S-OIL AIMS FOR A FLEXIBLE FEEDSTOCK
Seoul-based petroleum refinery company S-Oil has announced that its $6.7 billion “Shaheen Project” is targeting a commercial operations launch in 2027. The massive petrochemical project is under construction at the Onsan National Industrial Complex in Ulsan, South Korea, and will focus on converting crude oil into basic chemicals such as ethylene and propylene. This facility will be the first to commercially apply new technology to convert low value byproducts into petrochemical feedstock. The project additionally represents the company’s largest petrochemical investment in South Korea. Future feedstock will play a vital role in reducing import demands for downstream players, directly supplying new capacity to petrochemical companies in Ulsan. As of now, the company has said it is getting ready to begin trial operations for the Shaheen Project, which will be capable of producing 1.8 million tons of ethylene and 770,000 tons of propylene each year.
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AI LEADER SIGHTS SET ON OSAKA
Anthropic is partnering with Japan-based telecommunications company NTT Data Group to pursue development of a new data center that will be located in Osaka. The estimated cost of construction for the future data center is estimated to reach $6.3 billion. The project will become Anthropic’s first dedicated data center development in Japan and will house one of the largest processing capacities in the country with up to 500 megawatts. Neither company has commented on the project, nor released further details at this time. The two companies expect to finalize their agreement by the end of 2026 and anticipate partial data center operations at the site will begin as early as 2028.
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POWER MODULE PRODUCTION SCALES IN VIRGINIA
Last week, power and technology engineering company M.C. Dean announced an expansion that will bring 1,950 new jobs to eastern Virginia. The company is investing $412.5 million to construct two new manufacturing facilities at its existing Modular Mission Critical production campus in Caroline County, located north of Richmond along the I-95 corridor. M.C. Dean designs, integrates, manufactures and commissions a portfolio of complex power, mechanical, communications, automation, security and safety solutions for a number of industries at this complex. Welcoming additional production space will enable the company to expand production capabilities and produce one large power module every 30 minutes. The first facility will be positioned on M.C. Dean’s main campus, spanning 442,000 sq. ft., and is expected to become operational by 2027. A new 1.5-million-sq.-ft. facility on the company’s north campus will follow. Once complete, the site will become the largest modular manufacturing campus in the nation, covering 1,300 acres by 2030. Next year, M.C. Dean will also open a Power Systems Training Center at Caroline High School to provide electrical systems training and a career and technical education pathway for young students.
Reports compiled and written by Alexis Elmore
