Ineos is moving forward with its Project One in Antwerp, Belgium.
Project One is "on track," the company said in a statement announcing the first two of six ethane cracking furnaces have been delivered to the site. The arrival of the remaining four furnaces is scheduled for the first quarter of this year. A total of 3 billion euros ($3.1 billion) has been spent to date, with the two furnaces accounting for 150 million euros ($155.7 million).
The crackers were manufactured in Thailand and transported to the port of Antwerp by sea over 55 days. The industrial ship transporting the two furnaces will stay at the dock for another nine days for unloading. Weighing 6,000 metric tons, more than 32 meters wide and 60 meters high, the vessel is one of the "largest and most spectacular" ships ever in the port of Antwerp, Ineos said in a statement.
Promised to be Europe’s "most sustainable ethane cracker," Ineos says the Project One cracker will have half the carbon footprint per tonne of product compared with the next best cracker in Europe. It should be able to meet 60 percent of its heat demand with low-carbon hydrogen when it starts operating, and it could switch to 100 percent hydrogen if "sufficient volumes of affordable climate-friendly hydrogen become available," Ineos said.
Project One has been involved in a series of permitting issues. In July 2023, it had its construction permit revoked due to concerns over the impact of nitrogen emissions from the cracker on the nature reserves in the ports of Flanders and the Netherlands.
In January 2024, Ineos regained its permit after appealing the decision and delivering an extensive environmental impact assessment. That permit was strengthened in July by referring to Flanders' Nitrogen Decree as a legal basis rather than Ineos’ environmental assessment.
The Nitrogen Decree has been a source of much contention in Flanders, a region of Belgium which suffers from high levels of nitrogen emissions from agriculture and industry. An excess of nitrogen in the atmosphere pollutes land, water, and air, exacerbates climate change, and depletes the ozone layer.
Ineos assured the cracker furnaces are equipped with ultra-low nitrogen oxide (NOx) burners and combustion air pre-heaters that ensure maximum reduction of NOx emissions and maximum energy efficiency. The equipment has the lowest carbon footprint of all similar alternatives, according to the British chemical company.
“It cannot be ignored: Project One is no longer a virtual project on paper, but is increasingly gaining a foothold in the port,” said John McNally, CEO of Ineos Project One. “It is hugely motivating to see a plant actually rise after all these years of preparation. A lot of work has been done in 2024, but by 2025 the centre of gravity of construction activity will be fully in Antwerp.”
In 2024, civil and underground works on site were completed to prepare the site for the arrival of the plant modules. Ineos installed the ethane tank with a capacity of 197,000 cubic meters - the largest in Europe. After the installation of the furnaces, construction is expected to peak during the third quarter of 2025, with around 2,500 workers employed.