< PreviousNEWS www.mepmiddleeast.com 10 MEP Middle East | March 2025www.mepmiddleeast.com Indian e n g i n e e r i n g a n d co n s t r u c t i o n conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that one of its key units has secured a mega contract worth $1.5 billion from Saudi oil giant Aramco for a key project in the kingdom. As per the deal, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) will be providing the main EPC services for the Phase I of Aramco’s ambitious Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) hub in the kingdom. L&T will provide the detailed engineering design of the facility, sourcing and procuring all necessary equipment and materials, and managing the construction process to ensure the project’s successful completion. The contract is part of Aramco’s Accelerated Carbon Capture & Sequestration (ACCS) initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions and enhancing the company’s CCS capacity. Phase I is a crucial component of Aramco’s long-term environmental strategy, as the company pushes to mitigate its carbon footprint and strengthen its position in the global energy transition. WHAT IS THE CCS INITIATIVE? Saudi Arabia has set a 2060 net-zero target (announced in the Saudi Green Initiative), and CCS is a key part of that strategy. Located in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia, the Aramco CCS hub in Jubail is designed to support the capture and sequestration of 9 MtCO2 emissions per year in the f irst phase of the project, which is planned to be operational by 2027. The CCS project will tap into high-purity CO2 streams from natural gas processing and other industrial sources, with around 6 MtCO2 coming from Aramco gas plants and the remaining 3 MtCO2 from other industrial sources. The CO2 stream will then be dehydrated and compressed to pipeline specifi cations and eventually, sequestered in an onshore saline aquifer. The unit is set to be operational from 2027 THE EXPECTED IMPACT OF THE CCS UNIT In Dec 2024, Aramco, Linde and SLB signed a shareholders’ agreement to build the Phase one of the CCS hub with Aramco taking a 60% equity interest and Linde and SLB each owning a 20% stake. The hub aims to help meet the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s interim sequestration target of 44 MtCO2 per year by 2035, as announced by HRH Abdulaziz bin Salman, Minister of Energy at COP26. Additionally, the project will help Aramco’s ambition to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions across its wholly owned operated assets by 2050. LARSEN & TOUBRO SECURES $1.5B CONTRACT FOR SAUDI ARAMCO PROJECT L&T will provide EPC services for Aramco’s Carbon Capture & Storage project which is expected to be operational by 2027 9 MT Amount of CO2 emissions that will be captured and sequestered per year in the first phase of the project MEP_Mar2025_8-10_News_13549287.indd 1008/03/2025 15:11A TREASURE OF KNOWLEDGE AND INDUSTRY INSIGHTS AWAITS UH OH, THE REST IS ONLY FOR SUBSCRIBERS SCAN BELOW TO JOIN THE EXCLUSIVE COMMUNITY MEPME2024_HouseAD_MobileDesign.indd 103/09/2024 11:32IN PICTURES www.mepmiddleeast.com 12 MEP Middle East | March 2025www.mepmiddleeast.com INTERIORS BY ELIE SAAB SAMANA OCEAN VIEWS MEP_Mar2025_12-13_IN PICTURES_13523741.indd 1208/03/2025 15:12IN PICTURES www.mepmiddleeast.comMarch 2025 | MEP Middle East 13 www.mepmiddleeast.com MEP_Mar2025_12-13_IN PICTURES_13523741.indd 1308/03/2025 15:13www.mepmiddleeast.com 14 MEP Middle East | March 2025www.mepmiddleeast.comwww.mepmiddleeast.com 14 MEP Middle East | March 2025www.mepmiddleeast.com MEP_Mar2025_14-15_5 things to know Crypto Tower_13525644.indd 1408/03/2025 12:495 THINGS TO KNOW www.mepmiddleeast.comMarch 2025 | MEP Middle East 15 www.mepmiddleeast.com CRYPTO TOWER 1 Crypto Tower, launched by the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), is a 17-storey tower designed to cater to businesses in blockchain, decentralised fi nance (DeFi), and Web3 sectors, providing over 150,000 square feet of leasable space. 2 The tower allocates nine fl oors to offi ce spaces for crypto startups and established fi rms. Additionally, three fl oors are designated for blockchain incubators and venture capital entities, while one fl oor is exclusively dedicated to AI innovation. 3 By leveraging blockchain technology, the tower aims to streamline tenant interactions through on-chain voting mechanisms, shared resources, and smart contracts, ensuring transparency and effi ciency in the administrative tasks. 4 The tower will house a 10,000-square-foot indoor event space and a 3,500-square-foot outdoor area for hosting crypto and blockchain events. It will also house an NFT art gallery to showcase digital artworks. 5 Led by REIT Development, the project prioritises advanced technology and sustainability in real estate. Construction is set for completion in the fi rst quarter of 2027, with full operations commencing soon after. MEP_Mar2025_14-15_5 things to know Crypto Tower_13525644.indd 1508/03/2025 12:49XXXXX www.mepmiddleeast.com Ramy Boufarhat 16 MEP Middle East | March 2025www.mepmiddleeast.com MEP_Mar2025_16-17_Seven things I learned_13545567.indd 1607/03/2025 13:59SEVEN THINGS I LEARNED www.mepmiddleeast.comMarch 2025 | MEP Middle East 17 www.mepmiddleeast.com Most disputes in our industry exist in the grey zone. There is rarely a clear right or wrong in contract variations, delays, or scope gaps. The most eff ective leaders embrace ambiguity, understanding that resolution comes from f inding balance, not rigid absolutes. The perfect decision does not exist. You have to make the best call with the information available, knowing conditions may change. The key isn’t just making the right decision — it ’s adapting when necessary. Too many projects stall because management waits for perfect clarity, but by then, the best opportunities are gone. The best contractors adapt without compromising integrity. If clients don’t trust you to deliver, no amount of fl exibility matters. The challenge is balancing agility with discipline— changing when needed, holding the line when necessary. The best teams do both. Success in contracting doesn’t come from prioritising your organisation, the client, or even the end user— it comes from putting the project fi rst. A project is the only truly neutral entity in a web of competing interests. When every decision is made in service of its success, the execution improves, disputes decrease, and trust between stakeholders strengthens. Some companies believe in solving problems. Others believe in managing contracts. In my experience, the more you focus on legal positioning, the less you actually build. The best projects are led by those who solve issues before they escalate, not those who prepare for arbitration before construction even begins. Mistakes happen, but repeated failure is a choice. Recurring issues in project controls, procurement, or subcontractor selection signal leadership failure. I have seen brilliant project managers, engineers, directors, and executives fail—not because they lacked capability, but because they had the wrong intent. Those who prioritise politics over execution, personal gain over project success, or short-term wins over long-term trust are the real risks to a business. Talent matters, but the right intent is key. “A project is the only truly neutral entity in a web of competing interests” THINGS I LEARNED MEP_Mar2025_16-17_Seven things I learned_13545567.indd 1707/03/2025 13:59COVER STORY www.mepmiddleeast.com 18 MEP Middle East | March 2025www.mepmiddleeast.com ENGINEERING THE IMPOSSIBLE Nicholas Byczynski, Director of Sustainable Engineering at AESG, offers a glimpse into a project that combines engineering hurdles with sustainability wins Photography by Ajith Narendra MEP_Mar2025_18-23_CoverStory_13521881.indd 1807/03/2025 15:19COVER STORY www.mepmiddleeast.comMarch 2025 | MEP Middle East 19 www.mepmiddleeast.com The Fairmont Residences Solara Tower is an architectural statement that challenges conventional high-rise design. With terraces that expand as the structure ascends and a façade that maximises views while minimising heat gain, the tower is both an engineering challenge and a triumph. Executing such a project required a meticulous approach, where every element had to be optimised for structural integrity, efficiency, and sustainability. Leading this effort, MEP consultant AESG, developer SOL Properties, and Benjelloun Piper Architecture worked in unison to overcome complex design and engineering hurdles. From structural load distribution to environmental performance, each challenge was met with precision and expertise. The result is not just a new addition to Downtown Dubai’s skyline, but a benchmark for future-forward urban development. ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE Nicholas Byczynski, Director of Sustainable Engineering at AESG, is at the helm of the technical solutions that bring this ambitious project to life. The project’s distinctiveness lies in its unique structural design, which includes progressively larger terraces as the building ascends. This architectural complexity has presented challenges that AESG is tackling with ingenuity. “The project is located on a relatively tight site,” Byczynski explains, “with the full frontage required for front-of-house areas such as the lobby and retail units, while also accommodating a fire truck access route through the service area. This required meticulous coordination of the main ground-floor plant areas to meet authority requirements without compromising the resident experience at these critical entrances.” One key challenge involved designing the 55-storey building’s technical floors, strategically placed at levels 7, 22, and 38, to optimise plant space while maintaining architectural harmony. “We studied the CHW distribution to balance the spatial requirements of the Plate Heat Exchangers and the system pressure ratings to ensure the most cost-effective solution was developed with the main secondary PHEXs located at the level 22 technical floor. From this level the low zone system serves to the level 38 tech. floor with an express riser bypassing these levels to level 39 and above,” says Byczynski. “This allowed us to limit FCU valve packages to PN-16 ratings while minimising spatial requirements at the tower’s upper technical floors.” One of the critical engineering decisions was the implementation of a distributed “micro-riser” strategy for the apartments. Given the structural demands of the tower—particularly the need for thick core walls to support the terraces— this approach was essential. “A centralised main riser system would have required penetrations in the core walls, which wasn’t structurally feasible,” explains Byczynski. To further streamline the MEP layout, the team restricted changes in apartment types within vertical zones between the technical floors. This eliminated the need for service offsets that would have otherwise been required due to discontinuities in apartment layouts— particularly for drainage risers. The integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) at LOD 300 has been crucial in ensuring design accuracy across disciplines. AESG has adopted a fully digital approach to streamline workflows and reduce the risk of human error. “We’ve implemented all engineering markups and QA/QC processes on BIM360 for trackability of the internal quality processes and to ensure internal comments are fully closed prior to release to the wider project. In terms of team wide coordination, the BIM360 issue management tracking has been implemented, allowing team-wide coordination and real-time resolution of design challenges,” Byczynski adds. SUSTAINABILITY EMBEDDED IN DESIGN Sustainability isn’t an afterthought for AESG—it’s the foundation of their approach. While the project is connected to the local district cooling network—limiting direct impact on cooling production energy consumption— AESG has worked meticulously to minimise installed capacity. Through advanced modelling techniques, AESG carried out a detailed analysis of building loads, eliminating oversizing and unnecessary energy consumption. In describing the process, Nicholas explained: “The team modelled the project in IES and conducted a 4-stage diversity analysis to determine the final building loads.” The steps included the Total Connected Load, which represents the peak installed capacity of all equipment at their peak condition, and the Coincident Peak Load, which looks at the total building load during the worst-case hour. The next steps involved System-Level Diversification and Building- Level Diversification, the latter of which required the team to understand the most likely usage patterns of the building. “It is the final step that is most challenging, as it requires a careful understanding of building occupancy and usage to eliminate double accounting, particularly of occupants,” he remarked. “Additionally, we’ve implemented water recovery techniques for irrigation, contributing to the project’s sustainability profile.” The tower’s architectural form is as functional as it is elegant. Expansive terraces, a key “ As part of the dynamic load analysis, the building’s form played a major role in reducing space cooling loads” Nicholas Byczynski, Director of Sustainable Engineering, AESG MEP_Mar2025_18-23_CoverStory_13521881.indd 1907/03/2025 15:19Next >