Czech Republic’s Unipetrol, a subsidiary of PKN Orlen announced that it will invest more than CZK30.0 billion ($1.4 billion) over the next decade in projects to decarbonize the company’s operations.
Together with its parent company ORLEN, the Group plans to transform from a traditional petroleum-oriented firm into a multi-energy corporation under its development strategy for the period to 2030.
The leading projects within this strategy include
- the construction of a steam-and-gas cogeneration heating plant and photovoltaic plant in Záluží near Litvínov,
- enhanced offering of alternative fuels at Benzina ORLEN petrol stations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia,
- plastic recycling,
- production of advanced biofuels, and
- hydrogen infrastructure development for passenger transport, road haulage and railway transport.
Digitisation will be implemented where appropriate. ORLEN Unipetrol plans to spend CZK 5 billon on digital transformation and implementing of digital solutions until 2030.
“Although crude oil will be an indispensable raw material for years to come – mainly for the chemical industry -, we need to be on the lookout for new, state-of-the-art, and environmentally friendly solutions already now to be able to substitute this dependency gradually. We have a specific plan of activities for the coming decade, and we are even looking further beyond. We want to be absolutely emissions neutral by 2050. This is our contribution to a better Czechia, Europe, and the whole planet,” says Tomasz Wiatrak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group.
The global demand for petrochemical products keeps rising, which is why the ORLEN Unipetrol Group sees significant development potential in this segment.
The company said that it is ready to leverage this potential by producing modern, high-density polyethylene in its new polyethylene unit (PE3) and introducing a new product, dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). It will be produced in a brand-new unit from the end of 2022.
With these and other petrochemistry-oriented projects, the ORLEN Unipetrol Group will boost the total petrochemistry production from 0.9 million tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes per year.
Plastic waste recycling will account for up to 15% of the total polymer production.