NOVA Chemicals Completes Polyethylene and Cracker Expansion in Canada

NOVA Chemicals, with production assets in Canada and in Louisiana, and owned by Mubadala Investment Co. from Abu Dhabi, announced in late December 2022 the “mechanical completion” of expanded polyethylene and cracking capacity in Sarnia, Ontario, some 65 miles north of Detroit, after several years of construction that involved 7,000 workers.

“The construction phase of the growth projects is complete. Projects represent more than $2 billion (Canadian dollars) investment in the community,” NOVA Chemicals said on Dec. 21.

The future Rokeby Site’s startup is anticipated for the first half of 2023, it said.

Along with the construction of InterPipeline´s PDH (propane dehydrogenator) and polypropylene complex near Edmonton, Alberta, NOVA’s expansion was one of the biggest petrochemical construction projects carried out in Canada since 2019.

Pembina, another Canadian mid-stream company, was also building a PDH polypropylene plant but interrupted the project during the pandemic.

A billion pounds of plastic capacity

The new Rokeby Site will have production capacity of about a billion pounds of polyethylene per year.

The expanded cracker will feed ethylene to the new “AST2 facility, expanding the existing cracker’s current capacity” by over 50%, the company said.

“Our team is now fully focused on safely completing post-construction activities prior to starting the commissioning phase of this flagship asset,” said Rob Thompson, NOVA’s Vice President of Manufacturing, East.

NOVA Chemicals’ Corunna Site produces 1.8 billion pounds of ethylene and approximately 700 million pounds of co-products annually, according to the statement.

“Corunna provides feedstock to NOVA Chemicals’ Moore and St. Clair River Sites where they convert ethylene into up to 1.3 billion pounds of polyethylene per year. Ethane, a component of natural gas, is the primary feedstock for ethylene production at the Corunna Site,” it said.

The site adds 150 new permanent jobs. NOVA is the largest private employer in the Sarnia-Lambton region, in southwestern Ontario, with three manufacturing facilities.

NOVA Chemicals, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has 2,400 employees worldwide and is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

(Written by Renzo Pipoli)