Royal Dutch Shell PLC has taken final investment decision (FID) on an 820,000-tonne/year biofuels plant at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands, formerly known as the Pernis refinery. The plant is expected to start production in 2024.
Shell says the plant will be among the biggest in Europe to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste, producing enough renewable diesel to avoid 2,800,000 tonnes/year of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions the equivalent of taking more than 1 million European cars off the roads. A range of certified sustainable vegetable oils, such as rapeseed, will supplement the waste feedstocks until even more sustainable advanced feedstocks are widely available. SAF will make up more than half of the plant’s production.
Shell plans to capture carbon emissions from the plant’s manufacturing process and store them in the empty P18-2 gas field beneath the North Sea via the Port of Rotterdam CO2 Transport Hub and Offshore Storage (Porthos) project. Porthos will include a roughly 30-km 42-in. OD onshore pipeline through the port which Denys has been contracted to build. FID for Porthos is expected next year.
As part of its Powering Progress strategy, Shell is transforming its 14 refineries into five energy and chemicals parks (OGJ Online, Nov. 23, 2020). Shell aims to reduce the production of traditional fuels by 55% by 2030 and provide more low-carbon fuels such as biofuels for road transport and aviation, as well as hydrogen. The Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam is the second park to be announced, following the launch in July 2021 of the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland, Germany.