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MEDIA

INGENUITY // OPPORTUNITY

We're proud of our achievements. Keep up to date on how MPK is delivering success for its clients and also advancing the industry and our energy sectors.

Australian first - MPK has welcomed McElroy’s next generation TracStar® 900i to Aussie shores! ds McElroy’s next generation Tracstar 900i to its poly fusion fleet

19 July 2021

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MPK has added McElroy’s next generation TracStar® 900i to its growing project fleet, enabling the pipeline construction company to provide its clients with the most advanced poly welding solutions in the world.

 

MPK Business Unit Leader Richard Butler said in an Australian first, the company was pleased to take possession of the first delivery of the TracStar® 900i, representing the country’s biggest advancement in poly welding and further cementing MPK’s long-running partnership with McElroy and certified distribution partner PSAH.

 

“We’ve been working with PSAH and McElroy for many years and they have fully supported MPK as it has continued to build the country’s largest CSG gathering network across Queensland’s Surat Basin,” Richard said.

“So, receiving Australia’s first shipment of the world’s most advanced poly welding machines this month, is not only an industry first, but a real milestone and testament to the strong partnership MPK shares with McElroy and PSAH."

“Being the first pipeline company in Australia to be able to provide this next generation poly welding solution to our clients, beds very well with MPK, as our company’s growth has long been focused on the pursuit of innovation and the TracStar® 900i is a shining example of this type of innovation in action."

“Now the TracStar® 900i is here in Australia and in MPK hands, we’ll soon commence rolling them out across our CSG fields scopes and start delivering the very best poly welding outcomes for all of our clients."

 

“I commend McElroy for its pursuit and delivery of another industry best innovation – well played,” he said.

Photo: MPK Group Fleet Manager George Lewis (right) and PSAH Managing Director Dermot O’Dwyer with the first TracStar® 900i to hit Australian shores.

Australian first - MPK adds McElroy’s next generation Tracstar 900i to its poly fusion fleet

31 May 2021

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MPC Kinetic (MPK) has welcomed today’s news from McElroy that the first shipment of their next generation TracStar® 900i poly fusion welding machine is on its way to Australia.

 

MPK Business Unit Leader Richard Butler said he looked forward to being the first Australian pipeline contractor to take delivery of the most advanced poly fusion welding machine in the world, through the company’s certified distribution partner PSAH.

 

“MPK is a company built on embracing innovation, so I’m pleased to be the first contractor in Australia to add the TracStar® 900i to its fleet, as it will significantly enhance our poly fusion service offering to our clients,“ Richard said.

 

“We have a strong partnership with McElroy and our Brisbane-based distributor PSAH, with all of us firmly focused on delivering industry-best outcomes in pipeline welding and construction,” Richard said.

“McElroy’s latest advancement, the TracStar® 900i poly fusion welding machine is a massive leap forward for our industry, and we’re pleased that through our relationship with McElroy and our total confidence in their product, that we will be the first company in Australia to be putting these new machines to work.

 

“Over the past decade, we’ve welded and installed an 8000+km network of HDPE pipelines for some of Australia’s largest coal seam gas and water infrastructure developers, and McElroy and PSAH have been with us throughout the entire journey.

 

“The McElroy team looked to us for feedback on the TracStar® 900i, as well as the DataLogger® 7, as they wanted to be totally confident their next generation machine hit the mark with the welding crews using them, and it’s this type of peer-to-peer collaboration that continues to deliver positive outcomes for our industry.

 

“Our strong partnership with McElroy is underpinned by a shared goal - to do things better by building safety into machine design, while still achieving increased efficiency in the field.

 

“It’s a valuable balance and McElroy’s development of the TracStar® 900i is testament to their committed pursuit of that goal,” he said.

 

Mr Butler said MPK will introduce its fleet of TracStar® 900i machines across its national project portfolio and was confident this advancement in poly fusion welding will deliver increased efficiencies and quality outcomes for MPK and its clients.

Double industry awards for MPK

29 April 2021

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MPK’s commitment to using local businesses and engaging with indigenous people across the Surat Basin while delivering projects for Shell QGC, Santos and Origin has been recognised at the 2021 Surat Basin Energy Awards, run by the TSBE.

 

MPK took out the Local Content and Indigenous Achievement awards on the night. 
 

MPK’s Community Engagement Manager Glenn Pfluger said for more than a decade MPK had worked with hundreds of local businesses across the Surat Basin, resulting in a $500+m injection into the local economy as it delivered projects for the region’s key coal seam gas developers. 

 

Glenn congratulated MPK’s procurement teams across the company’s project spreads for their ongoing and genuine engagement of local businesses, but also for the support the local business community had provided MPK as it delivered on its project commitments to its clients.

“We see immense value in working with local businesses during our projects, as it results in a far stronger, more resilient local business economy, but also enables us to build genuine, long term relationships that helps local businesses grow to their true potential - be it more local jobs or business expansion.

 

MPK’s local business engagement model is strong, it works, and I hope to see these business relationships only grow further as we continue our project deliveries for our clients.

 

MPK’s commitment to the employment and training of Aboriginal people across its Surat Basin projects scopes was also recognised, when it was awarded the Indigenous Achievement Award.

 

To me, this is a very special award for MPK, as it recognises a company journey of many years - at first understanding the issues with levelling the playing field for indigenous Australians, working out how MPK can play its part in reconciliation, and then just making sure it happened and not letting anything get in the way of genuine progress.

 

Our indigenous employees, who’ve worked for MPK for many years, are what makes us MPK, we value them and appreciate their culture and want to create more opportunities for them and also for their younger generations. 

 

Which is why we concerted our efforts to increase our positive engagement of indigenous Australians through our Reconciliation Action Plan and implemented training and development programs to help our Aboriginal employees forge career paths with the company. 

 

It’s great to see this commitment and ongoing effort by MPK’s Training Team now showing dividends, with the company now employing and training more than 20 local Aboriginal youth across its Surat Basin projects spreads. 

 

Awards are great, but seeing the development of local Aboriginal youth - well, that’s just priceless.”

WaterNSW selects MPK to build 53km drought-proofing pipeline in Tamworth

5 February 2021

MPC Kinetic is looking forward to once again partnering with WaterNSW to deliver another important water infrastructure project for regional NSW.

WaterNSW announced today MPK was the successful tenderer for the 53km Dungowan Water Pipeline Project which will provide additional water supply security for the people of Tamworth.

The project win comes on the back of MPK’s successful delivery of WaterNSW‘s 18km Peel Drought Relief Pipeline constructed outside of Tamworth last year, which is a part of a large-scale drought proofing program being rolled out across regional NSW.

While a welcome project win for MPK, it’s an even bigger water security win for drought-affected Tamworth residents and the local businesses and job seekers that MPK will engage during project delivery.

MPK will commence preliminary works in Tamworth in the coming weeks.

MPK employees stop work – but for all the good reasons

16 November 2020

MPK’s workforce took time out today to mark the launch of a new employee engagement and mental health program being rolled out across the entire company.

The multi-faceted program revolves around three pillars of mental and physical health and personal wellbeing, and thanks to genuine collaboration with MPK’s workforce during development, is highly-tailored to focus in on issues MPK employees said were important to them.

Key to the success of the program is the building of a workplace culture supportive of positive mental health outcomes and ensuring employee awareness of typical mental health and wellbeing issues and behaviours.

Relying heavily on personal participation in health and wellbeing initiatives, the program also monitors company wellness and provides a feedback mechanism so facilitators can gauge the program’s cut-through and buy-in with employees.

During the program’s company-wide launch, MPK’s entire Executive and site-based leadership teams made commitments to support and promote initiatives that lead to better mental health outcomes, and to play a more active and visible role in reducing the stigma associated with mental health illness.

To further bolster on-ground mental health support for employees, the program launch also introduced a 20-strong team of Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) that will now have a permanent presence across the company’s operations.

The MHFA team, all employees working across MPK’s operations, recently completed an intensive mental health assistance course to equip them with the skills and knowledge to provide immediate support for any employee needing a helping hand.

MPK crews successfully complete Stage 1 works on Berrybank Wind Farm

23 October 2020

MPC Kinetic (MPK) reached a major milestone this month on the Berrybank Wind Farm in regional Victoria, with crews successfully completing their balance of plant foundation works for Vestas, as part of the 43-turbine wind farm project being developed by Global Power Generation (GPG).

 

MPK Business Unit Leader Ross Miller said it was great to see final completion of Stage 1 of the project, which would soon enable the Berrybank Wind Farm to commence operations and generate up to 180 megawatts of green energy - enough to power 138,000 homes.

 

Mr Miller said this was MPK’s second successful wind farm delivery in regional Victoria and the company was pleased to be actively bringing projects to fruition for its clients, as Australia continued its move toward a balanced mix of reliable energy resource solutions.

“MPK sees a great deal of merit in renewable energy production and was pleased to play a key role in the development of the Berrybank Wind Farm for GPG and Vestas, but also along the way, build solid relationships with local contractors and local people employed during delivery of Stage 1,” Mr Miller said.

 

“We made a commitment that we would go local wherever possible, and we honoured that commitment by employing 60 local people and investing more than $43m into 55 local businesses across the region.

“While completion of Stage 1 is a great achievement for MPK, and the project’s overall development, what’s more pleasing is the unified and focused team effort that enabled 150,000 manhours to be safely performed with no lost time injuries on the job, which to me, is the real key to successful project delivery,” he said.

 

Mr Miller said when the Stage 1 statistics were tallied, they too were impressive, with the 43 foundations requiring more than 22,000 tonnes of concrete produced on site and 300,000 tonnes of imported quarry materials.

 

Mr Miller thanked the eight private landholders and land managers for their assistance and understanding as MPK crews worked across their farms while completing the Berrybank Wind Farm.

 

Key Project Facts:

  • Duration of construction works - 11 months. 

  • Workforce numbers – 115 at peak.

  • Local contractors/partners engaged - 55

  • Local business investment - $43m

  • Local jobs generated - 70

  • Local quarry materials required – 300,000 tonnes

  • Reinforced steel required for foundation construction – 3000 tonnes

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