TotalEnergies Petrochemicals , Gonfreville l'orcher — France

TotalEnergies Petrochemicals , Gonfreville l'orcher is a petrochemical plant in France. Its listed capacity is 525,000 t of ethylene. Petrochemical plants crack hydrocarbons at very high temperatures to produce ethylene, propylene and other building-block chemicals — one of the most heat-intensive industrial processes. It is operated by TotalEnergies SE. By capacity it ranks #2 among 6 petrochemical plants in France. It emits about 658,286 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 1.2% of the CO₂e from the 117 facilities in France that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-18648351.

In context: how this facility compares

At 525,000 t of ethylene, TotalEnergies Petrochemicals , Gonfreville l'orcher is around the median petrochemical plant in France (470,000 t of ethylene). Subsector: petrochemical-steam-cracking. As petrochemical plant, it requires high process heat (typically 300–800°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Petrochemical plants crack hydrocarbons at very high temperatures to produce ethylene, propylene and other building-block chemicals — one of the most heat-intensive industrial processes.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 658,286 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest petrochemical plants in France

Listed capacity (t of ethylene), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by TotalEnergies SE. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

TotalEnergies Petrochemicals , Gonfreville l'orcher sits in a temperate oceanic climate zone (Köppen Cfb), at 49.5°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1388 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.07× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #2 largest of 6 petrochemical plants in France by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Le Havre Fertilizers · Chemical Plant · 242,714 t CO₂
• Total Normandy Refinery · Refinery · 2,943,994 t CO₂
• ExxonMobil Port Jerome-Gravenchon Refinery · Refinery · 2,121,679 t CO₂
• ExxonMobil Corp., Notre Dame · Petrochemical · 401,533 t CO₂
• Ranville Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 103,042 t CO₂
• Sté Fromagère D'Orbec · Food & Beverage

Location

Coordinates 49.48036, 0.21537. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions