MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries says it has signed an agreement with Siemens to construct an additional combined cycle gas and steam turbine plant at the Marl, Germany, chemical park, reported Chemweek.
This is an important step toward ending coal-fired generation of electricity and gas throughout Evonik, the company says. Construction will start before the end of summer 2020 and the plant is expected onstream in 2022.
“We intend to cut our absolute greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2025 - that’s Evonik’s key climate goal. The new construction project in this agreement is another important step in that direction,” says Thomas Wessel, board member/sustainability issues at Evonik.
The new power plant will replace a reserve gas-fired power plant at the site and complement the other new power plant that Evonik recently began building at Marl, the company says. “At a total capacity utilization rate of over 90%, the two new plants will generate up to 270 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power roughly 750,000 households, and up to 660 metric tons of steam per hour,” Evonik says.
The new plant also contributes to Germany’s energy-transition efforts, because its “highly flexible load management can also play a role in balancing input variability from renewable energy sources,” Evonik says.
As MRC informed before, Dow and Evonik have recently entered into an exclusive technology partnership. Together, they plan to bring a unique method for directly synthesizing propylene glycol (PG) from propylene and hydrogen peroxide to market maturity.
We remind that Dow plans to install a new furnace in its steam cracker at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, increasing its ethylene capacity, currently 1.42 million metric tons/year (MMt/y), by 130,000 metric tons/year. Dow will split the cost of the project and the incremental volume equally with an unnamed regional customer, according to CEO Jim Fitterling, who announced the news during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Start-up is slated for the first half of 2021.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 721,290 tonnes in the first four month of 2020, up by 4% year on year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments grew partially because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 347,440 tonnes in January-April 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Supply exclusively of PP random copolymer increased.
Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The focus on more specialty businesses, customer-oriented innovative prowess and a trustful and performance-oriented corporate culture form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. They are the lever for profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Evonik benefits specifically from its customer proximity and leading market positions. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world with more than 36,000 employees.
MRC