Doris Leblond
OGJ Correspondent
PARIS, Feb. 13 -- Plans to build a 200,000 tonne/year biodiesel unit at Total SA's Dunkirk site in France have been canceled, a joint venture of Finland's Neste Oil and Total reported. The JV had been formed in June 2005 to construct the facility.
Feasibility studies have shown that technical costs would have exceeded those to build the same unit in Finland. It is unclear whether Total might still use the technology at a later date or elsewhere, a Total spokeswoman told OGJ.
Neste Oil's other biodiesel projects continue as planned. A plant is in the final stages of construction at the company's Porvoo refinery in Finland, and is due on stream in the first half (OGJ, Dec. 11, 2006, Newsletter).
The company recently decided to build a second, identical plant on the same site, scheduled for commissioning at yearend 2008. The plants will have a combined capacity of 340,000 tonnes/year and would cost €200 million.
Neste Oil is working on plans with Austria's OMV AG to build a biodiesel plant at a site near Vienna based on Neste's proprietary NExBTL technology—synthetic biodiesel from animal fats and oils.