The Linde Group (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) and Sinopec, the biggest integrated refining and chemical company in China, announced that they have established a €145 million joint venture to supply vital industrial gases to local customers from key industries such as petrochemical, steel and electronics, within the Ningbo Chemical Industrial Zone in China’s Zhejiang province.
Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company (ZRCC) and Linde will each hold a 50% stake in the newly formed Ningbo Linde-ZRCC Gases Company Ltd (Linde-ZRCC), the sixth consecutive joint venture between the companies. The agreement will see Linde-ZRCC acquire two existing air separation units (ASUs) from ZRCC and construct a third for a combined 150,000 m3/h of oxygen capacity. The new ASU, expected to be on stream in 2018, will incorporate Linde’s intelligent solutions for remote operation, diagnostics and analytics, as well as a modular design to increase efficiency, reduce energy requirements and enhance flexibility of production.
These three additional ASUs will double Linde production capacity of air gases in the Ningbo cluster and will be connected to Linde’s pipeline supply network across Ningbo.
Sanjiv Lamba, Member of the Executive Board, Linde AG and Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific, said, “Linde is excited about the growth opportunities in China and further strengthening of our partnership with SINOPEC. Today’s Linde-ZRCC agreement underscores not only the trusted long-term partnership Linde has with SINOPEC, but also highlights the advantage of world-class technology and operating expertise that Linde brings to our customers. Linde remains fully committed to supporting our customers in China in their growth aspiration. This year alone, we have signed multiple projects for major investments across China, which represents a significant part of Linde’s strategy for growth in Asia.”
“Linde operations in Ningbo is an excellent example of our cluster strategy in action. Leveraging Linde’s gas and engineering expertise and innovations, we are able to consolidate our plant operations which enables our cluster customers to benefit from economies of scale – improved energy efficiency, better quality management, and safer and even more reliable service,” said Steven Fang, Regional Business Unit Head, Linde East Asia. He added, “Linde‘s approach is well aligned with the Chinese government’s plans to develop Ningbo into a modern petrochemical hub.”
Linde’s Engineering Division will design and construct the new air separation unit.