Neste launches study on transitioning its Porvoo refinery to a renewable and circular site

Building on its capability of proactive transformation, Neste launches a strategic study on transitioning its refinery in Porvoo, Finland to non-crude oil refining and into a globally leading renewable and circular solutions site, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Through co-processing and retrofitting of units, and benefiting from available refining assets, experience and know-how, Neste targets to significantly grow its renewables and circular production in Porvoo long term. The transformation under study would start with the co-processing of both renewable and circular feedstock and could continue with retrofits of existing units at a later stage, with a long-term capacity potential of 2 to 4 million tonnes per year. The targeted transformation would lead to a discontinuation of crude oil refining in Porvoo in the mid-2030s. Neste will also continue to actively study opportunities of green hydrogen at its Porvoo refinery. These developments would significantly contribute to the realization of Neste’s climate commitments, and make Neste a global frontrunner in the transformation of the fossil fuel industry.

"Neste’s growth strategy is centered on renewable and circular solutions. We continue to set our ambition level high, launching this study on the long-term transformation path for our Porvoo refinery and targeting to ultimately replace crude oil with alternative feedstocks. The Porvoo site provides a flexible and large-scale base that can grow into a major site for our renewables and circular business,” says Matti Lehmus, President and CEO of Neste.

Transformation of such scale would create the need for significant investments over the coming decade. Separate investment decisions would be taken as the planning proceeds. As the time span of the plan is more than a decade, it would be built on modularity and flexibility and could be adjusted to reflect variations in the pace of change in both the renewable and circular businesses as well as in traditional refining. Independently of the planned transition, Neste will continue to provide access to fossil fuel products for its customers.

As per MRC, Technip Energies has been awarded a significant contract by Neste for the expansion of their renewable products production capacity in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as part of the existing Partnership Agreement between Technip Energies and Neste. The contract covers Engineering, Procurement services and Construction management (EPsCm) for the expansion of Neste’s existing renewables refinery in Rotterdam which will increase Neste’s overall renewable product capacity by 1.3 MMtpy.
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Smurfit Kappa, one of the world’s leading suppliers of paper-based packaging, announced it has signed an agreement to acquire PaperBox, a packaging plant located in Saquarema, 70 kms east of Rio de Janeiro, said Recyclingtoday.

The transaction, which is subject to the approval of regulatory bodies, is expected to close at the end of October.

Brazil is the largest corrugated cardboard market in Latin America, with 7.4 bn sq m produced annually, and the Southeast region, where PaperBox is located, equates to 46% of this volume. This acquisition represents a further expansion of Smurfit Kappa’s operational footprint in Brazil as it currently operates in three other states: Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Ceara.

"We are very proud to expand our footprint in Brazil to meet the growing demand for innovative and sustainable packaging. This acquisition will broaden and strengthen our presence in the country, improve our production capabilities and enable us to continue to create new opportunities and form new partnerships with customers,” said Laurent Sellier, CEO of Smurfit Kappa in the Americas.

Manuel Alcala, CEO of Smurfit Kappa in Brazil, added: “Smurfit Kappa believes in Brazil and in the opportunities to deliver growth by continuing to add value to our customers business.

PaperBox has a distinguished history in the region and a special commitment to all stakeholders. This is a legacy that Smurfit Kappa will build upon."

We remind, Huhtamaki and Stora Enso, both based in Finland but with global operations, say they have joined forces to launch a paper cup recycling initiative called The Cup Collective. The EU has set recycling target for paper and board packaging of 85 percent by 2030, say the two companies. Stora Enso is a paper and board producer that recently purchased a containerboard mill in the Netherlands. Huhtamaki makes packaging products with molded pulp and other materials, some with recovered paper content.
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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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