Shell will not restart construction of Rotterdam biofuels plant

Shell Nederland Raffinaderij, a subsidiary of Shell plc, has decided against restarting construction of its planned biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park in Rotterdam, which began three years ago.
Following an in-depth commercial and technical evaluation to reassess the project's competitiveness, Shell will no longer proceed with the project.
Machteld de Haan, Shell’s downstream, renewables and energy solutions president, said: “As we evaluated market dynamics and the cost of completion, it became clear that the project would be insufficiently competitive to meet our customers’ need for affordable, low carbon products.
“This was a difficult decision, but the right one, as we prioritise our capital towards those projects that deliver both the needs of our customers and value for our shareholders.
“We continue to believe that low carbon molecules, including biofuels, will underpin the future energy system. Shell is at the forefront of this industry and its development as one of the world's largest traders and suppliers of biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).”
Shell is taking action to be the investment case and partner of choice through the energy transition.
Between 2023 and 2024, Shell has invested $8 billion (€6.9 billion) in lower carbon options, including power, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and low-carbon fuels.
In 2024, Shell traded over 10 billion litres of low carbon fuels and sold 10 times more than we produced. In the same year, Shell became one of the world’s leading suppliers of SAF.
The Netherlands remains a key location for Shell, where our businesses span the breadth of its energy system - from upstream production of oil and gas through to our network of retail sites.
In recent years, Shell has invested €6.5 billion (€5.6 billion) across a wide range of energy transition projects in the Netherlands.
This includes enabling CO2 storage through the Porthos CCS project, developing renewable hydrogen at Holland Hydrogen 1, and installing new furnaces and the electrification of key manufacturing processes at Shell Chemicals Park Moerdijk.