Borealis has awarded a contract worth around €90m to a subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont Group pertaining to the Kallo PDH project, a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Belgium.
Image: Tecnimont bags EPCM contract for Kallo PDH project from Borealis. Photo: courtesy of Borealis AG.
Under the contract, Tecnimont, the company’s subsidiary, will provide engineering, procurement, construction management (EPCM) and commissioning services for the Kallo PDH project, including the associated utilities and interconnections.
The propane dehydrogenation plant will be built at an existing Borealis production facility in Kallo. It will be designed to have a production capacity of 750,000 metric tons per year of PDH, which is considered to be an important process step for producing propylene from propane.
The new PDH plant is slated to begin operations in mid-2022 and will be equipped with Honeywell UOP’s Oleflex technology.
Maire Tecnimont CEO Pierroberto Folgiero said: “We are proud to be part of this new PDH project. It is a game-changing initiative that will provide a significant boost to the European petrochemical value chain.
“Our technological angle in processing natural resources, combined with our distinctive competencies in polyolefins, has made us the partner of choice for leading industrial players like Borealis.”
Borealis, which had taken a final investment decision on the project in October 2018, selected Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal as the long-term logistics partner for the handling of propylene produced by the plant and also for storing the raw material propane.
Borealis, previously said that Oiltanking Antwerp Gas Terminal will build a new 135,000m³ propane storage tank. The hydrogen, which will be a by-product of the dehydrogenation process of the Kallo PDH project, will be sold under a long-term agreement to Air Liquide.
Borealis CEO Alfred Stern said: “Investing in our European assets is essential in order to make good on our commitment to being our customers’ supplier of choice.
“In a market environment characterized by rising European demand for propylene, our state-of-the-art Kallo PDH plant will set new standards in quality, competitiveness and sustainability: with its associated energy cogeneration unit, this plant will be one of the most energy efficient olefins plants worldwide to produce on purpose propylene.”