Dubai heavy engineering, from oil and gas to nuclear

UAE

Harry Moraes, chairman of Fabtech Group, talks to The Energy Year about accumulating diverse construction experience over the years and the company’s recent work to support the UAE’s nascent nuclear energy sector. Fabtech Group is a Dubai-based heavy engineering and manufacturing company that serves the oil and gas, marine, industrial and civil construction sectors.

What are some key projects that Fabtech Group is ramping up for the next few years?
We have a nuclear project lined up which is related to semiconductor manufacturing. Semiconductor factories need a lot of power, so more nuclear power stations are being planned, and we are certified and approved by ENEC as constructors for nuclear projects.

How important do you think renewable energy projects are going to be in the coming years?
Alternative energy sources are essential for addressing carbon emissions, but their current contribution is limited. Solar and wind energy each account for just 2-5% of total energy, depending on conditions. Oil remains the dominant, with over 60% of it used for power generation.
This reliance will persist for years until viable alternatives such as hydrogen become scalable. Hydrogen holds promise for smaller applications, such as vehicles and local plants, but the technology isn’t yet ready to fully replace oil in large-scale power generation.
Nonetheless, we are already preparing to take part in the ever-expanding energy transition. The moment any new technology comes, we try to master it. We want to be the first ones to support and partner with them.

What is the weight of the Saudi market within your overall business?
We have been present in Saudi Arabia for seven years. We have built a refinery, an oil processing plant, a conveyor system and three ship unloaders. We have also been deeply involved with Aramco – we once completed nine land rigs for them in a single year – but that business has slowed in recent years.
We have been responsible for the construction of many buoys, a process that Saudi companies are not yet equipped to handle independently. Saudi companies are starting to develop capabilities, but it will take time for them to reach self-sufficiency in many areas. The progress is positive for the country, as it will help address unemployment, which stands at around 15%.

What are some of the key steps that have brought Fabtech Group to become the company it is today?
We have evolved significantly since we began in 1994 with our first project – a refinery in Azerbaijan. At the time, I was working for BP alongside a Dutch colleague who later became a director for BP in Azerbaijan. He contacted me when he encountered issues in the design of the refinery. My experience working alongside American and British consultants gave us an edge and the project ended in a major success, yielding a profit margin of more than 30%.
Following this, we secured a USD 224-million project for a cement plant in Kuwait, which we completed in 22 months with a workforce of 2,500. In the following years, we built 17 cement plants before shifting our focus in 2005, when many competitors emerged. From there, we became specialised in refinery projects, completing six, and later expanded into storage facilities.
One of our most significant storage projects, which we carried out for Japanese stakeholders, required 47,000 tonnes of steel. Our main highlight in 2024 was our work on Papua LNG, our first project in the country.

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