The refinery turnaround will ensure the plant’s safety, availability, and competitiveness. The turnaround will focus on tasks that require a refinery shutdown, including statutory inspections, routine maintenance, and asset improvement initiatives. Maintenance turnarounds are typically held at an interval of 2.5 to 3 years.
“This is a major project with a total estimated cost of over €400 million. A total of around 7500 people will participate in the work. Around 1000 of them are Neste's own employees, and the rest are experts from more than a hundred different contractor companies. Over 80% of the selected contractor companies are Finnish,” said Jim Holmbäck, Director, Turnarounds.
Specialised experts from various fields, such as catalyst professionals, will arrive in Finland from countries including Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Fuel deliveries to customers secured
The turnaround will have no impact on customer deliveries. Security of supply is guaranteed by producing and storing goods in advance, which enables uninterrupted sales and distribution even during maintenance work. The Kilpilahti port and the Porvoo distribution terminal will operate normally throughout the turnaround.
Impact on the local environment
The turnaround will significantly increase traffic in the area. Due to the large number of workers, special traffic arrangements will be implemented in the Kilpilahti area. The traffic arrangements will be published on the local kilpilahti.fi/en/ website prior to the turnaround.
Neste aims to minimise the disturbances caused by the turnaround to local residents and other traffic. Short-term flaring and potential noise disruption may occur in the surrounding area during both the shutdown and startup of the refinery.
“Neste's goal is to ensure fuel distribution to customers as well as the safety and well-being of employees, service providers, and partners throughout the turnaround,” added Holmbäck.