Neste preps for major turnaround at Porvoo refinery

Neste Corp. is preparing to undertake 12 weeks of planned maintenance previously postponed from 2020 as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at its 206,000-b/d refinery in the Kilpilahti industrial area of Porvoo, Finland (OGJ Online, Mar. 23, 2020).

Scheduled to begin on Apr. 5 with the staged shutdown of processing units, the major turnaround event will entail an investment of about €330 million to complete regulatory inspections, maintenance works, and unidentified asset-improvement initiatives required for the refinery’s ongoing safe and competitive operation, Neste said on Mar. 31.

“[The upcoming turnaround is an investment] to secure safety, availability, and competitiveness of the Porvoo refinery for the next [5-year] operating cycle. During the turnaround, we will execute several investment projects related to the development of the refinery, including extensive asset, automation, and electrification renewals,” said Marko Pekkola, Neste’s executive vice-president for oil products.

To manage the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic during the turnaround, Neste said it has prepared a detailed health security plan involving extensive measures to mitigate spread of the virus, including mandatory use of face masks, requirements for safe distancing and enhanced hand hygiene, proof of negative test results before entering the site and regular on-site testing during the turnaround, as well as compliance monitoring throughout the event.

The refinery’s maintenance shutdown will not affect product deliveries to customers, and Neste’s harbor and distribution terminal in Porvoo will continue operating normally during the major turnaround, the operator said.

Following completion of scheduled works, Neste said it expects the refinery’s return to normal operations by the end of June.

Initially planned for execution during spring 2020, the turnaround was delayed due to the impossibility of completing the full scope of planned works amid Neste’s protocols for limiting the spread of COVID-19. The operator, however, did complete critical maintenance works during the original second-quarter 2020 timeframe.

Confirmation of the upcoming turnaround at Porvoo follows Neste’s late-2020 announcement that it will proceed with restructuring of its Finnish refining operations under a program that will involve permanently shuttering processing and production at its 58,000-b/d Naantali refinery as well as upgrading the Porvoo to co-processing renewable and circular raw materials (OGJ Online, Mar. 16, 2021; Dec. 3, 2020; Sept. 14, 2020).