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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shell will have a 40%
interest in the plant using technology developed by Enerkem, a leading Canadian
clean tech company. Enerkem announced the project in December 2020, subject to
finalization of commercial agreements, as per Shell's press release.
The
approximately CD875 million commercial-scale facility will be constructed in
Varennes, Quebec, and will produce low-carbon fuels and renewable chemicals
products from non-recyclable waste using Enerkem’s proprietary technology.
Commissioning of the first phase of the facility is scheduled for 2023. Critical
investment in the plant comes from Shell, Enerkem, Suncor, Proman and
Hydro-Quebec, as well as from the Quebec and Canadian
governments.
“Building a commercial-scale low-carbon fuels plant is one
of the ways Shell is advancing cleaner fuels and evolving to meet the changing
expectations of our customers,” said Michael Crothers, Shell Canada President
and Country Chair. “Canada is well suited to capitalize on the energy transition
thanks to the ingenuity of Canadians and our willingness to work together. We’re
grateful for the collaboration between industry and government that has been
instrumental in making this project a reality.”
Once completed, the plant
will treat more than 200,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste and wood waste per
year with an annual production of nearly 125 million litres of low carbon
fuels.
“The Varennes Carbon Recycling plant demonstrates our commitment
and ability to use wastes as a feedstock to provide our customers with low
carbon, high quality and affordable products,” added Crothers.
Shell has
been a significant producer of ethanol as a low carbon fuel for the last ten
years through Raizen, our joint venture in Brazil. Bioethanol is an effective
way to reduce road transport emissions today, without the need to invest in new
vehicles or infrastructure and already play a significant role in helping to
decarbonise road transport in the Americas and in Europe.
Shell’s
ambition to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner, in
step with society, includes reducing the carbon intensity of the company’s
energy products. Shell’s low-carbon fuels production strategy is anchored around
its access to competitive feedstock, commercialization of advanced technology
and the building of internal capability.
In addition to diverting waste
from landfill sites, the Varennes Carbon Recycling plant will expand the overall
supply of alternative fuels and increase low-carbon fuels production in Quebec,
accelerate greenhouse gas reduction in the transportation sector and increase
Quebec's leadership in renewable energy and innovation.
As MRC wrote before,
Royal Dutch Shell has reported an outage at its olefins plant in Deer Park,
Texas, on 5 January, 2021. The plant flared for 16 hours last Tuesday following
unspecified process upset. Maximum steam cracker operating rate in Texas falls
to 89%.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and
polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report,
PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and
reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the
greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia
increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months
of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase
in imports.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and
gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered
office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in
terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is
vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry,
including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing,
petrochemicals, power generation and trading. |
