Neste will carry out an approximately nine-week maintenance turnaround at the Porvoo refinery between August and October 2026. The total estimated cost of the project exceeds EUR 400 million. According to the company, the purpose of the turnaround is to ensure the plant's safety, availability and competitiveness. The scope of work will include tasks that require the refinery to be shut down, including statutory inspections, routine maintenance and initiatives related to improving production assets. Such turnarounds are usually carried out at intervals of 2.5 to 3 years. The company also emphasizes that fuel deliveries to customers will continue throughout the entire period of the work, and sales and distribution are to proceed without disruption thanks to advance production and stockpiling of products.
Around 7,500 people are expected to be involved in the project. About 1,000 of them will be Neste employees, while the remainder will be specialists from more than one hundred contractor companies. According to the company, more than 80% of the selected contractors are Finnish companies. Specialized experts from various fields will also arrive in Finland, including catalyst specialists from countries such as Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK.
Scope of the turnaround and continuity of deliveries
The maintenance turnaround will focus on work that cannot be carried out during normal operation of the installation. This will include statutory inspections, routine maintenance activities and initiatives aimed at improving the condition of production assets. "This is a major project with a total estimated cost of over EUR 400 million. A total of around 7,500 people will participate in the work. Around 1,000 of them are Neste's own employees, and the rest are experts from more than a hundred different contractor companies. Over 80% of the selected contractor companies are Finnish," said Jim Holmbäck, Director, Turnarounds.
The company states that the turnaround will not affect customer deliveries. Security of supply is to be ensured through advance production and stock building, which is intended to enable uninterrupted sales and distribution even during the shutdown of part of the operations. The Kilpilahti port and the Porvoo distribution terminal are expected to operate normally throughout the turnaround.
Impact on the surroundings
Neste expects that the turnaround will significantly increase traffic in the area. Due to the large number of workers, special traffic arrangements will be introduced in the Kilpilahti area. Information on these arrangements is to be published before the turnaround begins on the local website dedicated to the Kilpilahti area.
The company says it will take steps to minimize inconvenience to residents and other road users. However, short-term flaring and potential noise disturbance may occur in the surrounding area during both the shutdown and restart of the refinery. "Neste's goal is to ensure fuel distribution to customers as well as the safety and well-being of employees, service providers and partners throughout the turnaround," said Holmbäck.
Photo from the Porvoo maintenance turnaround in 2024. (Photo: Neste, Joonatan Leino)
