Aberdeen-headquartered Wood (LON:WG) has secured a contract from Ineos worth in excess of $100 million (£83m) to build “Europe’s most innovative” olefins complex in Belgium.
Dubbed “Project ONE”, Ineos plans to build state-of-the-art petrochemicals complex based around an ethane cracker in the Port of Antwerp with a nameplate capacity of 1.45 million tonnes of ethylene per year.
Wood has secured the award to deliver engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCm) services for the project, which aims to be the lowest-carbon plant of its kind in Europe.
Effective immediately, the four-year contract will be delivered by Wood’s Projects unit.
Its scope is focused on the outside battery limit facilities for the ethane cracker and follows the completion of front-end engineering design (FEED) for the facility.
Wood’s integrated project management team will also continue to oversee the project, working closely with the INEOS project team.
At its peak Wood is expected to employ around 300 people on the project across execution centres in Reading and Milan, its global engineering centre in India, and at the site during construction.
Wood president of process and chemicals, Giuseppe Zuccaro, said: “The chemicals sector, like all industries, is forging its own path to carbon neutrality. What Project One represents is the next era of ethylene production, a key component in most plastics. Through the combination of technology and an innovative technical design approach, it will be the most sustainable and energy-efficient steam cracker in Europe.
“We are proud to have the opportunity to build on our strong relationship with INEOS by continuing to deliver on this major capital project, deploying the extensive petrochemicals expertise of our global engineering and project delivery teams.”
Ineos has said it intends to invest over 3 billion euros in the site, with future scope to run portions of the plant on hydrogen.
Over 100,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year will be generated as a byproduct during the production of ethylene, which the company intends to use as a low-carbon fuel.
The chemicals giant says it is “technologically possible” to feed the crackers and steam boilers of Project ONE “entirely” with hydrogen, should sufficient climate-friendly supplies be available.
It has pointed to investments in sites nearby, such as Flanders, which could enable this transition, as well as space in its design for a potential carbon capture plant.
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