Cepsa to offer biofuel blends after successful trial

Spanish oil company Cepsa has successfully trialled biofuel on one of its vessels and is set to offer the blend to its customers.

PHOTO: Cepsa’s bunker vessel supplies biofuel to the Montestena. Cepsa

The trial was carried out over several weeks on the Montestena, a vessel owned by Grupo Ibaizabal.

The biofuel is a blend of used oils and conventional VLSFO. It was produced at Cepsa’s Bioenergy plant in Cádiz, Spain and delivered to the Montestena via one of its bunkering vessels in the Bay of Algeciras.

Cepsa claims that the biofuel component of the blend can reduce the ship's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 85% on a lifecycle assessment basis when compared to fossil fuels. It did not disclose the ratio of biofuel to VLSFO - which has big implications for its carbon emission reduction potential.

The company intends to scale up biofuels production in Spain and Portugal to 2.5 million mt by 2030.

“At Cepsa, we are putting all our experience into making biofuels a sustainable alternative for the present, while at the same time advancing in new technologies that will make it possible to further decarbonize this sector in the future, such as through green ammonia, e-methanol or biogas," Cepsa's bunker director Carlos Giner said.

Cepsa says no ship modifications are required to use its blend.

Exploration of biofuels has been gaining momentum among shipowners to reduce near-term carbon emissions as these can used as drop-in fuels after being blended with conventional fuels.

Last month, Hong Kong-based shipping line OOCL completed a 41-day trial run of a biofuel blend supplied by Chevron Singapore. And separately, US-based cruise line Virgin Voyages teamed up with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and three biofuel providers - Argent Energy, GoodFuels and Twelve – to develop a bio-bunker supply.

By Tuhin Roy

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