Air Products to construct coal-to-syngas production facility in China in multi-billion deal
Air Products has signed an investment cooperation agreement with Yankuang Group to construct aUS$3.5 Billion coal-to-syngas production facility in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, China.
Air Products and Shaanxi Future Energy Group Co., Ltd.a subsidiary of Yankuang Group, intend to form an Air Products majority-controlled joint venture company which would build, own and operate an air separation, gasification and syngas clean-up system to supply the SFEC site. The air separation units are expected to produce approximately 40,000 tons-per-day (TPD) of oxygen to support the production of about 2.5 million nm3/hour of syngas. SFEC would supply coal, steam and power and receive syngas under a long-term, onsite contract.
Air Products currently supplies SFEC’s Phase 1 project in Yulin with 12,000 TPD of oxygen. The addition of Phase 2 would make this complex one of the largest coal to fuel and chemicals facilities in China, with SFEC Phase 2 producing four million tons-per-year of liquid fuels and downstream chemicals.
The parties are committed to finalizing the agreements as soon as possible, with the overall project expected onstream in 2021.
The deal was signed in the presence of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, and Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, Seifi Ghasemi, Air Products’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Li Xiyong, Chairman of Yankuang Group Co., Ltd.
Ghasemi said, “Air Products is delighted to announce this significant expansion of our already strong relationship with one of China’s largest energy companies. This new agreement confirms Yankuang’s trust in us, built on the supply reliability we have delivered for their Phase 1 project. It is another excellent example of Air Products’ strategy to grow profitably by deploying capital into world-scale industrial gas projects.”
Li said, “We look forward to further extending our excellent partnership with Air Products, leveraging their technology, reliability and expertise to enable us to produce even more high-quality fuel and chemical products that drive growth and support sustainable development.”