Pertamina, Keppel and Chevron sign a JV for green hydrogen in Indonesia

Pertamina Power Indonesia, Keppel Infrastructure and Chevron New Energies have agreed to develop green hydrogen and green ammonia in Sumatera, Indonesia, said the companies.

The signing of the JSA took place at the Business 20 (B20) Investment Forum held in conjunction with the B20 Summit in Bali. B20 is an official G20 engagement group that represents the global business community. Signing the JSA were CEO of Pertamina NRE, Dannif Danusaputro; Director of Keppel New Energy Pte., Ltd., Chua Yong Hwee, and Director of Chevron New Energies International, Pte. Ltd., Andrew S. Mingst. The signing was witnessed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Pandjaitan; Minister of Investment of Indonesia & Head of BKPM, Bahlil Lahadalia; President Director & CEO, PT Pertamina (Persero), Nicke Widyawati; and Chief Executive Officer, Keppel Infrastructure, Cindy Lim.

The JSA intends to explore the feasibility of developing a green hydrogen facility, with a production capacity of at least 40,000 tonnes per annum, powered by 250-400 megawatts of geothermal energy in the initial phase. The hydrogen production facility could have the potential to scale up to 80,000-160,000 tonnes per annum, depending on the availability of geothermal energy as well as market demands.

The JSA aims to draw on the complementary strengths of Pertamina, the largest energy company in Indonesia; Keppel Infrastructure, a leading Singapore-based energy infrastructure solutions provider with a strong track record of developing and operating large scale energy and environmental infrastructure projects; and Chevron, a multinational energy corporation committed to providing affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy.

According to an International Energy Agency report, Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, has a viable path to reaching its target of net zero emissions by 20601. Hydrogen and ammonia are expected to be important lower carbon fuels as part of this roadmap. Ammonia can also be used to transport hydrogen and potentially be used to replace bunker fuels as a lower carbon solution in the global maritime industry.

Indonesia accounts for approximately 40 percent of global geothermal resources, providing opportunities to utilize geothermal energy as a reliable and stable energy source to produce green ammonia or hydrogen.

Dannif Danusaputro, CEO of Pertamina NRE, said, “The development of green hydrogen and green ammonia holds a significant role in Indonesia’s Net Zero Emissions roadmap. And with its potential, we believe that Indonesia will also play a key role in green hydrogen production in Asia. We are very excited with this strategic collaboration as we know that Keppel and Chevron are reputable companies and have the same vision in energy transition as we do.”

Ms. Cindy Lim, CEO of Keppel Infrastructure, said, “Indonesia is a country with vast resources and enormous potential for renewable and low carbon energy. We are happy to partner with industry leaders, Pertamina and Chevron, to explore the first of its kind use of geothermal and other renewable energy to develop green hydrogen and green ammonia projects and support Indonesia’s energy transition efforts, as well as catalyze investments in green energy supply chain in the regions. In line with Keppel’s Vision 2030, which places sustainability at the core of its strategy, this collaboration will broaden Keppel Infrastructure’s geographical footprints to create and capture more value arising from the global commitment to net zero and its energy transition.”

Austin Knight, vice president of Hydrogen, Chevron New Energies, said, “We have a long history of working in Indonesia and with Pertamina, and a growing relationship with Keppel Infrastructure. We look forward to leveraging our collective strengths to study and evaluate lower carbon opportunities for the region. Chevron’s strength has always been solving big, complex energy challenges, and creating a lower carbon future is the opportunity that motivates us. As part of this effort, we must work together to identify new, innovative ways of producing and delivering ever-cleaner energy to a growing world.”

Keppel Corporation Limited, the parent company of Keppel Infrastructure, does not expect the abovementioned development to have any material impact on Keppel Corporation’s earnings per share and net tangible asset per share for the current financial year.

We remind, Chevron reported its second-highest ever quarterly profit, blasting past analysts' estimates, driven by soaring global demand for its oil and gas and rising production from its U.S. oilfields. The surge comes as oil companies book mounting profits with prices near record levels and supplies tight on output cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as market disruption from the war in Ukraine. Chevron posted a third-quarter net profit of USD11.2 B, or USD5.78 per share - almost double the $6.1 B from the same period last year, and well ahead of Wall Street's USD4.86 estimate.
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LyondellBasell announced that CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited (CSPC), a 50:50 joint venture incorporated by CNOOC Petrochemicals Investment Co., Ltd. and Shell Nanhai B.V., has selected LyondellBasell’s Spherizone process technology, said the company.

The Spherizone process technology will be used for a 500 kiloton per year (KTA) polypropylene line located in Huizhou, Guangdong, P.R. of China.

“We are very excited to announce that CSPC has again chosen LyondellBasell’s Spherizone process technology for their new polypropylene plant. This represents the second Spherizone line from a total of five polyolefin lines, licensed from LyondellBasell at the Huizhou site,” said Neil Nadalin, Director, Global Licensing and Services for LyondellBasell. Nadalin added, “Spherizone process technology continues to demonstrate the ability to produce differentiated polymer grades in the highly competitive Chinese market, which remains a key requirement for our customers."

The Spherizone multi-zone circulating reactor (MZCR) provides a unique and innovative platform to manufacture polypropylene products with novel architecture and enhanced product properties. Almost 10 million tons of the Spherizone process for differentiated polypropylene production capacity has been licensed by LyondellBasell around the world.

The plant will commence operation using LyondellBasell Avant ZN catalyst. New licensees take advantage of LyondellBasell in-house expertise of continuous production improvement, continuous product development and catalyst know-how, by optionally joining our Technical Service program.

We remind, LyondellBasell announced that its leading polypropylene (PP) technology has been selected by Stavian Quang Yen Petrochemical, Ltd. (Stavian) for a new world scale production facility. The facility will include a 600 kiloton per annum (KTA) polypropylene plant using LyondellBasell’s Spheripol technology. The facility will be built in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam.

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Frederique van Baarle is moving up to the Management Board of Cologne-based specialty chemicals company LANXESS. The Supervisory Board has appointed the 51-year-old as Labor Director, said the company.

She takes over this function from Management Board member Anno Borkowsky. Van Baarle currently heads the High Performance Materials business unit at LANXESS, which is to be incorporated into a planned joint venture for high-performance plastics with private equity firm Advent. She will take up her new position on the Management Board as soon as this transaction is completed. Van Baarle will also assume board responsibility for the Americas region from the second half of 2023. She will perform her new role from Pittsburgh, LANXESS' U.S. headquarters.

LANXESS CEO Matthias Zachert: "Frederique van Baarle has led one of our largest business units very successfully. She knows LANXESS like only a few others. I am very much looking forward to working with her on the Board of Management. The fact that she will perform her duties from the U.S. underscores how important this growth market is for us."

Frederique van Baarle began her career in the chemical industry in 2000 at the Dutch company Royal DSM after studying business administration, earning an MBA and graduating from the French business school INSEAD. At Royal DSM she held various management positions. In 2011, she joined LANXESS and took on various management positions in sales and marketing in the then High Performance Elastomers business unit and in the business unit High Performance Materials. The native Dutchwoman was responsible for central purchasing and logistics at LANXESS since the end of 2018. She has been heading the High Performance Materials business unit since June 2020.

We remind, on 31st May 2022, Advent and LANXESS announced the joint, Advent controlled, acquisition of DSM Engineering Materials, alongside its combination with LANXESS High-Performance Materials (subject to competition clearance), to establish a leading global engineering materials company with sales of around EUR 3 bn.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.1 billion in 2021. The company currently has about 13,200 employees in 33 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of chemical intermediates, additives and consumer protection products. LANXESS is listed in the leading sustainability indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI World and Europe) and FTSE4Good.
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Wood has been awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) scope for Gen2 Energy’s green hydrogen production facility, located in Mosjoen in northern Norway, said the company.

Gen2 Energy is a Norwegian company dedicated to developing, building, owning and operating an integrated value chain for green hydrogen. The company targets having several large-scale production facilities for green hydrogen, making it easy and cost efficient for consumers to adapt to green hydrogen.

As a leader in hydrogen production solutions, Wood will apply its decades of hydrogen expertise and breadth of project implementation capabilities to develop the new 100MW plant – the first large-scale commercial green hydrogen production facility in Norway.

The award follows Wood’s initial conceptualisation of the plant as well as other production facilities that Gen2 Energy is developing to accelerate the distribution of hydrogen produced in Norway via zero-emission renewable energy to the UK and across Europe.

Due to good access to low-priced electricity, Mosjoen in Vefsn municipality in northern Norway is an excellent place for large-scale production of green hydrogen. The first phase of Gen2 Energy's plan is to build a 100MW plant with a continuous production of around 45 tonnes of green hydrogen per day.

This contract will be delivered by Wood’s existing teams in Norway, with support from the company’s global experts from within its operations and projects business units. Wood will execute the FEED study jointly with personnel from Gen2 Energy.

We remind, OMV, the international, integrated oil, gas and chemicals company headquartered in Vienna, and Wood signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enter into a mutually exclusive collaboration agreement for the commercial licensing of OMV’s proprietary ReOil® technology. The two companies aim to agree on a binding cooperation by mid-2023.
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Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global sustainable chemical producer, reported a strong 3Q 2021 performance amid record production volumes, said the company.

The company maintained its positive outlook for the rest of the year and 2022, noting caution as headwinds including higher energy prices and supply chain disruptions weigh against resurgent consumer demand.

IVL reported EBITDA of USD478 million in Q3 versus USD552 million in the previous quarter and USD240 million a year earlier. Production volumes reached 3.73 million metric tons, a record, as the global recovery drove consumer demand for IVL’s products.

As the global economy recovers from the pandemic, consumer appetite and increasing Brent crude oil prices are testing supply chains and driving a commodity boom, with manufacturers running at full capacity. This has driven increases in freight prices and a shortage of materials.

Mr. D K Agarwal, CEO of Indorama Ventures, said, “The recovery in major economies from the pandemic has benefited us through the year, and we expect strong demand for our products to continue into next year. However, the recovery is uneven as some nations in Asia are slower to reopen, and resurgent consumer demand is being met with higher energy prices and supply chain disruptions. Our business model of integrated and regional supply across a diversified geographical and product base is proving its robustness. Building sustainability across all our businesses is a key focus as our colleagues work tirelessly towards a future ready organization."

Still, IVL posted a solid YTD performance, ending the first nine months of 2021 with EBITDA of USD1,512 million, up 123% YoY. The Integrated Oxides & Derivatives (IOD) segment will start to reap the full benefits of the hot commissioning of the Lake Charles gas cracker (IVOL) in Q4 and beyond, as well as continued advantaged shale gas economics.

In Q3, Project Olympus, the company’s cost saving and business transformation project, achieved US$63 million in efficiency gains, and is on track to achieve a total US$610 million of savings by 2023. IVL also implemented enhanced disclosures in governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets, and launched a comprehensive financial policy and governance structure to accelerate environmentally driven projects.

We remind, Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL), a global sustainable chemical company, celebrated the completion of a plant to manufacture high-performance nylon yarn for automobile airbags. The new plant in Rayong, Thailand, was constructed by Toyobo Indorama Advanced Fibers Co., Ltd. (TIAF), a joint venture that Indorama Ventures established with Toyobo Co., Ltd in November 2020.
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