China’s first full-chain low-carbon ethylene project operational in Xinjiang

A major green and low-carbon petrochemical project in northwest China has officially entered full operational status after a successful one-off commissioning trial run. The 1.2 million tonnes per annum second-phase ethylene and supporting green low-carbon demonstration project of PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical’s Tarim base achieved smooth start-up on July 16, marking the official launch of the country’s first full-chain green and low-carbon ethylene project.

Located in the petrochemical industrial park of Korla Shangku High-tech Industrial Development Zone in Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang, on the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert, the facility serves as the pioneering demonstration project in China’s petrochemical sector that integrates green and low-carbon development concepts across the entire industrial chain.

The project boasts a remarkable domestic equipment and technology localization rate of 99 percent. Among its 11 core production units, ten adopt domestically independent technologies, nine of which are self-developed by PetroChina. Three large extrusion granulation units have achieved domestic debut application, forming China’s first and the world’s second three-motor electric-driven ethylene unit with proprietary independent technologies.

The official commissioning of the project establishes the first 3 million-tonne-level ethylene industrial base in China’s central and western regions. It will adjust the long-standing unbalanced industrial layout where domestic ethylene production capacity is highly concentrated in eastern regions while western China faces insufficient raw material supply.

The new operational base will strengthen the stability and resilience of China’s national energy and chemical industrial chain and supply chain. It will optimise the regional distribution of petrochemical production capacity, drive the high-quality development of the western energy chemical industry cluster, and support the diversified and secure development of the country’s energy sector in the long run.