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Borealis invests $4.89 million in Porvoo steam cracker furnaces

10 Apr '24

2 min read

Borealis invests $4.89 million in Porvoo steam cracker furnaces

Borealis invests EUR 4.5 million in its steam cracker in Porvoo, Finland. Pic: Röni Kuva Oy

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Borealis invests €4.5 million ($4.89 million) in Porvoo steam cracker's furnaces to boost renewable and recycled feedstock usage.
The investment aims to increase production of ethylene and propylene, supporting Borealis Strategy 2030 for a circular economy.
Three of ten cracker furnaces will be modified to produce 120 kilotons of base chemicals annually.

Borealis announces a EUR 4.5 million investment in the cracker furnaces of its olefins unit in Porvoo, Finland. This investment ensures that the Porvoo steam cracker, which is part of a highly integrated petrochemical complex, can increase the share of renewable and recycled raw materials used in its base chemicals (ethylene and propylene) production; thus, supporting Borealis Strategy 2030 and driving the transformation to a circular economy. The Porvoo investment program, which has already been kicked off and is expected to be completed in 2025, follows last year’s completion of a major cracker furnace update in Stenungsund, Sweden.

The Porvoo steam cracker, which has a nameplate capacity of 430 kilotons ethylene and 263 kilotons propylene per year, is a facility that thermally “cracks” feedstock – such as naphtha, propane, butane, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) – into smaller molecules. Furnaces are the “heart” of every cracker. Thanks to the investment, three of the ten cracker furnaces in the olefins unit will be modified to enable a total annual production of 120 kilotons of base chemicals based on renewable and recycled feedstocks. The renewable-based and chemically recycled base chemicals produced at Borealis’ site in Porvoo have been awarded the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS). The ISCC PLUS certification is a voluntary scheme that covers the entire supply chain based on mass balance accounting and guarantees compliance with the highest environmental standards.

"With a focus on reinventing essentials for sustainable living, our EUR 4.5 million investment in our steam cracker in Porvoo moves us closer towards a future of circular economy transformation. Through strategic furnace modifications and a commitment to renewable and chemically recycled base chemicals, we are poised to elevate annual production to 120 kilotons, forging a path of environmental stewardship and economic resilience," says Wolfram Krenn, Borealis executive vice president Operations and Base Chemicals.