INEOS Chocolate Bayou Plant
Large load · Alvin, TX
Chocolate Bayou Works is a 2,400-acre (971-hectare) petrochemical complex in Alvin, Texas, 45 miles south of Houston. It is operated by INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA and includes two hydrocarbon crackers, two polypropylene lines, a linear alpha olefins plant and a polyalphaolefins plant, with company-stated output of 3,293 kt of product per year. An onsite combined heat and power station generates approximately 100 MW of gross electrical power and supplies steam to the chemical plant.
Overview
The complex makes butadiene, ethylene, polypropylene, propylene, linear alpha olefins and polyalphaolefins. Its two crackers and two polypropylene trains have annual capacity of 4.8 billion lbs. of ethylene and 1.3 billion lbs. of polypropylene, and the co-located INEOS Oligomers plants add 420,000 metric tons per year of linear alpha olefins and 120,000 metric tons of polyalphaolefins. A power disturbance on October 20, 2026 sent the olefins units into failsafe, and the units were de-inventoried by flaring. An unscheduled outage at one of the crackers reduced INEOS's fourth-quarter 2024 results by EUR 25 million.
Profile
- Electricity and grid
- INEOS owns and operates the Chocolate Bayou Steam Generating Station, a combined heat and power plant that provides electrical power and steam to the chemical plant and supplies the ERCOT grid. Its two combustion turbine generators are rated at approximately 50 MW each, for about 100 MW of onsite generation, and each unit may supply no more than 20 MW to ERCOT. The project includes no steam turbine generator; all steam from the heat recovery steam generator goes to the chemical plant's steam header. A diesel black-start generator rated at 2,000 HP is limited to 100 annual hours of non-emergency operation. INEOS also markets surplus power to third parties through short- and long-term supply agreements.
- Ownership and permits
- INEOS USA LLC is the owner in EPA's NPDES records, and INEOS US I Inc is the corporate parent reported in the 2024 TRI facility profile. The steam generating station operates under federal operating permit O3966, which had a renewal statement of basis dated April 19, 2024. INEOS Oligomers' initial federal operating permit application, O4921, had a statement of basis dated September 1, 2026. INEOS Oligomers invested $500 million in its linear alpha olefins and polyalphaolefins facility at the site.
Facility
- Activity
- Butadiene, ethylene, polypropylene, propylene, linear alpha olefins and polyalphaolefins
- Industry
- Industrial
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating