OMV has declared its commitment to the Paris Agreement and EU climate targets and set itself some ambitious goals. OMV has pledged to reach net-zero emissions of operations (Scope 1 and 2) by 2050. On its path to net zero, OMV has set concrete interim targets: By 2025 it will strive to reduce its carbon intensity in refining by at least 20%.
One factor in achieving net-zero operations in the OMV refineries is energy-efficiency measures. One such measure is the audit program at Schwechat Refinery. 85% of the electricity needed to operate the refinery is generated by four steam turbines. Cutting-edge blading enhances the performance of the steam turbines and thereby their efficiency, while simultaneously reducing CO2 by 40,000 metric tons already this year. From 2021, savings of 60,000 tons of CO2 are expected per year.
Another energy-efficiency measure is the development of a digital twin to optimize the preheat train of the crude distillation unit in the Schwechat Refinery: Here process simulation is used to help optimize the selection of cleaning cycles and flow conditions in the heat exchangers. The result is another increase in efficiency and reduction of up to 18,000 metric tons of CO2 annually.