black start capability
• Very fast start, with ability to quickly switch between expansion and compression, virtually eliminating the need for “spinning reserves”
• Long life with minimal maintenance

alternative energy

Moffatt & Nichol offers clients a special competence in the area of alternative energy solutions, with core practices that reflect the relationship between the environment and innovative sources of energy. In the area of hydrokinetics, we apply our knowledge and expertise in coastal engineering and floating body design to the unique locations and mechanical requirements of systems to capture the latent energy in wave, currents and tidal forces. Similarly, pioneering methods of energy storage bring better balance between supply and demand. Moffatt & Nichol provides coastal, civil and structural engineering support for systems to store energy in underwater containment vessels, releasing the energy into the grid when it is needed.

power generation project support

Conventional power generation facilities often require heavy civil engineering infrastructure such as ground improvements, site development, and extensive transportation infrastructure. Moffatt & Nichol provides planning, design and construction management for power generation facility projects, including permitting support, civil/structural construction support, construction planning and management, and environmental impact studies. The firm also provides specialty niche services in the analysis and design of nuclear power plant structures to determine current and predict future structural integrity of both concrete and steel reactor containment facilities.