UK petrochemical sites set for decommissioning

Work is underway to clear a suite of redundant assets in the north east of England, in one of the United Kingdom’s largest projects of its kind.

World-leading petrochemical firm Sabic has appointed specialist consultancy RVA Group to oversee the decommissioning, demolition and dismantling of 10 plants at its North Tees and Wilton sites.

The multi-million pound programme is expected to be completed in 2020.

The more immediate programme involves demolishing a jetty, which will begin at the end of this month and be cleared in eight weeks.

Continued decommissioning support is being provided for a tank farm complex and RVA is also finalising the contractor selection process for the demolition of two Aromatics plants, with a proposed mobilisation date of January 2018.

Elsewhere in Wilton, the 48-week demolition of Sabic’s Olefins 5 furnaces and neighbouring Butadiene 2 facility is already in progress and expected to be completed by the spring of 2018 and the close of 2017 respectively.

Home to some of the most iconic industrial structures in Teesside, these two sites have transformed raw oil refinery materials into an array of chemical products, for almost half a century.

But this is not the end of the story for Sabic.

“With the two-year upgrade of our cracker plant now complete, this current multi-million pound clean-up signals the latest chapter in the creation of safe, efficient and state-of-the-art facilities that are fit for the future,” said site director (acting) Daren Smith.

RVA is no stranger to projects of this scale, having overseen the three largest decommissioning and dismantling projects ever executed on Jurong Island, Singapore.

“The portfolio of assets being cleared as part of this extensive programme is vast,” said RVA managing director Richard Vann.

“We’re talking a range of world-scale chemical plants made up of complex structures, surrounded by live plant, in a multi-user operational site.

“This is an inherently demanding project but unparalleled planning has been invested to prepare for this phase of works.”