Dow clears $6.5 bn plan for new, net zero ethylene cracker in Canada

Dow's board of directors declared the Final Investment Decision on the company's Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero investment in Canada. The clearance allows the company to build the world's first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions integrated ethylene cracker and derivatives facility in the province of Alberta.

The project, estimated at $6.5 billion excluding government incentives and subsidies, will see Dow build a new ethylene cracker and increase polyethylene capacity by 2 million metric tons per annum and retrofitting the existing cracker to meet net zero Scope 1 and 2 emission requirements.

The project will deploy Linde's air separation and auto-thermal reformer technology to convert cracker off-gas to hydrogen, which will be used as a clean fuel to supply the site's furnaces. Earlier this year, the company had announced that Linde had been selected as its industrial gas partner for the supply of clean hydrogen and nitrogen for the site, and Fluor was selected for front-end engineering and design.

The project will capture and store CO2 emissions, reducing the site's emissions by 1 million metric tons of CO2 and CO2-equivalent gasses, while abating all emissions from the addition of the site's new capacity. Dow expects the investment to decarbonize a fifth of the company's global ethylene capacity.

Dow plans to begin construction in 2024, with capacity additions expected to come online in phases, starting from 2027.

Jim Fitterling, Dow Chair and CEO, said the project served as a leading example that "industrial decarbonization is both possible and profitable."

"The opportunity to decarbonize our assets while driving growth is central to Dow's business strategy," Fitterling said in a statement.