SOXAL develops key hydrogen business in Singapore

Singapore is the world third-largest center of oil refining and, in the frame of Kyoto Protocol, has committed itself to contributing to the environment.

Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte Ltd (SOXAL), a fully owned subsidiary of Air Liquide, has signed a long term contract to supply hydrogen to Neste Oil’s Renewable Diesel plant in Singapore. In order to meet Neste Oil’s industrial gas requirements, SOXAL will invest approximately €125 million to build, own and operate a new world-scale Steam Methane Reformer (SMR) on Jurong Island. This unit is expected to start up in 2010 and will produce about 100,000 Nm³ per hour of hydrogen.

Besides supporting Neste Oil’s new facility, SOXAL’s SMR will also serve existing and future petrochemical customers located on Jurong Island and Tuas through an extensively integrated Hydrogen Pipeline Network. This will add reliability to Air Liquide existing and new customers by connecting them to the largest hydrogen pipeline network in Singapore.

This new hydrogen unit represents the SOXAL’s biggest and the fifth significant investment into the gas infrastructure of Jurong Island, having already invested three Air Separation Units at Pulau Ayer Merbau and Pulau Ayer Chawan, one HyCO unit at Sakra, and another new 1,200 tonnes per day Air Separation Unit at Pulau Ayer Merbau currently under construction.

With respect to hydrogen, over the past three years, Air Liquide has increased its worldwide production capacity of its hydrogen systems by more than 50 percent.

Jean-Pierre Duprieu, Senior Vice-President, Asia-Pacific region, member of the Executive Committee of the Air Liquide Group, said: “These investments represent SOXAL’s commitment to our petrochemical customers in terms of reliability and system capability, today and for the future. As a worldwide leader in the hydrogen market, we are actively applying our best technologies and expertise to help our refinery and chemical customers around the world improve their process efficiencies and meet their environmental responsibilities.

Less than one year after the completion of the full acquisition of SOXAL by Air Liquide, this success enables us to significantly reinforce our positions in South-East Asia and capitalize on growth in economies clustered around the industrial hub of Singapore.”