Royal Dutch Shell Plc. on Friday said that its multibillion ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania is about 70% complete. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said that it remained on course to achieve a startup in the early 2020s. The construction work was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the number of workers has been increasing to about 6,500, allowing the construction to progress at a pre-pandemic rate.
According to Smith, workers are commissioning portions of the complex’s water treatment facility and will work on its 250-megawatt power plant. The complex includes an ethane cracker and three polyethylene production units which are expected to come online after the power plant, Smit said. However, he did not disclose the expected startup date.
Shell launched the project in 2016 with estimated costs of between $6 billion and $10 billion. The cracker will produce 1.6 million tons/year of polyethylene using low-cost ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins. Shell is also constructing the 107,000-bpd Falcon Pipeline that will bring ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shale production bases to the plant. As of September, the 98-mile (157.7-kilometre) pipeline was 95% complete.
