Nova breaks ground at Joffre, Alta. expansion

Nova Chemicals has begun construction on the expanded polyethylene facilities at its site in Joffre, Alta.

In a ceremony held on June 7 at the packing facility of their Joffre plant, Nova Chemicals CEO Randy Woelfel, and several local and provincial dignitaries marked the occasion. The project is expected to produce hundreds of jobs and stimulate further economic growth for the area before and after its completion between late 2015 and early 2016.

According to Calgary-based Nova, the site which will include a world-scale polyethylene reactor (R3). “While R3 and associated infrastructure require a significant $900-million capital investment, the project is categorized as modest derivative expansion, largely integrated within the site’s existing footprint,” Nova said in a statement.

Once commissioned in the fall of 2015, the R3 reactor will be the third in Nova’s existing polyethylene facility. R3 has been designed to produce between 950 to 1,100 million pounds of linear low density polyethylene, Nova said, which will be an approximate 40 per cent increase in its overall site polyethylene capacity.