Koch Technology, Ioniqa Technologies partner to disrupt plastics industry through advanced PET upcycling technology

Koch Technology Solutions (KTS), a Koch Engineered Solutions company, and Ioniqa Technologies announced a partnership to scale up and commercialize Ioniqa’s advanced Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) recycle technology in the plastics industry, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

As part of this collaboration, KTS has committed to invest up to €30 MM in Ioniqa. Ioniqa has developed an innovative process that utilizes low-grade post-consumer PET to infinitely produce a feedstock that displaces virgin raw materials used in the production of polyester products.

Ioniqa has successfully demonstrated this technology in The Netherlands’ 10,000 tpy production facility. “KTS has a long history in the polyester industry, and we recognize the value proposition of this disruptive technology that will fundamentally change how recycling is done,” said Adam Sackett, President of KTS. “With an aligned vision on the future of PET recycling, we’re excited to launch this partnership with Ioniqa and leverage our complementary capabilities to advance solutions which are tailored to the needs of the market."

KTS and Ioniqa’s partnership will work to address the growing demand for recycled content in the 30 MMtpy PET market. Ioniqa’s technology offers a solution to PET waste that is currently non-recyclable, turning the waste into materials suitable for high quality food grade applications such as beverage bottles.

KTS and Ioniqa consider the technology as a disruptor in the PET industry providing a sustainable economic recycle proposition to conventional manufacturing routes. The partnership will drive a circular process that addresses environmental impacts of the current PET industry.

Tonnis Hooghoudt, CEO and Founder of Ioniqa said “After the scaling of our technology to a 10KTA depolymerization plant in The Netherlands, this KTS partnership is a major stepping stone for Ioniqa in commercializing its technology on a global level. Our expertise in breaking down plastic waste into virgin-like monomers matches seamlessly with KTS’ track record in designing and licensing PET production processes worldwide. We believe that together we can meet the strong market demand for recycled PET materials by jointly providing licenses and cleaning up the planet”.

We remind, PET Baltija, a PET recycler in Northern Europe, announces an agreement to acquire Czech fibre producer Tesil Fibres s.r.o, a spin-off of SILON . This vertical integration transaction will subsequently increase PET Baltija’s current revenues by more than 50% while also making it an international company. For SILON, the transaction will enable it to fully focus on both the production and development of the highest quality polyolefin-based performance compounds.
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Clean energy solutions provider Gentari Sdn Bhd (GENTARI) was officially launched today by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob following a brand introduction in June, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The entity, wholly owned by PETRONAS, aims to become a one-stop integrated clean energy solutions provider, beginning with a suite of renewable energy, hydrogen and green mobility solutions for commercial, industrial, and retail customers.

Leading up to its official launch, GENTARI has already embarked upon a series of initiatives and collaborations in its mission to rank amongst the world’s leading clean energy companies. GENTARI aims to differentiate itself from the competition through an integrated model, which seeks to fulfil multiple aspects of each customer’s needs through a portfolio of net zero solutions that cut across the electron value chain, by partnering them to remove hurdles in the journey towards net zero.

While it will secure support from PETRONAS during its growth phase, GENTARI will operate as an independently managed entity and will seek financing opportunities to accelerate its growth in order to both meet existing demands and explore emerging energy technologies.

Chairman of GENTARI, Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik said: “Since our announcement earlier this year, GENTARI has been making steady progress in its efforts to supply lower carbon energy and help its customers both in Malaysia and beyond to reduce their carbon emissions. This was delivered by providing affordable and accessible solutions and systems, enabled by scale of production and infrastructure. As we work towards realizing GENTARI’s aspirations, we also hope to significantly contribute towards national renewable energy goals by helping our local customers transition to cleaner energy sources."

The Twelfth Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 targets for 31% of Malaysia's total installed energy capacity to be renewable by 2025, while the Malaysia Renewable Energy Roadmap targets to achieve 40% renewable energy by 2035.

GENTARI's suite of renewable energy, hydrogen and green mobility solutions will be spread across a mix of local, regional and international projects, addressing customer demand and opportunities on the ground.

In renewable energy, GENTARI will build an overall energy capacity of 30-40 GW in key markets by 2030, through utility-scale projects across solar, onshore and offshore wind, and battery storage, targeting commercial, industrial, and retail customers. To date, GENTARI already has 1.1 GWp of renewable energy capacity in operations and under development globally. GENTARI is also playing a critical role in PETRONAS’ decarbonization efforts groupwide, which include Malaysia’s largest.

single solar rooftop installation (7.4 MWp) recently at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, and solar rooftop installations currently underway at some 60 PETRONAS stations.

For hydrogen, GENTARI targets to offer cost-competitive low carbon hydrogen solutions via a comprehensive global supply network for both export and domestic demand, with an aspiration to produce up to 1.2 MMtpy of clean hydrogen by 2030. This segment will target industrial, power and transportation customers, particularly the early adopters. To date, GENTARI has already signed 12 Memoranda of Understanding with international partners for project development in Malaysia, India and the Middle East as well as customers in East Asia, covering initiatives to explore the development of green hydrogen projects and its transportation, advocacy on policy and regulations to support the hydrogen industry, and studies on a low-carbon ammonia supply chain, amongst others.

GENTARI’s Green Mobility commitments include supporting the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem by capturing 10% market share. To deliver this, it is estimated GENTARI will need to pursue the delivery of 25,000 public charging points across key markets in Asia Pacific by 2030, with a mid-term target of up to 9,000 public charging points by 2026, anchoring its presence in Malaysia and India. It is also offering Vehicle-as-a-Service (VaaS) solutions starting with Light-duty Electric Vehicles, as well as value-added services such as digital platforms, data analytics and advertising. Currently, GENTARI has already installed more than 190 charging points, and delivered a mix of over 250 electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers as part of its green mobility fleet in India and Malaysia. Through the VaaS offering in India, GENTARI has achieved 1,000,000 clean kilometers, equivalent to 83.4 tons of CO2 emissions reduction.

In supporting PETRONAS’ groupwide decarbonization efforts through an integrated model, GENTARI has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with PETRONAS Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation Sdn Bhd to collaborate on introducing a Zero Emissions vehicle fleet supported by EV charging points, and exploring the potential for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at the Pengerang Integrated Complex, one of the biggest integrated petrochemical facilities in the region. A 4 MWp rooftop solar installation has already been completed, while the commissioning of a 40 MWp ground-mounted solar installation is currently underway in Pengerang.

We remind, Malaysian state energy company Petronas reported a jump in second-quarter profit on higher oil and gas prices and said it would double its dividend to the government this year. The world's fourth-biggest LNG exporter reported a profit for the April-June period of 23 B ringgit (USD5.13 B), up from 9.6 B a year earlier. Revenue rose 63% to 93.3 B ringgit. Petronas will pay the government, its sole shareholder, a total of 50 B ringgit (USD11.16 B) in dividends this year, CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik told a media briefing.
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ConocoPhillips announced that its board of directors has elected Mr. Dennis V. Arriola to serve as a board member, said the company.

Mr. Arriola has spent more than 28 years in the energy sector, most recently serving as chief executive officer of Avangrid, Inc. Prior to joining Avangrid, Mr. Arriola served as executive vice president and group president and chief sustainability officer at Sempra Energy. Throughout his career, Mr. Arriola has served in a broad range of leadership positions in gas and electric utilities as well as renewables, including as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Southern California Gas Co., senior vice president and chief financial officer of both San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co., vice president of communications and investor relations for Sempra, and regional vice president and general manager of Sempra’s South American operations.

“We are pleased to add Dennis to the ConocoPhillips board of directors,” said Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive officer. “Dennis brings valuable perspective and expertise in the energy sector, particularly in renewables and low carbon energy. We look forward to his contributions as we deliver on our Triple Mandate of meeting energy transition pathway demand, generating competitive returns on and of capital, and achieving our net-zero emissions ambition."

Mr. Arriola previously served on the boards of Avangrid, Inc., the California Latino Economic Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the California Business Roundtable, the Edison Electric Institute, and the boards of several Sempra operating companies, including Infraestructura Energetica Nova, a publicly traded company in Mexico, Luz del Sur SAA, a publicly traded company in Peru, and Chilquinta Energia in Chile.

The appointment of Mr. Arriola increases the number of ConocoPhillips directors to 14, of which 12 are independent. Mr. Arriola will serve on the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and the Audit and Finance Committee of the ConocoPhillips board.

We remind, ConocoPhillips submitted on Monday a plan to develop an oil discovery in the Norwegian North Sea for 10.5 B Norwegian crowns (USD1.10 B), the first of an expected rush of new petroleum projects to be launched in Norway this year. Known as Eldfisk North, the development is part of the wider Ekofisk area, where ConocoPhillips has pumped hydrocarbons for more than 50 years. The U.S. operator said the new reserves are expected to come on stream in 2024. The Eldfisk North reservoir contains mostly oil and some gas and is estimated to hold between 50 MM and 90 MM barrels of oil equivalent.

ConocoPhillips is one of the world’s leading exploration and production companies based on both production and reserves, with a globally diversified asset portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 13 countries.
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A fire caused by a lightning storm broke out at Venezuela's Puerto la Cruz refinery on Monday, leaving a tall plume of black smoke, according to government officials and sources, said Reuters.

The event is the most recent outage affecting state-run PDVSA's facilities, following another fire on the weekend that hit a fuel terminal and a tanker.

The incident left no injuries, but the flames had not been extinguished and workers were removed from the facility, located on Venezuela's eastern coast, according to oil minister Tareck El Aissami.

"The refinery's tanks and plants were not affected. But is a considerable fire within the refinery," he said on state TV.

Venezuela's deputy minister for Risk Management and Civil Protection Carlos Perez said earlier on Twitter that PDVSA's firefighters and other crews were on site fighting the flames, which began at a residual deposit in the refinery.

"A residual deposit in the industrial services area caught fire around 2 p.m.. It's a separating area where fuel goes, including leftover gasoline," one of the sources said.

As per MRC, Venezuela's second largest refinery has suspended gasoline production following an internal electrical failure, four sources with knowledge of the situation said. Work was being carried out on Sunday to resume operations of the Cardon crude oil reformer and distiller, one of the sources said. A blackout took place on Saturday afternoon at the facility, which has the capacity to process 310,000 bpd of crude, and although power has returned to the facility, production at the refinery remains halted.
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Germany, the European Union's largest economy and its biggest oil market, aims to end its dependency on Russian crude oil by the end of the year due to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, said Reuters.

Some refineries, such as one at Schwedt formerly controlled by Rosneft and TotalEnergies' Leuna, formerly depended on Russian crude supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. But the German government on Sept. 17 put the Rosneft parts of the PCK Schwedt refinery and two other refineries under state trusteeship.

It is working with energy firms and Poland, and talking to Kazakhstan, to find substitutes for Russian oil. This is under legislation that allows it to take control of foreign companies in the event of an emergency.

Total has said it is seeking to end its dependence on Russian oil as soon as possible. Others, such as Miro, also partly owned by Rosneft and put under the same trusteeship, receive crude via the Transalpine (TAL) pipeline, which runs from the Mediterranean port of Trieste to Karlsruhe via Bavaria.

The Federal Network Agency, a regulator, operates the trusteeship. Varo Energy which has a stake in Bavaria's Bayernoil, where Rosneft's stake has also been put under trusteeship by Berlin, has said it uses crude from sources other than Russia. Germany received 32% of its crude oil from Russia in January to June, down from 40% before the invasion, data from statistics office BAFA showed.

In June alone, Russia's share of Germany's crude oil imports was only 24%. Most oil comes via Rotterdam but Germany also operates reception facilities at the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven. The country's 10 largest refineries are together able to process 2.1 MM barrels per day or 104 million tonnes per year of crude oil.

We remind, the German government is looking at bringing the PCK Schwedt refinery, partially owned by Russian energy firm Rosneft, under state control. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck are expected to hold a news conference on Friday presenting details of the plans, Spiegel reported, citing government sources.
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