Work begins on Repsol’s biofuels plant in Spain

Repsol's chairman Antonio Brufau attended the presentation of the beginning of the construction work of the first advanced biofuels plant in Spain at the company’s Cartagena refinery.
Repsol, in alignment with its ambition to become a net zero emissions company by 2050, will invest €200 million in this project that will enable the supply of 250,000 tonnes per year of advanced biofuels, such as biodiesel, biojet, bionaphtha, and biopropane to be used in planes, trucks or cars without the need for modifications of the existing engines.
These eco-fuels will be produced from residues and their use will help reduce 900,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The chairman of Repsol assured that "with this project, Cartagena is going to consolidate itself as a supply centre of fundamental products for the present and for the future, and an example of Repsol's commitment to sustainable mobility."
Brufau stressed the importance of committing to technological neutrality to be able to advance towards the goal of achieving zero net emissions by 2050. He called on public administrations to create "an enabling, facilitating, flexible, and non-exclusive regulation" that will permit the development of future projects, since only in this way " will we be protecting our economy, industry, and employment".
The project is being developed in four different areas covering a surface area of 41,500 m2.
Three of these will be located inside the refinery and correspond to the hydrotreating unit, the hydrogen production unit, and the biofuel storage tank area.
The fourth area will be located in the facilities of the Port Authority of Cartagena where Repsol operates.
This area will be equipped with the necessary infrastructures for the storage of 300,000 tonnes of different types of waste that will arrive by sea and the subsequent supply to domestic or export markets.
After the previous work of dismantling the disused facilities inside the refinery to house the new units - including the removal of 53,000 m3 of land - work is currently focused on civil works. Specifically, work has already begun on the construction of the tanks that will store the advanced biofuels.
In the areas where the hydrotreatment and hydrogen plants will be located, civil works related to the installation of concrete structures and the placement of racks for the pipelines through which the raw materials and the advanced biofuels will be transported are already underway.