The Pörner Group was founded by Kurt Thomas Pörner, Who began the Pörner Technical Bureau in 1972. The company grew from there, opening its first subsidiary in Linz in 1975. In the 1970s Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH, situated in ViennaAustria, acquired the rights to license the Biturox® process for upgrading bitumen by means of selective air oxidation developed by the Austrian oil company OMV. Pörner licensed its first Biturox® plant to NIOC Isfahan in Iran. In parallel with the rapid growth of the industry in Europe and worldwide, in the 1980s the Pörner Group expanded and realized several larger projects for refineries as well as for environmental facilities. In 1992 the Pörner Group opened its first foreign subsidiary in Grimma, Germany which specialises in process plants for the chemical industry. Shortly thereafter another Austrian subsidiary in Kundl, Tyrol was founded to supply the pharmaceutical industry, energy supply and industrial building services in the area. In 2003 the Pörner group acquired 100% shares in EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft, a Leipzig, Germany based company. EDL specializes in refinery, chemical, petrochemical and gas sector clients. In 2019, EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft also signed a cooperation agreement for a study. This study, done in cooperation with the Rotterdam The Hague Innovation Airport aims to develop a demonstration plant that produces renewable jet fuel from air. It will use Climeworks’ direct air capture technology. In 2005 the Pörner Bitumen Packing System was launched and earned the Pörner Group the . The system allows bitumen to be packed and transported by alternative means, namely in cold state, rather than the traditional way of long distance bulk transportation. Gazintek was the next acquisition for the Pörner Group, with the company buying 70% of the shares in 2005 and the remainder in 2007. Gazintek is mainly focused on providing detailed engineering services for the gas industry. Gazintek does business with European and Russian companies who have worldwide interests including Africa and Asia. The Pörner group also has a subsidiary in Romania, focusing on engineering of process plants to service the refineries in the area. In 2012 Pörner celebrated its 40th anniversary and their subsidiary, EDL celebrated its 20th anniversary. In the fall of 2014, a representative office in Moscow was opened. In 2015 Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft received the nomination of the State Award "Engineering Consulting 2015" for the project "Clean Air for Siberia: Planning a desulfurization plant for Norilsk Nickel". In the same year Pörner developed its own modern concept "Anlagenbau 4.0" for the best possible project realisation. In 2016 Pörner granted its 50th Biturox® license worldwide. The bitumen oxidation technology Biturox® was licensed to HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited in India. In March 2016, OOO "Pörner Group Russia” has officially become an independent subsidiary of the Pörner Group in Moscow. In 2018 Pörner opened a representative office in Burghausen, Germany. On March 1, 2020, a new competence center ‘Pörner Water′ was created in Vienna head office.
