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  • INEOS : Chemicals coming to an end in the UK
    édité le 13/01/2025 - Plus de news de "INEOS" - Voir la fiche entreprise de "INEOS"


INEOS : Chemicals coming to an end in the UK
   - Lack of energy strategy and high carbon taxes continue to de-industrialise Britain
   - INEOS closes last remaining synthetic ethanol plant in the UK with the loss of several hundred jobs.

High energy prices and high carbon taxes have forced the closure of this strategic UK asset.

The UK, which used to be a major force in chemicals, employing a large and highly skilled workforce, has seen the closure of 10 large chemical complexes in the last 5 years alone and, in complete contrast to the USA, has not had one new chemical plant built for a generation.

Energy prices have doubled in the UK in the last 5 years and now stand five times higher than those in the USA. The UK cannot compete with such a huge disadvantage.

The synthetic alcohol, which is essential for the manufacture of many pharmaceutical drugs, is necessary for many of the new blockbuster drugs. It will now be imported.

The Scottish ethanol plant in Grangemouth is one of only 2 in Europe and since the start of production over 40 years ago, has produced the equivalent of 25 billion bottles of Scottish whisky.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS says, “De-industrialising Britain achieves nothing for the environment. It merely shifts production and emissions elsewhere. The UK, and particularly the North, needs high quality manufacturing and the associated manufacturing jobs. We are witnessing the extinction of one of our major industries as chemical manufacture has the life squeezed out of it.”

Notes:

Synthetic ethanol was produced on the Grangemouth plant predominantly for use in healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. The plant capacity of 180,000 tonne per year is equivalent to:

   - 226 million litres per year
   - Equivalent to filling 90 Olympic sized swimming pools per year
   - The ethanol content of more than 600 million bottles of hand sanitizer per year.

Over the course of its operational lifespan, the plant made the equivalent of 25 billion bottles of Scottish Whisky.

The UK chemicals sector, like many other energy intensive industries, is fighting to be competitive in global markets:

   - Energy costs can be between 5 and 10 times cheaper in some regions
   - Many countries outside of the UK / EU have no carbon reduction trading scheme or taxes

Combined, this can result in a differential in the costs of distilling and purifying ethanol equivalent to around 10% of the sales price of ethanol.

Over the last two decades, carbon emissions from our operations at Grangemouth have fallen by almost 50%; we are on a journey towards net zero, but the next steps require significant investment and Governmental support/ action

INEOS is calling upon the UK Government to take urgent action and act in the interests of UK manufacturing. Specifically in three key areas:

1- An energy policy that provides globally competitive pricing of natural gas, and hydrogen, as we move towards net zero.
2- An Emissions Trading Scheme that supports industry and decarbonisation equally; the current scheme acts as a tax on UK operators and favours importers who pay nothing.
3- A trade policy that supports UK manufacturing in its own domestic markets and does not incentivise imports.

All affected direct employees associated with the ethanol plant operations will be redeployed across the chemicals business at Grangemouth. This still results in a net job loss of 80 roles at Grangemouth, with a further impact of more than 500 indirect roles in the wider economy.

About INEOS

INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and oil products. In 25 years, the Company has grown into a global player: its production network spans 183 sites in 26 countries throughout the world employing more than 26,000 people.

INEOS Energy operates the Siri field area and the South Arne and the Solsort in Denmark. INEOS operates the leading carbon storage project in Denmark – Project Greensand – which is a pioneering carbon capture and storage CCS) initiative aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by capturing CO2 and securely storing it in depleted oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

The pilot phase of Project Greensand conducted in 2023 focused on demonstrating the feasibility and safety of cross-border CO2 transport and storage. On March 8 2023, HM King Frederik of Denmark gave the order to store the first CO2 in the Danish subsoil. The pilot phase of Project Greensand validated that CO2 could be stored safely and efficiently.

Based on the learnings and proven scalable concept from the pilot phase and the independent verification of safe storage by the worldleading independent verifier DNV, INEOS has already applied for approval on behalf of licence partners Harbour Energy and Nordsøfonden for Denmark's first large-scale CO2 storage facility and is now working hard to start CO2 storage in the North Sea by the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026. The ambition is that up to 400,000 tonnes of CO2 will be stored per year, while the plan is to store up to 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year in the area under the North Sea's seabed from 2030.

At the same time, work is also underway to investigate whether it is possible and safe to store CO2 underground on land in Denmark, and earlier this year, the Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities awarded INEOS, Harbour Energy and Nordsøfonden an exploration licence for an area of the Danish subsurface in Jutland in the Gassum reservoir. The experience from Greensand will be included in the work to demonstrate safe storage also on land.

INEOS is involved in several CCS-projects in Denmark with the aim of establishing offloading of CO2 to Greensand from the Danish harbours Esbjerg and Hirtshals (Greenport Scandinavia).


Origine : Communiqué INEOS

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