2034 football World Cup stadium plans published
Saudi Arabia has published its plans for 15 stadiums to be used for the 2034 football World Cup, including 11 stadiums yet to be built, with one 'Neom' situated 350 metres above ground level, as part of its bid to host the tournament. Of the 11 new stadiums, eight will be in the capital, Riyadh, one of which will host the opening game and the final, plus stadiums in Jeddah, Al Khobar and Abha. The proposed Neom stadium would be located in an as-yet-unbuilt city known currently as 'The Line' in the north-west of the country and would be accessible only via high-speed lifts and driverless vehicles.
While Saudi Arabia's bid is uncontested with plans to be submitted by a deadline in October, FIFA will confirm the hosts in December. It would be the first time the expanded 48-team tournament would be held in just one country.
New ground on Scotland’s largest commercial shore power system
Construction of Scotland’s largest commercial shore power system has begun at the Port of Aberdeen as part of a £4m project designed to supply clean electricity to vessels at seven berths.
One of the first of its kind in the UK, the project will evaluate both land-side and vessel-side power infrastructure construction and performance. The project is scheduled to deliver its first power in March 2025.
Major milestone reached at Hornsea 3 windfarm project
On behalf of Ørsted, VolkerFitzpatrick has successfully pulled the first cables through at Hornsea 3. Once complete, in spring 2026, it will be the world’s single largest offshore windfarm, with a 52km stretch of cable route connecting the offshore windfarm from Weybourne in North Norfolk to the main National Grid substation south of Norwich.
World’s first commercial-scale seaweed farm opens between offshore wind turbines
North Sea Farm 1, located within the 'Hollandse Kust Zuid' wind farm, has been given a € 1.5m grant by Amazon for a year of scientific research into CO2 reduction through seaweed cultivation. Led by North Sea Farmers, as well as European scientists and research partners, the five hectare farm has the potential to produce at least 6,000kg of seaweed in the first year.
2024 Data Threat Report
In its 2024 Data Threat Report, highlighting the latest data security threats facing energy and utilities and critical infrastructure organisations, Thales found over two fifths of organisations had suffered a breach. It found that 42% of critical infrastructure organisations had suffered a data breach, with 93% observing an increase in attacks. The most common threats were malware, phishing and ransomware. Nearly a quarter (24%) reported to have fallen victim to a ransomware attack in the past year, with 11% paying the ransom. These were found to come from human error, the exploitation of a known vulnerability, failure to apply multifactor authentication, and an insider threat incident.
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Tosyalı, a global producer of green steel, has signed an agreement with Libya United Steel Company for Iron and Steel Industry (SULB) to build the world's largest DRI complex in Benghazi, Libya. The project will have a total capacity of 8.1m tonnes and be equipped with MIDREX Flexi DRI technology, enabling clean energy production.
As part of its 'Zero Harm' mission, Balfour Beatty has mandated human recognition technology to improve the people and plant interface risk. The technology is designed to proactively cover the blind spots around the plant with the cameras detecting the human form and triggering an alarm to alert the potential risk.
Next Geosolutions Europe, a marine geosciences and offshore construction support service company, has acquired Subonica, an underwater surveying and inspection company. It is hoped the acquisition will bolster NextGeo’s marine construction and renewable energy sector capabilities.
Dutch maritime company, Jan De Nul is set to help open up Central Asian ports to trade along the ‘Middle Corridor’, known as the Trans-Caspian international transport route. It includes a new deep sea port in Anaklia, Georgia, and expansion of the port of Kuryk, Kazakhstan.