Interview of Chairman of Board of Directors of Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AzMeCo) Mr. Nizami Piriyev for news agency Fineko/abc.az

- At what stage is currently the process of the plant construction, and when do you plan to commission it?

- The plant construction has been completed and start-up work is under way. Today, every part of the plant is inspected separately, filled with nitrogen and preserved. This work is conducted by a team of 85 people. The plant testing will last for several months more. We plan to start operating of the enterprise this November. At the primary stage it will operate with 60% of its capacity, but already by March 2013 it will reach its full capacity of up to 720 tons a year.

The plant was built with use of British technology ICI, the owner of which is company Johnson Matthey. Plant’s work will be fully automated. The plant will operate in regime of autopilot with use of technology of American company Honeywell. Totally 24 operators to work in 3 shifts or by six operators in 1 shift will manage the work of the enterprise. In total, 80-100 people will be occupied during the operation of the plant.

The security system of the plant is perfect, and in case of the smallest foreign substance, a gas leak, or any problem appears on the territory of the plant, the plant will stop. The enterprise has a triple protection system to help avoid any unforeseen situations related to security.

- How will the process of methanol production affect the environment?

- Production of methanol is the most innocuous chemical production from an environmental point of view as there are no air emissions and wastewater from it. Methanol production implies use of natural gas and its conversion into a liquid with the addition of water (CH4 converts into CH3OH), that proves eco-friendly nature of this production. In methanol production even CO2 emissions are a raw material for methanol manufacture, and therefore are captured and used in production. Our plant is designed in a way to use these emissions to increase production capacity of the plant. The design capacity is 560,000 tons per year, but modernization of the plant with CO2 reuse possibility provision will enable to raise capacity up to 720,000 tons. Methanol is an industrial alcohol, which in contact with the soil is biodegradable and volatilizes without any harm to the environment.

- What are the advantages of methanol production in Azerbaijan?

- Methanol is a raw material for chemical products. This is the future of energy conservation. In our life many consumer goods are made from methanol. Such companies as Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba have already begun to use methanol to recharge accumulators and chargers for mobile phones. Methanol is a liquid fuel element. Chargers and accumulators on methanol operate longer than other its alternatives. Over the past 10 years the use of methanol in the world has doubled as methanol is a product of the XXI century. Methanol is an alternative energy of the future. For some reason China is going to build 220 methanol plants until 2020.

Currently in Europe gasoline is added 3% of methanol in order to improve the quality of combustion. Besides, when methanol is added to gasoline its octane number increases. In China, gasoline is added even 15% of methanol, without the necessity to change engines. Methanol is also used in the Formula-1, taking into account its better combustion.

I want to stress that oil refineries use methanol in production of MTBE (methyl tret butyl ether), which is an additive for an increase of octane rating of gasoline. Besides, DME (dimethyl-ethyl) is either produced from methanol, which is a substitute for diesel fuel. In particular, it is profitable to use DME in public transport to prevent spoiling of the city’s ecology.

- What benefits does the methanol plant ensures for the economy of the country?

- Methanol is the largest alternative to oil and gas. And if to take into account that it is less profitable to sell methanol to other countries than to leave it in our country for development of other enterprises, it is possible to calculate its efficiency. The plant area totals 20 hectares. To date, only one plant has been built on this area, and in the future, after the launch of the methanol plant it will be started construction of a number of small and medium-sized plants. This will enable development of small and medium businesses in Azerbaijan. The methanol plant will create a technical town around itself!

AzMeCo is currently negotiating with the Sumgait Industrial Park to build on its territory a plant for production of goods, for which methanol will be a raw material. On the territory of our plant both local and foreign entrepreneurs will be able to build different factories, and we are ready to supply them with raw materials. We can also acquire a stake in their enterprises so that they could feel confident themselves.  Besides, we are going to process gas and sell the finished products, and methanol will be the basis of the chemical industry and alternative energy in our country. We’ll sell raw materials to local consumers of methanol at prices to be much lower than world ones, that will interest investors. We’ll encourage production of chemical industry and alternative energy. For comparison, already today Turkey uses about 500,000 tons of methanol a year both in chemical industry and for production of consumer goods. Italy uses more than 800,000 tons of methanol, while China about 35-40 million tons a year. And by 2020 this country plans to increase production of methanol up to 50 million tons.

- What is volume of investments in methanol production in the country?

- Before its start-up, the plant construction will be invested $350 million, excluding bank interest rates, and the project payback period is 6 years. At the first stage of plant’s operation, we plan to export our products. Even such global companies as BP, Statoil, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and others have expressed their desire to purchase our products. In parallel, we will announce a tender and will attract additional credits for construction of other plants on the territory of our plant. First of all, we plan to build a plant for production of acetic acid, from which it is possible to produce synthetic polymers as methanol is easily converted into polymers, as well as in olefins.

- Do you have plans on construction of similar plants in other countries?

- All foreign visitors who visited our plant appreciate it quite high and even surprise that this work was done by a local company, as well as to the fact that an Azerbaijani company is the project general contractor is. On the basis of our enterprise we have also established an engineering company, and it is our pride. By the way, our engineering company was recently awarded a certificate of the oldest high-ranking European company TÜV - Austrian international certification company. As for the access to other countries, at the present we are negotiating with Kazakhstan and Iraq about construction of similar plants on their territory. As for the cost of construction, it will depend on the situation in the global market.

- How do you ensure social protection and safety of your employees, and what percentage of your employees does consist of the local work force?

- About 700 people worked on the territory of the plant from the very beginning of its construction, and foreigners, particularly specialists, whom we did not have at that time, made up only up to 10% of them. All employees involved in the construction are insured and receive the best medical care in health facilities. To date it has been spent 3 million man hours without a single loss on the plant’s territory, although damage is real on norms on already 1 million man-hours. We will provide promotional certificates to our engineers to ensure such volume of work without a single loss.

In general, the country that is rich in gas fields should have methanol plant! As methanol is an alternative energy that is favorable for the environment, development of chemistry and energy of the country.