Ineos to invest over USD2 bln in green hydrogen in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- UK-based chemicals company Ineos plans to invest EUR2 billion (USD2.3 billion) in renewable hydrogen production across Europe in the next 10 years, including a 100-MW plant in Germany, as per the company's press release.

Ineos plans to build production facilities in Norway, Germany and Belgium, with additional investment in the UK and France.

"Green hydrogen represents one of our best chances to create a more sustainable and low carbon world," Ineos Chairman Jim Ratcliffe said.

The company will first construct a 20-MW electrolyzer for hydrogen production in Norway, powered by renewable electricity.

The project will reduce CO2 emissions by around 22,000 mt/year at Ineos' Rafnes chemicals plant, and act as a hydrogen hub for local transport applications.

In Germany Ineos plans to build a larger scale 100MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen at its Koln site. The development will further support decarbonisation of INEOS operations at the site. Hydrogen from the unit will be used in the production of green ammonia.The Koln project will result in a reduction of carbon emissions of over 120,000 tonnes per year. It will also open opportunities to develop E-Fuels through Power-to-Methanol applications on an industrial scale.

Ineos is developing other projects in Belgium, France and the UK and the business expects to announce further partnerships with leading organisations involved in the development of new hydrogen applications.

Ineos already operates electrolysis capacity through its Inovyn business, which produces chlor-akali and vinyl products.

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2021, Ineos and French power company Engie announced a pilot project to partially replace natural gas feed with hydrogen at Ineos’s phenol plant in Doel near Antwerp, Belgium. No investment figure has been given. Hydrogen will be used in a commercial-scale cogeneration plant designed to generate electricity and heat from natural gas. About 10% of the cogeneration plant's gas feed will initially be replaced by hydrogen, with this to then be increased to 20% in a gradual process. This is the first time that such tests have been carried out on an industrial scale in Belgium, says Ineos then. The cogeneration plant at the phenol site “has the ideal profile to realize this test," it says.

Phenol is largely used to produce bisphenol A (BPA), which, in its turn, is used in the production of plastics such as polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to/from Belarus) fell in January-August 2021 by 14% to 62,000 tonnes from 72,100 tonnes a year earlier. .

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LANXESS plans to expand production capacity for light-colour aminic antioxidants at its site in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with the additional capacity expected to be available by the end of 2022, said the company.

Aminic antioxidants, which the Germany-based chemical company markets under the brand name Naugalube, are an additive in a range of transportation and industrial lubricants.

The expansion will be for several kilo tonnes, and the investment will be “an upper single-digit million Euro amount”, LANXESS said in a statement on Monday.

The investment would strengthen LANXESS’s “supply-chain resiliences” for the additive in Asia, North America and Europe, it said.

"We have seen rapid market growth in aminic antioxidants in the recent months and years,” says Martin Saewe, Head of LANXESS’s Lubricant Additives Business (LAB). “With our strategically located three assets in Canada, Italy and Taiwan and our backwards integration into the key raw material, we stand for supply resilience in the industry. We intend to use the additional capacity to strengthen our market position and to grow with our customers."

Veronika Sauer, Head of Marketing Lubricant Additives, says “To be ahead of the curve, we continue to develop safer, more sustainable, and higher performing antioxidants that are capable to meet changing market requirements. We are evaluating to offer some of these from our Taiwan site as well”.

LANXESS markets its aminic antioxidants under the brand name Naugalube.The investment at its Taiwan site will support globally harmonized specification of its flagship product Naugalube 438L – all sites will produce the antioxidant in light color. The liquid antioxidant is used in a broad range of transportation and industrial lubricants. With excellent high temperature performance, Nauglaube 438L reduces oil oxidation, prolongs lubricant life and extends service intervals.

As MRC reported earlier, LANXESS completed the second-largest acquisition in its history on August 3, 2021, with the takeover of Emerald Kalama Chemical. The US-based specialty chemicals manufacturer was majority-owned by affiliates of private equity firm American Securities LLC. All required regulatory approvals have been received. The enterprise value of Emerald Kalama Chemical was USD1.075 billion (EUR 900 million). After deducting liabilities, the purchase price was approximately USD 1.04 billion (EUR870 million), which LANXESS financed from existing liquidity.

Also recently, LANXESS and energy company bp are entering into a strategic partnership for the use of sustainable raw materials in high-tech plastics production. bp will supply sustainably produced cyclohexane to the LANXESS’ production site in Antwerp, Belgium, starting in the fourth quarter of 2021. The sustainable origin of the raw materials is certified according to ISCC Plus rules.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with about 19,200 employees in 25 countries. The company is currently represented at 74 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives, specialty chemicals and plastics. Through Arlanxeo, the joint venture with Saudi Aramco, Lanxess is also a leading supplier of synthetic rubber.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Worley has been selected to provide detailed design and procurement services to support the development of a low-carbon fuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in the Netherlands, formerly known as the Pernis refinery, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Once built, it’s expected to be one of the biggest of its kind in Europe.

The facility will produce 820,000 tons of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel every yr. These fuels will be produced from waste including used cooking oil, certified sustainable vegetable oils, waste animal fat and other industrial and agricultural residue using advanced technology developed by Shell. They will be used for blending in support of the EU legislation and commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Worley will lead the project from its office in The Hague, with support from its Global Integrated Delivery team.

To deliver a net-zero economy, the IEA estimates liquid biofuel production to quadruple, while that of biogases is estimated to expand sixfold between 2021 and 2050. Worley is well positioned to support its customers in this space having won over 40 low-carbon fuels contracts in the last 12 mos.

The award follows the collaboration between Shell and Worley over the last 18 mos to define the project as an integrated team using new ways of working.

Shell made a final investment decision to proceed with the project earlier this month. The Rotterdam facility is expected to start production in 2024.

As MRC reported before, Shell and BASF are collaborating to accelerate the transition to a world of net-zero emissions. To this end, both companies worked together to evaluate, de-risk, and deploy BASF’s Sorbead Adsorption Technology for pre- and post-combustion Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) applications. The Sorbead Adsorption Technology is used to dehydrate CO2 gas after it has been captured by Shell’s carbon capture technologies such as ADIP Ultra or CANSOLV.

We remind that Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDermott plans to deliver engineering and procurement for the ethylene cracker of the Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) project—the largest polyethylene integration project in the world—with China National Chemical Engineering and Construction Corporation Seven, Ltd (CC7), said the company.

This agreement follows McDermott's safe and successful delivery of the front end engineering design (FEED) and early works phases of the project. The ethane cracker project is owned by Baltic Chemical Complex LLC, (BCC) a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha, located onshore Russia in the Gulf of Finland.

"Our proven experience delivering world-class ethylene cracker projects, underpinned by our collaboration with Lummus Technology and in-house project delivery capability from the FEED to the startup phase, make us the ideal partner to continue supporting CC7 and BCC on the GCC project," said Samik Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "We are uniquely positioned to offer integrated, at-scale solutions for our customers—driving safety, quality and delivery certainty."

Under the scope of the agreement, McDermott will provide complete project management, engineering and procurement services, including field engineering, author supervision and the supply of equipment and materials for a two train ethane cracker unit with combined capacity of 2.8 million tons of ethylene per year and is licensed by Lummus Technology.

Lummus Technology's proprietary ethylene steam cracking process is the most widely-applied process for the production of polymer-grade ethylene and represents approximately 40 percent of the world's capacity. McDermott and Lummus Technology work jointly through a strategic agreement that leverages their respective strengths for customers.

"This additional award is testament to McDermott's exemplary performance during the earlier project phases and our ability to provide integrated solutions throughout the entire lifecycle of a project," said Tareq Kawash, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East, Africa. "The GCC project is a game changer for the Russian Federation market. It is the biggest single contract in the global petrochemical field and will be hugely impactful in terms of job creation. Our local presence and global resources align directly with its critical success factors."

McDermott previously collaborated with CC7 on the Afipsky Hydrocracker project and the Lukoil Delayed Coker Unit project. The GCC project will be executed from McDermott's offices in The Hague, the Netherlands, Brno, Czech Republic and Gurgaon, India.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.

McDermott is a fully-integrated provider of engineering and construction solutions to the energy industry. Our customers trust our technology-driven approach engineered to responsibly harness and transform global energy resources into the products the world needs. From concept to commissioning, McDermott's innovative expertise and capabilities advance the next generation of global energy infrastructure—empowering a brighter, more sustainable future for us all. Operating in over 54 countries, McDermott's locally-focused and globally-integrated resources include more than 30,000 employees, a diversified fleet of specialty marine construction vessels and fabrication facilities around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Lummus Global LLC (CLG) has announced the expansion of its technology portfolio with the addition of its new ISOTERRA process for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from biomass sources, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The two-step process involves hydrodeoxygenation of alternative feeds such as vegetable, algae, palm and used cooking oils. It is then followed by dewaxing to meet final cold flow property specifications.

ISOTERRA helps repurpose existing assets, making it ideal for revamping existing hydrotreaters to renewables service as the process can be implemented in either one or two reactor stages. The two-stage configuration allows feed and product flexibility and robustness, and the single-stage configuration provides a low CAPEX option for existing hydrotreating facilities.

“With today’s market drivers pointing towards a lower carbon future, operators need a technology that enables feed and product flexibility at low cost,” said Thad Sauvain, Global Licensing and Sales Director, Chevron Lummus Global. “Our ISOTERRA process provides those benefits to customers looking to process a wide variety of biomass sources or repurpose existing assets.”

As MRC wrote before, in July 2021, Lummus Technology and Chevron Lummus Global LLC (CLG) announced multiple technology contracts from North Huajin Refining and Petrochemical Co., Ltd. for a grassroots refinery and petrochemical complex in Liaoning Province, China. The complex will include one of the largest vacuum residue desulfurization (VRDS) units in China and one of the largest Novolen polypropylene (PP) plants. Lummus will provide the license and basic engineering for its Novolen PP technology, plus the associated catalysts. CLG will provide the license and basic engineering for the VRDS technology, plus proprietary reactor internals and catalysts.

We remind that, in April, 2021, Lummus Technology was awarded a master licensor contract by PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim for its ethylbenzene, styrene monomer (SM), ethylene dimerization and olefins conversion technologies. These four plants will be part of the expansion of an olefins production facility in Nizhnekamsk, Russia. The dimerization and olefins conversion units will be the first in Russia.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC