On February 17, Baotou Coal Chemical convened a production preparation launch meeting for the Coal-to-Olefins Upgrading Demonstration Project, marking the commencement of the construction of the project.

The Baotou Coal-to-Olefins Upgrading Demonstration Project is an upgrade based on the world’s first coal-to-olefins demonstration facility which has been in operation for many years under China Shenhua. In 2017, the project was included in the Innovative Development Layout Plan for the Modern Coal Chemical Industry by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and was approved by the Development and Reform Commission of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Focusing on coal gasification—methanol—methanol-to-olefins, the project incorporates advanced processes along with energy-conserving and eco-friendly technologies, with most key equipment achieving localization and facility energy and water efficiency indicators meeting or exceeding industry benchmarks.The main engineering encompasses 11 production facilities, including coal gasification, purification, sulfur recovery, methanol, methanol-to-olefins, polyethylene, and polypropylene.

Built upon the Phase I of the project, the upgrading will systematically apply the Company’s self-developed sci-tech innovations, which will increase the annual methanol production capacity from 1.8 million tonnes to 3.8 million tonnes, and boost the annual polyolefin production capacity from 600,000 tonnes to 1.35 million tonnes, further enhancing the Company’s scale benefits and overall resilience to risks. Upon completion, the project will demonstrate the localization of patented technologies throughout the entire process to increase the localization of equipment and break the monopoly of foreign technologies and equipment, to enhance the controllability of the industrial chain. In addition, the project synchronizes with new energy construction to achieve deep integration of coal chemical processes with green electricity, hydrogen, and oxygen, leading the modern coal chemical industry towards high-end, diversified, and low-carbon development.