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The Enefit280 oil plan which reached stable operation in the spring is testing its planned top capacities by processing up to 260 tons of oil shale per hour. For the first time in the world electricity production has been integrated with a new generation oil plant, adding 35 MW of electricity production to capacity from the by-products of oil.

According to Sandor Liive, chairman of the management board of Enefit, whether the oil plan will start or not has never been a question for Enefit’s engineers. “It is a fact that the plant is working. Our oil industry engineers can be proud of their development work while the largest shale oil production plant is reaching its top capacity. Today it can be said that Enefit has developed the oil production technology of the 21st century and achieved a world record while at it,” added Liive.

Igor Kond, Chairman of the Management Board of Enefit Oil and Gas added that the work done with Enefit280 has proved that the technology is a lot more efficient than before. “As a result of joining the Enefit280 oil production facility with a modern combustion plant based on fluidised bed technology, air emissions are now several times lower than those of other Estonian oil plants and the process results in ash which is free from organic compounds and can be recycled,” explains Kond.

“When compared to the direct combustion of oil shale, the shale gas which is a by-product of oil production emits 40% less CO2 in the production of electricity. This means that modern oil shale production technology is keeping up with the increasingly strict climate politics,” he added. The oil yield of the new plan is better than that of the previous production facilities and the oil produced in the plant is of a higher quality.

One Enefit280 shale oil plant, capable of processing up to 280 tons of oil shale in an hour, adds approximately 2 million barrels of shale oil and 75 million cubic metres of shale gas a year to the production capacities of Eesti Energia. The plant has an integrated 35 megawatt steam-driven turbine, which uses residual heat to generate electricity to run the plant. The plant is currently producing a stable 25 MW of electrical energy which is sufficient for covering the electricity needs of the plant and fuel delivery and some of the electrical energy produced is sold to the electricity market.

Shale oil was first produced in the new Enefit280 oil plant in December 2012 and since then the capacity and working time of the plant has been gradually increased. Global practice of chemical plant start-up has shown that reaching full capacity with new technology usually takes up to 3 years.