US$6.5 Billion! Dow Chemical Will Build a New 2 Million Tons/Year Device

Recently, Dow announced that its board of directors has made a final investment decision on the Path2Zero investment project located in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada. The investment will create the world's first net-zero emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives production facility in Fort Saskatchewan.

Project Overview

According to reports, the project plans to invest US$6.5 billion, including a new ethylene cracker and a polyethylene unit with an annual capacity of 2 million tons, as well as facilities to transform the plant’s existing cracker to achieve net-zero emissions.

Dow said it will begin construction of the project in 2024. The new project is expected to come online in phases. The first phase will be put into operation in 2027, adding approximately 1.285 million tons/year of ethylene and polyethylene production capacity; the second stage will be put into operation in 2029, adding approximately 600,000 tons/year of production capacity.

The Path2Zero project in Fort Saskatchewan will use Linde's air separation and autothermal reforming technology to convert on-site cracker off-gas into hydrogen, which will be used as clean fuel to supply on-site furnaces. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions will be captured and stored, reducing existing emissions by approximately 1 million tons/year of carbon dioxide equivalent, while reducing all emissions from new production capacity at the site.

Site selection advantage

Dow said it chose Fort Saskatchewan as the investment location because natural gas in Western Canada is highly cost-competitive relative to other regions and because ethane, a key feedstock for ethylene production, has cost advantages. At full capacity, the plant is expected to be one of Dow's most cost-competitive plants in the world. The region also has existing CO2 transport and storage infrastructure with the capacity to fully support project decarbonization.