Outotec has reached an agreement with Eesti Energia for the design, delivery and construction of a new oil shale processing plant to be built in Narva, Estonia. The contract is valued at approximately €110 million. Outotec has already made basic engineering for the same plant, which is scheduled for commissioning in early 2012. The two have developed a solution, which greatly improves the existing solid heat carrier process for the extraction of oil from oil shale and other hydrocarbon materials. In course of the development, large-scale test work was conducted primarily at Outotec’s research center in Frankfurt, Germany. The new sustainable process, called Enefit, uses the latest fluidised bed technology.Outotec’s scope of delivery includes engineering, procurement, equipment supplies, construction and commissioning of key plant sections of the new plant based on the Enefit technology. The plant will process over 2.2 Mt/y of oil shale annually, resulting in roughly 290,000 t of oil. The spent oil shale from the pyrolysis will be combusted in a circulating fluidized bed reactor. The combustion energy is used to dry and heat up the raw oil shale and to produce steam for electrical energy generation.
 
“This contract is a significant breakthrough in applying our existing technologies within other process industries, such as oil shale processing. Furthermore, the new sustainable technology enhances energy efficiency and ensures compliance with the European Union’s environmental regulations,” stated Outotec’s CEO Tapani Järvinen.
Outotec and Eesti Energia have entered into a joint venture to hold the intellectual property rights and the commercialisation of this new sustainable oil shale processing technology. Eesti Energia has a 60% stake in the new company with Outotec owning the remaining 40%. Under the new partnership, the goal is to become a significant supplier of oil shale technology solutions, benefiting from Eesti Energia’s experience in oil shale mining and processing and Outotec’s expertise in fluidised bed technologies, engineering and project implementation.

“The world’s recoverable oil shale resources are many times greater than those of conventional oil reserves, with large oil shale deposits to be found in the US, Brazil, China, Jordan, Russia and Estonia. In Estonia alone, there is potential to use the new technology for building several plants. We have developed a sustainable technology for the oil shale industry and we believe that our joint company will generate many business opportunities in the energy sector,” stated Järvinen.