Shell announces pyrolysis oil upgrader in Singapore and hints at CCS

In Singapore, Shell will build a new pyrolysis oil upgrader unit that improves the quality of pyrolysis oil, a liquid made from hard-to-recycle plastic waste that would have gone into a landfill, and turns it into chemical feedstock for its plant. Slated to start production in 2023, the unit at Shell’s manufacturing site on Pulau Bukom will be the largest in Asia and Shell’s first globally, with a capacity of 50,000 metric tons per annum (tpa). What it processes is equivalent to the weight of about 7.8 billion plastic bags.

Shell will use the treated pyrolysis oil to produce circular chemicals that are used in hundreds of useful, everyday products, from tires to mattresses. This responds to growing customer demand and Shell has already signed its first circular chemicals agreement in Asia with Asahi Kasei.

The new investment is a key element in the transformation of the Bukom manufacturing site into the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore. The Energy and Chemicals Park will be fully integrated with Shell Jurong Island and together will focus on the low-carbon energy and sustainability needs of our customers today and in the future, supplying biofuels, circular chemicals, bitumen, advanced lubricants and renewable energy.

The Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore is exploring a range of projects to deliver low-carbon energy solutions to customers in the region and globally, and meet the target of halving its own emissions by 2030:

• • Shell is exploring a regional carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub and will work with a range of customers, including the power sector in Singapore, to reduce the CO2 emissions from their existing operations. Not only will this help Singapore cut its carbon footprint, CCS will also become a cornerstone of the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Singapore, enabling Shell to design and produce innovative lower carbon fuels, chemicals, and energy solutions like hydrogen.
• • Subject to a final investment decision, a 550,000 tpa biofuels facility is planned, where hydrogen made from renewable resources and bio-feedstock, such as used cooking oils and animal fats, can be turned into low-carbon fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel for road transport or renewable chemicals.
• • Shell’s actions will contribute to Singapore’s delivery of its enhanced nationally determined contribution (NDC) for 2030 and Long-Term Low-Emissions Development Strategy (LEDS) for 2050 under the Paris Agreement and its strategy to achieve a low-carbon transition through the transformation of industry and adoption of advanced low-carbon technologies.