Research, Development and Innovation

Our research, development and innovation activities are organised around 12 Technology Domains:

• in the Upstream & Supply segment – Modern Upstream;
• in the Downstream segment – Efficient Refining Production, Advanced Petrochemical Production and New Generation Materials, Hydrogen Technologies, Biofuels, Biochemicals, and Fertiliser Business Development;
• in the Energy segment – Clean Energy Generation and Energy Storage;
• in the Consumers & Products segment – Modern Customer Service and Service Station of the Future;
• the Recycling (Circular Economy) and Emission Reduction Pathways domains, supporting the objectives set for the Downstream, Energy and Upstream & Supply segments.

To foster innovation and increase the Group’s involvement in developing and testing new technologies, we are building an organisational culture that embraces innovation and putting in place a comprehensive innovation ecosystem. It currently includes:

• the Research and Development Centre in Płock – development of proprietary technologies; pilot plant and R&D projects;
• a science collaboration platform – joint R&D projects with more than 20 universities and research institutes;
• start-up acceleration programmes – ORLEN Skylight and participation in the Startup Booster Poland initiative financed under the FENG programme;
• the ORLEN VC Fund – a corporate venture capital fund investing in minority interests in start-ups and other VC funds;
• other initiatives, including the H2 Academy, Neon grant programme (run jointly with the National Centre for Research and Development), and the Next Catalysis Consortium;
• technology partnerships with leading technology companies, including Google Cloud and Microsoft, focused on digitalising production processes and implementing AI solutions.

In 2025, we continued to expand the research capabilities of our R&D Centre in Płock. The Centre operates pilot plants that replicate key refining and petrochemical processes, enabling research into production process optimisation, fuel testing and development of new petrochemical products.

Its research infrastructure also includes advanced laboratories where teams work on new oil and lubricant formulations, as well as new types of road bitumen.

Key R&D projects in 2025

In the Upstream & Supply segment, we continued work on a methodology for processing data acquired using Distributed Acoustic Sensing technology to process fibre-optic measurements recorded in wellbores, an innovative method for high-resolution seabed surveying, and implementation of an optical borehole televiewer as an innovative wellbore imaging system.

Activities in the Downstream segment focused on developing proprietary catalyst technologies for industrial processes. In cooperation with leading Polish scientific institutions, we carried out research to develop innovative catalytic materials aligned with the technological needs of ORLEN’s production facilities. Deployment of the catalysts is expected to improve process efficiency and, as a result, bring down production costs.

We also continued R&D projects aimed at reducing the carbon intensity of our production processes. Key initiatives related to proprietary technologies included research into the potential use of methane pyrolysis and work on the development and scale-up of solid oxide cell (SOC) high-temperature electrolysis technology. In the future, deployment of these technologies will enable efficient production of green hydrogen for ORLEN’s process needs.

At ORLEN Południe, R&D work continued on the development and scaling of the company’s proprietary lactic acid production technology. Lactic acid is used in a wide range of industries, including in the production of biodegradable packaging made from polylactic acid.

In the Energy segment, R&D work focused on the development of a mobile heat storage unit based on phase-change materials. The system is intended for the district heating market. Once the research work is completed, the company’s offering will be expanded to include an advanced new device designed to supply energy for central heating and domestic hot water in multi-family and municipal buildings.

As part of our collaboration with emerging technology companies, in 2025 we joined the Startup Booster Poland programme and continued application rounds under our corporate acceleration programme, ORLEN Skylight. Acceleration programmes create opportunities to test and implement technological solutions aligned with the ORLEN Group’s long-term development plans in areas including decarbonisation, digitalisation, operational efficiency, sustainability, the circular economy and power generation. In 2025, more than 100 technology challenges were defined as part of the ORLEN Group’s acceleration programme calls. We worked with 15 start-ups in retail, refining production, logistics, water and wastewater management, marketing and power generation. Examples of our successful collaboration with start-ups include the deployment of a digital twin at the crude distillation unit at the Płock production plant, which significantly improved process efficiency, a project involving the use of fibre-optic technology to monitor and enhance the safety of logistics infrastructure, and the implementation of a system for predicting wind turbine productivity, enabling optimisation of maintenance processes.