Stenungsund is home to Sweden鈥檚 largest chemical industry cluster, located at the end of the gas grid in western Sweden. Here, carbon atoms from natural gas and biogas are transformed into valuable substances that are essential to almost everything we use in our daily lives.
Ulrik Svedin
Through the network H氓llbar kemi (Sustainable Chemistry), the companies are working together to enable the chemical industry to transition towards climate neutrality.
鈥淭he chemical companies in Stenungsund account for around two per cent of Sweden鈥檚 carbon dioxide emissions. At the same time, the chemical industry is an important part of the value chain for the production of other materials,鈥� says Gauthier Hanquet, site manager at Perstorp Oxo AB in Stenungsund, which has around 200 employees.
24 hours a day
He takes the visiting group from Biogas Solutions Research Center on a tour of the extensive site. Pipes are everywhere, carrying chemicals to and from the various processes.
鈥淥perations here run 24 hours a day, all year round.鈥�
The chemical industry cluster was established in the small municipality on Sweden鈥檚 west coast in the 1960s. Stenungsund is well located, close to Gothenburg and its port, while also having its own deep-water industrial port.
Ulrik Svedin
Borouge International operates the plant where some of the most important raw materials are received and, through cracking, converted into substances including ethylene, a hydrocarbon and one of the chemical industry鈥檚 most important building blocks. The ethylene is transported by pipeline to other chemical companies, including Perstorp, which can then produce aldehydes, alcohols, acids and esters. The end products can include safety glass, car interiors and refrigerants for applications such as refrigerators.
Another raw material is natural gas imported from Europe via the gas grid in western Sweden. The proportion of biogas in the grid has increased significantly over the past decade, largely thanks to imports from Denmark, rising from 7.6 per cent in 2016 to around 25 per cent, with a peak of 37.5 per cent in 2022.
Ulrik Svedin
鈥淭here is a desire for Sweden to become more self-sufficient in energy. Since so much manufacturing begins with chemistry, supplying industry with biogas is important for the green transition,鈥� says Mats Eklund, professor and director of Biogas Solutions Research Center at Link枚ping University.
