RE: ANOTHER CONTRACT29 Apr 2025 13:16
Vioneo is moving forward with its plans to build a 300,000 tonnes/year polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) plant using green methanol as feedstock in the Port of Antwerp, Belgium.
The company was established in September 2024 as a subsidiary of A.P. Moller Holding, the investment group of Danish shipping and logistics company Mærsk.
Vioneo has awarded engineering company Wood a multi-million dollar front-end engineering design contract for the plant. Wood will apply its experience in delivering sustainable and innovative engineering solutions to large-scale energy transition projects.
“Demand for fossil-free plastics in Europe is growing and Vioneo is developing an exciting project that will accelerate the decarbonisation of Europe’s plastics sector,” said Gerry Traynor, president of eastern hemisphere projects at Wood. “Wood’s strong track record of delivering world-first projects of this size and scale will support Vioneo’s ambitions of becoming the leading producer of fossil-free plastics in Europe.”
The plant will use Honeywell’s methanol-to-olefin (MTO) technology to produce plastics without the need for traditional feedstock made from fossil fuels.
Honeywell's MTO technology will enable Vioneo to use green methanol, containing only biogenic carbon, in place of coal and crude oil in PP and PE production.
MTO technologies use specialised catalysts in a fluidised bed reactor to promote the conversion of methanol into ethylene, propylene, and water.
The planned plant will require a €1.5 billion investment, with commercial operations expected to start during 2028.