Baku, Azerbaijan, July 22
By Kamala Mammadli - Trend:
Azerikimya Production Association, a part of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, has completed more than half (61 percent) of the construction work on the project for the reconstruction of the Ethylene-Propylene (EP-300) plant in Sumgait city, Trend reports with reference to the production association.
The company also almost completed the design and procurement (by more than 98 percent), according to the report.
After the completion of the reconstruction, the capacity of the plant will be increased from the current 60,000 tons of propylene per year to 187,000 tons. In addition, within the plant, several new technological units will be installed and control systems will be transferred to digital technologies.
Azerikimya expects that after the commissioning of the renovated plant in 2020, the supply of high-quality raw materials to another plant, SOCAR-Polimer, will improve. Ethylene, propylene, pure hydrogen and other energy carriers are raw materials for it.
This will ensure more economically efficient processing of gas raw materials from the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery, which is also in the process of modernization and reconstruction.
Modernization of the refinery will increase its life for at least another 20 years and will ensure its reliable and more profitable work, the report said.
In order to implement the project, the Italian division of TechnipFMC was attracted as the general contractor. SOCAR-KBR joint venture performs the role of a project management consultant. The Dutch office of FLUOR and the British office of Clifford Chance were also involved in the work at various stages.
Construction and installation work is carried out by Azfen joint venture and Turkey’s Ustay company. In general, the project involved more than 50 international manufacturers and contracting companies.
Azerikimya under SOCAR began active construction work on the project in 2017 and plans to complete it by mid-2020. The total investments’ value is 508 million euros.