The Environment Agency has reported that 350 damaged flood defence assets have been repaired following the winter storms. A further 650 assets have repairs planned or underway.

Qatar’s General Electricity and Water Corporation has announced the tender for construction of five primary reservoirs and pumping station packages as part of its Water Security Mega Reservoirs project.  The reservoirs and pipeline network will provide up to 17M cubic metres of potable water storage. Bids need to be in by 5 June.

The public needs to be convinced that tough choices on upgrading national infrastructure are necessary according to anew poll of more than 1000 members of the public by Ipsos MORI for the CBI. The research shows that government and businesses need to do a much better job of explaining the UK’s infrastructure investment needs, shifting the focus to why it matters locally and what benefits the projects will bring, CBI said. Nearly half of respondents were satisfied with the state of national infrastructure with only 27% dissatisfied.

People affected by Britain’s floods should consider spending up to £15,000 each on extra flood defences as many are under insured, director of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has said. According to latest RICS research the average cost of restoring a flood hit, three bedroom house is around £30,000.

The UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) has today announced two equity investments in the UK offshore wind sector totaling £461M. GIB is investing alongside Japan's Marubeni Corporation to jointly purchase a 50% stake in the Westermost Rough offshore wind farm, from DONG Energy. GIB is committing £241M to the around £500M transaction. The Westermost Rough project, currently in the early stages of construction off the coast of Yorkshire, will utilise Siemens' next generation 6MW direct drive turbines which are almost twice the size of the majority of wind turbines operating in UK waters. This is the first time that GIB has taken construction risk in an investment. GIB has also agreed to acquire a 10% stake in the Gwynt y Môr offshore wind farm – the largest under construction in Europe, from RWE Innogy. The purchase price is £220M.

A £170M investment package has been confirmed by First Minister Alex Salmond for the Inverness to Aberdeen railway. Over the next five years, there will be a redoubling of the track between Aberdeen and Inverurie. Platforms at Insch and Elgin will be extended to accommodate six-car trains. Signalling improvements will be made at Elgin, the station at Forres relocated and work done so new stations can be built at Kintore and Dalcross close to Inverness airport.