Shell launches biodiesel facility in Australia

The Shell Company of Australia is to provide B20 to its Australian customers after opening a biodiesel facility in Victoria.

The biodiesel facility, which is built at Shell's Newport Terminal in Melbourne, officially opened on 29 May.

Australian Renewable Fuels (ARF) is providing Shell with the biodiesel part of the blend.

The total cost of the project was $5 million (€4 million), $2 million of which came from the Victorian Government and went towards the construction of the new tank and blending facility.

The new facility will provide 'greater access to biodiesel produced in regional Victoria, which will support jobs and investment and expand the local biofuels industry', Richard Dalla-Riva, Victoria Minister for employment and industrial relations, manufacturing, exports and trade, said in a statement.

Andrew Smith, Shell's VP of downstream Australia, said the facility's inauguration was 'one of the largest projects Shell has undertaken at its Newport terminal in 10 years'.

Shell's BioDiesel 20 is blended at Newport and comprises Shell diesel and 20% biodiesel made from vegetable oil or animal fats.