CEPSA starts construction of second-generation biofuel plant in Spain

Spanish energy firm CEPSA has commenced construction of a 500,000 mt/year second-generation biofuel plant in Spain.

PHOTO: Company representatives at the construction site. Cepsa

The new biofuel facility will be built in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva in Spain, next to Cepsa’s La Rábida Energy Park. Cepsa is partnering with Bio-Oils, a subsidiary of Indonesian vegetable oil processor Apical, for the project.

Apart from biofuels, the plant will produce biogas, which is essential to produce biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2). Biogenic CO2 is released because of the combustion or decomposition of organic material, that is, biomass and its derivatives.

Biogenic CO2 is crucial for the production of green methanol that can help decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors, including shipping.

The new plant is “a key element” of the entire Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley project that aims to decarbonise maritime transport.

Cepsa and biofuels

Cepsa is of the opinion that second-generation biofuels are key “to decarbonize land, sea, and air transport without the need to change existing engines.”

Second-generation biofuels are typically produced from non-food crops, including waste from food crops, agricultural residue, wood chips and waste cooking oil.

The new plant will produce 500,000 mt of biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (hydrogenated vegetable oil or HVO), annually and enable both companies to double their current second-generation biofuel capacity to 1 million mt/year, CEPSA claims.

However, the company has not disclosed if the renewable diesel will be supplied to the maritime sector.

In October, Cepsa started offering B24 biofuel blends to ships at the Port of Barcelona and is now capable of offering biofuel to nearby ports along the Strait of Gibraltar, as well as to 60 other Spanish ports by tanker.

By Tuhin Roy

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