Borealis invests EUR 36 million to increase Nordic olefins capacity

Borealis today announced it will invest EUR 36 million in expanding its olefins unit in Porvoo, Finland for completion during a planned turnaround in 2007. With this investment, ethylene capacity will increase from 330,000 tonnes per year to 380,000 tonnes per year and propylene capacity from 200,000 tonnes per year to 223,000 tonnes per year. This investment strengthens Borealis’ market position and competitiveness in the Nordic countries and Russia.

Staffan Lennström, Borealis Executive Vice President Hydrocarbons, commented on

the investment by saying, “this strengthens Borealis’ olefins platform in the Nordic region and the integration upstream as well as downstream to our polyolefins and phenol plants.”

This expansion project also takes safety into consideration as well as the impact on the environment. There will be several changes made which will improve the energy efficiency of the operations. The consumption of steam and electricity will decrease about 4% per production tonne. In addition, the VOC emissions from the olefins plants will decrease. Process safety of the plants will be improved with the installation of new equipment based on new technology.

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