Neste Oil Corp. has let a contract to SHV Energy BV, the Netherlands, to market and sell biopropane that will be produced from a recently announced unit to be built at its 800,000-tonne/year Rotterdam renewable diesel refinery (OGJ Online, Oct. 6, 2014).
Over the agreement’s 4-year period, Neste Oil will supply a total of 160,000 tonnes of biopropane, which SHV Energy plans to sell in several European markets, Neste Oil said.
To date, SHV Energy already has initiated discussions with customers in France, Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia, and the UK, Neste Oil said.
The biopropane distribution agreement, which is the first of its kind in the world, will contribute to carbon savings by offering cleaner alternatives to high-carbon fuels upon which populations in currently off-grid areas depend, the companies said.
A value of the distribution contract was not disclosed.
First announced in September, the more than $77 million Rotterdam refinery biopropane project includes construction of a biopropane unit with a production capacity of 30,000-40,000 tpy, as well as associated storage tanks and pipework (OGJ Online, Sept. 10, 2014).
Earlier this month, Neste Oil let a contract to Neste Jacobs Oy of Findland for engineering, procurement, and construction management for the project, on which construction was set to begin immediately.
Neste Oil said it expects production and sales of biopropane to start by yearend 2016.
