Pursuing our transformation for a cleaner, healthier future requires major efforts in innovation to bring new technologies to market. OMV is focusing on developing technologies that directly contribute to our sustainability targets, as well as researching breakthrough, high-impact technologies to enable OMV’s strategy implementation. The Company pursues innovation in-house and collaborates with extensive partner panels that include members from academia, private research institutes, and start-ups and have a balanced portfolio of technologies and products.
The OMV Group Innovation Ecosystem
To drive innovation across OMV, we established a centralized Innovation & Technology department in 2023 alongside the well-established innovation organization at Borealis. Additionally, product-related and applied innovation work is conducted by technical teams in the business segments.
The central Innovation & Technology department focuses on strategic and transformative topics across all three business segments, including the circular economy, fuels and feedstock innovation, new energy technologies, and biotechnology. The primary focus is on new technologies in the areas of eSAF, the circular economy including post-consumer plastic feedstock pretreatment and chemical recycling, carbon capture and utilization, hydrogen production, and new feedstock engineering via traditional or biotechnology routes.
In Chemicals, OMV and Borealis are actively exploring new solutions and technologies for delivering affordable and carbon-efficient products. The OMV Group is a frontrunner in circular economy solutions and has a strong focus on innovation and technology. The Group is committed to developing technologies that will provide solutions to the most critical issues facing society, including climate change, pollution, and increased energy costs.
To Innovate – We Collaborate
To accelerate innovation, diversify our portfolio of projects, and have a risk-balanced approach to technology development and implementation, OMV and OMV Petrom jointly signed an investment agreement with InnoEnergy (IE) in 2024. IE is a European company specializing in sustainable energy innovation and entrepreneurship. The company was established in 2010 as an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Since then, IE has created a trusted ecosystem that is anchored in EU institutions, active in 21 European countries and on the East Coast of the US.
The execution of OMV’s innovation and technology portfolio is performed by internal capabilities together with external partners from the world of academia and along the entire value chain. OMV has also joined the UIIN (University Industry Innovation Network), which is a global community dedicated to enhancing and fostering external collaborations between academia and industry for innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact. Through this network of universities and industry partners, UIIN facilitates knowledge exchange, research partnerships, and best practice sharing.
IP and Licensing
OMV actively pursues intellectual property protection, including patent rights regarding technology innovation. Technology licensing drives the commercialization of OMV’s patented technologies. The goal is to foster the growth of licensed businesses and guide customers through the entire cycle, from acquisition to delivery and support. An outstanding example in OMV’s licensing portfolio is ReOil®, OMV’s patented technology for the chemical recycling of post-consumer plastics, which is being commercialized in partnership with Wood PLC.
Technology Innovation
Circular Economy
OMV’s proprietary ReOil® thermal cracking technology was developed to meet the European Commission’s targets for the circular economy and to fulfill future packaging recycling quotas. OMV and Borealis are pursuing the clear ambition of becoming a leading player in chemical and mechanical recycling technologies. OMV has acquired more than 15 years of operational experience with the chemical recycling technology ReOil® thanks to rigorous testing and piloting. Since 2018, we have achieved nearly 30,000 cracking hours, gaining valuable experience and setting the stage for the highest capacity single-train plants in the market. The technology is highly scalable and can be seamlessly integrated into existing industrial setups, leveraging current assets.
Sustainable fuels
In the area of sustainable fuels, new technologies for the production of SAF via synthetic and HVO routes are being actively pursued. In the field of second-generation biofuels, OMV has a long-standing innovation commitment through its patented technology to convert crude glycerin to propanol, Glycerin2Propanol (G2P)®. The commissioning of a pilot plant with a capacity of 1,000 t p.a. located at the Schwechat refinery is due to be finished in early 2025. The end product, propanol, has better fuel blending properties and higher energy density than ethanol, making it an ideal advanced biobased gasoil blending component. It increases the octane rating of gasoline and at the same time reduces CO2 emissions during combustion.
Biotechnology
Biotechnology has transformative potential to contribute to OMV’s future. A new department has been established within Innovation & Technology to support all three business segments.
One focus is on exploring alternative carbon sources for current and future OMV feedstocks and products. From industrial to agricultural waste streams and carbon dioxide – we strive to tap into new resources with innovative enzymatic and microbial processes. A second focus is on providing bioprocesses for green drop-in products or new outputs, which have the potential to bring value to OMV in a changing world. The development of our own microbial strains and enzymes goes hand in hand with bioprocess engineering to develop proprietary solutions to future problems.
New energy technologies
The collaboration with Finnish start-up Hycamite targets innovation and technology in the field of methane splitting. In December 2024, the OMV Group increased its ownership in Hycamite by way of additional investments made by OMV Petrom. Their leading technology will accomplish the production of cost-effective, low-carbon hydrogen and high-value solid carbon from natural gas. Furthermore, it can even enable carbon-sink products by biogas feedstock blends.
In addition to the installation of the Carbon Capture (CC) pilot research center with a capacity of up to 1,000 t CO2 p.a., a series of disruptive, innovative CC processes are in the pipeline to be developed and industrialized in the coming years.
Applied Technologies
Chemicals
Innovation at Borealis is customer-driven and global in scope. Around 600 people are currently employed at Borealis’ three innovation hubs in Linz (Austria), Stenungsund (Sweden), and Porvoo (Finland). Having been ranked as the top Austrian innovator in the European Patent Index 2023, Borealis continues to expand its patent portfolio. In 2024, Borealis filed 121 new priority patent applications at the European Patent Office, versus 128 filed in 2023. As of December 2024, Borealis holds around 8,900 granted patents as well as approximately 3,400 patent applications, which are subsumed in approximately 1,600 patent families.
At Borealis, proprietary technologies like Borstar®, which continues to be developed within the Borstar® Nextension program, form the basis for material solutions that help industry to address urgent societal and environmental issues such as decarbonization, the green energy transition, and waste reduction. Thanks to its suite of technologies, Borealis can continually expand its offer of advanced specialty polyolefins to capitalize on the market potential of lucrative niche applications in sectors like renewable energy, mobility, healthcare, consumer packaging, and the circular economy.
Several 2024 product launches illustrate how collaboration with value chain partners and other stakeholders continues to facilitate the development of eco-efficient applications across diverse industry sectors. Launched at the WIRE trade fair in April, Borcycle™ ME7153SY, a unique and sustainable cable jacketing solution for low- and medium-voltage cables, contains 50% post-consumer recyclate. A new medium-voltage cable insulation grade, Borlink™ LS4301R, offers reduced emissions thanks to a newly optimized base resin and cross-linking agent. In infrastructure, cross-linked pipes (PE-X) produced using the HE1878E-C3 compound show exceptional resistance to the effects of chlorine, provide UV resistance, and achieve the highest Class 5 designation in accordance with the North American ASTM F876 specification standard.
Fuels & Feedstock
OMV actively explores alternative feedstocks, technologies, and fuels with the aim of developing a well-diversified, competitive future portfolio. Additional attention is given to the production of conventional and advanced biofuels, synthetic fuels, and green hydrogen as future fuels for the hard-to-electrify part of the transportation segment, and as the basis for sustainable chemicals. While the developed biogenic products will predominantly be sold as fuels initially due to a mandated market, they can also be used as chemical feedstock.
OMV commissioned the co-processing plant at the Schwechat refinery in mid-2024. The technology enables OMV to process biogenic feedstocks (e.g., rapeseed oil) together with fossil-based materials in an existing hydrotreating plant during the fuel refining process. This will reduce OMV’s carbon footprint by up to 360,000 t of CO2 per year by substituting fossil diesel. In 2024, OMV continued with the pilot production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) from another co-processing route in Schwechat, and the conversion of biogenic feedstock into high-value chemicals, such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, and benzene, in the refinery in Burghausen.
In June 2024, OMV Petrom took the final investment decision to build a SAF/HVO facility along with two facilities for green hydrogen which will be used in the production of biofuels. The investments for the SAF/HVO unit amount to EUR 560 mn. Starting in 2028, the plant will have a production capacity of 250 kt p.a. of SAF and HVO, as well as by-products like bio-naphtha and bio-LPG, which are used in the chemical industry. The high flexibility of the installation allows for the adjustment of the product mix according to market demand and the available feedstock mix. The plant will have an annual consumption of about 11 kt of hydrogen, most of which will be provided by the two new green hydrogen production units. The investment for the two green hydrogen units is estimated at about EUR 190 mn, of which up to EUR 50 mn is from European funds, through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). The two units will have a total capacity of 55 MW, with a total annual production of green hydrogen estimated at around 8 kt. Integrating green hydrogen into sustainable fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, will result in at least a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to conventional fuels.
OMV and its partners are working on the UpHy project with the intention of producing green hydrogen for use in the refining process. OMV is building an electrolysis plant at the Schwechat refinery for this purpose, to be powered with renewable electricity to produce green and low-carbon hydrogen. The green hydrogen will initially be used for fuel hydrogenation, including biofuels and SAF.
Energy
In Energy, OMV starts its Innovation & Technology efforts with maximizing production at mature assets and ends with contributing to the definition of energy storage in the future. This includes technology applications in geothermal energy, carbon capture, utilization, and storage, as well as renewable energy including hydrogen generation and storage. The development of state-of-the-art online monitoring, emission control technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning subsurface workflows, and water treatment ensure safe, sustainable, and stable operations worldwide. For this, OMV has highly specialized energy technology centers at the OMV Tech Center & Lab in Austria (TCL) and the OMV Petrom Upstream Laboratory (ICPT) in Romania.
In Romania, OMV Petrom started a drilling campaign in 2024 using one of the world’s most energy-efficient and automated onshore drilling rigs, with its fifth well nearing completion. The campaign aims to extract new resources from mature fields while improving the safety and efficiency of drilling operations. The rig, manufactured by Huisman in the Netherlands, is designed for fast and flexible operations, allowing quick movement between multiple wells and locations. It collects data during operations to enhance extraction efficiency and prevent technical difficulties. The rig’s automation reduces human errors and allows remote monitoring and control. Its electric power system improves fuel efficiency and reduces carbon footprint. This technology is also applicable for geothermal and Carbon Capture and Storage projects.
OMV is leveraging Smart Oil Recovery (SOR) technology to enhance oil recovery in its very mature reservoirs through polymer flooding. In addition to existing patterns, new patterns are constantly being developed and the proven technology is deployed in other Austrian fields. The first positive results from the ongoing alkali polymer pilot project in the Matzen field, a further innovative step to improve injectivity and enhance ultimate recovery, were reported in 2024.