HDR Incorporated Involved in $18 Billion Worth of Projects, Ranging from LNG Exports to Rail

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--HDR Incorporated (Omaha, Nebraska) is maintaining its role as a top U.S. engineering firm for transportation, infrastructure and power transmission projects as it dips its toes into the growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. Industrial Info is tracking nearly $18 billion in active projects involving HDR, including nearly $8 billion worth that are under construction or in their advanced engineering phases.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing active projects involving HDR, by U.S. state and Canadian province.

One of the largest projects involving HDR is to be performed through its MDI subsidiary, which it acquired in 2015: Kinder Morgan Incorporated's (NYSE:KMI) (KMI) (Houston, Texas) $2.5 billion Elba Island LNG liquefaction plant in Savannah, Georgia, which is expected to convert 210 million standard cubic feet per day of gas into 2.5 million tons per year of LNG for export to Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands) facilities abroad. Shell has agreed to buy all product from the Elba Island terminal for 20 years. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The gas will be processed in 10 liquefaction units; in a recent earnings-related conference call, an executive at Kinder Morgan said the first unit will be online in the third quarter and the others brought online every 30 to 45 days, to be finished in the "late second quarter or late third quarter of 2019." This series of modular units, each capable of producing 250,000 tons per year of LNG, makes Elba Island one of just four U.S. LNG export terminals to streamline project realization in this way, according to LNG World Shipping.

Kinder Morgan and HDR already have started preliminary engineering work on a $1.5 billion second train at Elba Island that would add four more liquefaction units to process 140 million standard cubic feet per day of gas into 1.5 million tons per year of LNG. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

HDR also is serving as an environmental permitting consultant on Manitoba Hydro's (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Minnesota Power's (Duluth, Minnesota) Manitoba-Minnesota Transmission Project, which would carry electricity from Manitoba Hydro's Dorsey Converter Station in Rosser, Manitoba, to Minnesota Power's Iron Range Substation in Duluth, Minnesota. The project comprises a $268.5 million line in Manitoba, running 121 miles to the U.S.-Canadian border, and a $268.5 million line in Minnesota, running 120 from the border to the Iron Range station. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Manitoba and Minnesota segments.

Minnesota Power, a subsidiary of ALLETTE Incorporated (NYSE:ALE) (Duluth), has agreed to buy 250 megawatts (MW) of power from Manitoba Hydro, beginning in 2020. While the Minnesota portion of the transmission project is proceeding as planned, the Manitoba portion is facing a possible setback: In April, nine members of Manitoba Hydro's 10-member board of directors tendered their resignations amid a dispute with the provincial government over a proposed contract with an indigenous persons' group, according to Duluth News Tribune.

Manitoba Hydro's president recently told a legislative committee that no agreement to pay US$52.2 million to Manitoba Métis Federation had been formally made, but Métis has vowed to take the province to court nonetheless, according to CBC News. A protracted legal dispute could leave the Minnesota line without a connection.

Industrial Info also is tracking four substation modifications to accommodate the Manitoba-Minnesota project:

• $116 million Dorsey Substation modifications in Rosser, Manitoba; see project report
• $116 million Riel Substation modifications in Springfield, Manitoba; see project report
• $116 million Glenboro Substation modifications in Glenboro, Manitoba; see project report
• $116 million Iron Range Substation modifications in Duluth, Minnesota; see project report

The Industrial Manufacturing Industry accounts for the highest total investment value for projects featuring HDR, but most of this is attributed to just a handful of commuter rail projects in various phases of development:

• Sound Transit's (Seattle, Washington) $1.6 billion light rail extension in Seattle, Washington, running 7.8 miles through the downtown area; see project report
• San Bernardino Associated Governments' $290.5 million passenger rail extension in San Bernardino, California, running nine miles through the downtown area to the University of Redlands; see project report
• Orange County Transportation Authority's $289 million streetcar rail extension in Orange, California, running 4.1 miles and connecting public transportation centers to a new multimodal hub; see project report

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.