【2025 Industry Updates】23.8 billion yuan invested in the start of overall design for Sinopec’s 800,000-ton coal-to-olefins project in Inner Mongolia

On May 9, the candidates shortlisted for the tender for the overall design of the 800,000-ton/year coal-to-olefins upgrade demonstration project at Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. were announced. The candidate for Phase 1 of this project is Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Co., Ltd. The scope of work includes the overall design of the 2.26 million-ton/year coal-to-methanol unit within this demonstration project (which involves processes such as gasification, purification, methanol synthesis, and sulfur recovery, as well as the associated air separation units); the plant’s utility systems (including thermal power plants, chemical water treatment systems, water supply and drainage systems, heat exchange stations, the entire plant’s telecommunications system, the power supply and distribution system including 220kV substations, the plant’s fire protection system, and the flare system); storage and transportation facilities (including those for solids, liquids, olefin products, as well as external pipelines and warehouses); production auxiliary facilities (including testing and environmental protection facilities, maintenance stations, the factory’s intelligent systems, control rooms, lubricant stations, and washing stations); as well as external works such as shift worker dormitories and temporary structures. The task also involves preparing an estimate for the overall design and providing related technical services.

Bidder for Section 2: Sinopec Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. Scope of work: Overall design of the methanol-to-olefins plant (production capacity: 2.26 million tons per year, including OCC), as well as associated facilities; design of the polyethylene plant (350,000 tons per year), the polypropylene plant (450,000 tons per year), and the EVA/LDPE plant (100,000 tons per year); preparation of overall design estimates; and provision of related technical services.

The 800,000 tons per year coal-to-olefins upgrade demonstration project of Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. is undertaken by this company itself; the funding for the project comes from bank loans and funds raised by the company itself. The allocation of funds is as follows: 70% from bank loans and 30% from the company’s own funds. This project is part of Great Wall Energy Chemical’s takeover of the 800,000 tons per year coal-to-olefins project that was previously owned by Guodian Investment (**Dian Tou Group Inner Mongolia Energy Co., Ltd.**). The project received approval from the **Development and Reform Commission** in August 2016, and all necessary procedures such as site selection, environmental impact assessment, and land pre-approval have been completed.

In March 2023, Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. won the coal exploration rights for the Nalin River Bayan Qaidam mining area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for 30.15 billion yuan. This area is located in Wushen Banner, Ordos City, covers an area of 115.4319 square kilometers, and contains 2.131 billion tons of coal resources. The planned production capacity is 10 million tons, and this resource will supply raw coal for the Great Wall Energy Chemical’s coal-to-olefins upgrading demonstration project.  

On July 8, 2024, the environmental impact assessment for the 800,000 tons per year coal-to-olefins upgrading demonstration project of Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. was launched.

The original contractor for this project was China Power Investment Mengxi Energy Co., Ltd., which was established in July 2014. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of **Power Investment Group Inner Mongolia Energy Co., Ltd., and is responsible for investing in and building the project to produce 800,000 tons of coal-based polyolefins per year in Mengxi. The project received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission in August 2016, and was identified as one of the demonstration projects for the upgrading of coal-based olefins as outlined in the relevant plans by the same commission; it was developed in a joint venture with the French company Total.

Great Wall Energy Chemicals has taken over the 800,000-ton coal-to-olefins project formerly owned by **Power Investment Group Inner Mongolia Energy Co., Ltd. The project involves an investment of 23.8 billion yuan to build facilities including a 2.2 million tons per year coal-to-methanol plant and a methanol-to-olefins plant, a 340,000 tons per year polyethylene plant and a 530,000 tons per year polypropylene plant, along with supporting utility systems and auxiliary facilities. The main components of the project include key production units such as air separation, pulverized coal gasification, methanol synthesis, methanol-to-olefins, polyethylene, polypropylene, and sulfur recovery units. Auxiliary engineering mainly includes thermal power plants (integrated gasification combined cycle process), water supply systems, and storage and transportation systems (coal depots, product storage areas, silos), etc.

The construction project for the temporary facilities at the 800,000 tons per year coal-to-olefins upgrading demonstration project in Inner Mongolia Energy and Chemical Industry Road involves the building of new light-steel structure office buildings: Building A (with a floor area of 3,595 square meters) and Building B (with a floor area of 3,850 square meters); one light-steel structure HSE office building (with a floor area of 1,015 square meters); and one light-steel structure cafeteria (with a floor area of 1,950 square meters). The height of all these buildings is 5.6 meters. The maximum span of any light-steel structure building is 30 meters, as in the case of the cafeteria. There are three security posts, along with a surveillance system, access control mechanisms, and surrounding roads. The project includes the general contracting for these constructions as well as the procurement of materials supplied by the contractor.

Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemicals has taken over the 800,000-ton coal-to-olefins project that was previously owned by **Power Investment Group Inner Mongolia Energy Co., Ltd. The construction of this project was carried out by Shixiu Zaozhong Youtou Guanxi Nengjiu Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of **Power Investment Group Inner Mongolia Energy Co., Ltd.; this company is responsible for investing in and building the project to produce 800,000 tons of coal-based polyolefins per year in western Inner Mongolia. The project received approval from the National Development and Reform Commission in August 2016, being designated as one of the planned demonstration projects for the upgrade of coal-to-olefins production; it was developed in a joint venture with the French company Total. In March 2023, Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. won the coal exploration rights for the Nalinhe Bayan Qaidam mining area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for 30.15 billion yuan. Located in Wushen Banner, Ordos City, this area covers 115.4319 square kilometers, with coal reserves of 2.131 billion tons; the planned production capacity is 10 million tons, and it will supply raw coal for the Great Wall Energy Chemical’s coal-to-olefins upgrading demonstration project.

The construction scope of the 800,000-ton/year coal-to-olefins upgrading demonstration project at Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd. includes a 2.26-million-ton/year coal-to-methanol plant (comprising process units such as gasification units, purification units, methanol synthesis units, sulfur recovery units, as well as supporting air separation units), a methanol-to-olefins plant (with a production capacity of 2.26 million tons per year, including OCC) and its associated facilities, a polyethylene plant (350,000 tons per year), a polypropylene plant (450,000 tons per year), and an EVA/LDPE plant (100,000 tons per year). It also includes the plant’s utility systems (such as heat power plants, chemical water treatment systems, water supply and drainage systems, heat exchange stations, the entire plant’s telecommunications system, the plant’s power supply and distribution system, including 220kV substations, and the plant’s fire protection and flare systems), storage and transportation facilities (including those for solids, liquids, olefin products, external pipelines throughout the plant, and warehouses), production auxiliary facilities (including testing and environmental protection facilities, maintenance stations, the plant’s intelligent systems, the front area of the plant, the central control room, lubricant stations, and washing stations), as well as off-site projects such as shift worker dormitories and temporary structures.