AMEC has been appointed to carry out the initial engineering design for the offsite and utility facilities on a USD1.5Bn coal-to-chemical production complex in north west China.

AMEC, the international project management and services company, has been appointed by the Shenhua Ningxia Coal Group (SNCG) to carry out the initial engineering design for the offsite and utility facilities on a USD1.5 billion coal-to-chemical production complex in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in north west China. AMEC has been working as the SNCG project management contractor for the overall facility since early 2006 and this latest award builds on the close and successful relationship developed with SNCG during that time. Working from their Shanghai offices, AMEC engineers will provide the basic engineering and design needed to define and integrate all the common, site-wide systems required to service the six individual process units within the facility.

These systems include power and steam distribution, water systems, flare and fire fighting, interconnecting pipework, air and gas, site-wide instrumentation, control, electrical systems, loading/unloading facilities and storage.

The new facility, which is designed to produce 540,000 tonnes of polypropylene per year and which will include a coal gasifier plant, a methanol and methanol-to-propylene unit and a polypropylene unit, is scheduled to be completed in early 2009.

Polypropylene is a chemical product usually derived from oil refining and ethylene processing but the project will use coal as the feedstock, which will come from large reserves in the Ningxia area.

'The award and successful execution of this contract will further strengthen the AMEC expertise as the leading contractor in coal based petrochemical facilities,' said Ross Gibson, president of the AMEC China operations covering Natural Resources.

'We have the skills and resources to respond to the challenge and look forward to contributing to the success of this important and prestigious project'.