The Chairman of Repsol, Antonio Brufau, visited Cartagena to find out the details of the start of work on the first advanced biofuels plant in Spain that the company is building at its Cartagena refinery. In the institutional act, in which the director of the refinery, Antonio Mestre , has acted as host, Brufau has been accompanied by the president of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, the Government Delegate in the Region of Murcia, José Vélez, the Mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, and other representatives of the regional and local administration and business entities. 

 

Repsol, in its ambition to be a net zero emissions company by 2050, will invest 200 million euros in this project that will supply 250,000 tons of advanced biofuels per year, such as biodiesel, biojet, bionaphtha and biopropane, which can be used in aircraft, ships, trucks or cars without the need to make modifications to the engine. These ecofuels will be produced from waste and their use will reduce 900,000 tons of CO2 per year.

 

The Chairman of Repsol has assured that "Cartagena is going to consolidate itself with this project as a supply center for fundamental products for the present and for the future, and an example of Repsol's commitment to sustainable mobility". Antonio Brufau , has highlighted the importance of betting on technological neutrality to advance in the objective of reaching zero net emissions in 2050, and has asked the public administrations for "an enabling, facilitating, flexible and non-exclusive regulation" that makes possible the development of future projects since, only in this way, "we will be protecting our economy, industry and employment". 

 

For his part, the President of the Regional Government, Fernando López Miras, stated that “Repsol is committed to progress, development and sustainability. Cartagena and Repsol have grown hand in hand, so much so that it is not possible to understand the development of Escombreras and its conversion into a world energy pole without Repsol. And now, to this we add good news such as the construction of the first advanced biofuels plant in Spain, a cutting-edge plant that is a magnificent example of what is known today as the circular economy.

 

The Government Delegate in the Region of Murcia, José Vélez, has pointed out that "with the construction of this first advanced fuel plant, Repsol will once again be one of the great companies in the Region that channels quality employment and powerful investments, placing the Region at the forefront of technology”.

 

The mayor of Cartagena, Noelia Arroyo, considers that "what begins today is another great industrial commitment by Repsol in Cartagena, due to the investment it represents, the employment it generates and the activity it will entail within the Valle de Escombreras". In addition, she has highlighted that "it exemplifies the industrial application of the most avant-garde research in the field of fuel generation through recycling".

 

Regarding the project, the director of the Repsol refinery in Cartagena, Antonio Mestre, highlighted that the new plant "is a tangible example of a circular economy that will allow us to offer sustainable mobility solutions to all sectors of society, and a very important step." important in the transformation of the industrial complex as a multi-energy pole”.

 

Repsol has been incorporating biofuels into its automotive fuels for more than two decades. Now it is going a step further and, using the circular economy as a tool, it will produce advanced biofuels from different types of waste from the agri-food industry and others, such as used cooking oils. In this way, Repsol manages to give a second life to waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill and transforms it into products with high added value. 

 

Advanced biofuels are a sustainable solution for all mobility segments, and especially for those that do not have another alternative to decarbonise their activity, such as maritime, long-distance or aviation transport. With them it is possible to reduce between 65 and 85% net CO 2 emissions compared to the traditional fuels they replace. 

 

Repsol relies on the circular economy, as one of its strategic pillars, to manufacture products with a low, zero or even negative carbon footprint. The objective is to produce two million tons of biofuels with a low carbon footprint in 2030, which will mitigate more than seven million tons of CO2 per year.

 

The project is being developed in four different areas that cover an area of 41,500 m 2. Three of them will be located inside the refinery and correspond to the hydrotreatment unit, the hydrogen production unit and the deposit area for the storage of biofuels. The fourth zone will be located in the facilities of the Cartagena Port Authority where Repsol operates. In this area, the necessary infrastructure will be set up for the storage of the 300,000 tons per year of the different types of waste that will arrive by sea, and its subsequent supply to the national or export market. 

 

After the previous works of dismantling the facilities in disuse inside the refinery to house the new units - with the dismantling of 53,000 m 3 of land -, at present, the tasks are focused on civil works. Specifically, the works for the construction of the deposits that will store the advanced biofuels have already begun. In the areas where the hydrotreatment and hydrogen plants will be located, civil works are already being carried out related to the installation of concrete structures and the placement of racks for the pipes through which the raw materials and advanced biofuels will move.

 

240 auxiliary companies and 1,000 people will participate in the construction work

 

The expansion of the Cartagena refinery facilities to build the new advanced biofuels plant, which will be equipped with cutting-edge technology, will mean the generation of some 1,000 jobs in the different phases of the project and the involvement of 240 companies auxiliaries - of which 21% will be local, 25% regional, 42% national and 12% international.   

 

Currently, more than 25 contracting companies and some 300 people are already working inside the refinery. The figure will increase until it reaches 600 employees on average, anticipating that the peak will be reached next fall with some 800 direct and indirect workers. 

 

Since the project was launched, Repsol has allocated more than 72 million euros to previous engineering work, ordering of equipment and labor from auxiliary companies.

 

The Cartagena refinery is one of the main economic engines and generators of employment in the Region of Murcia. Nearly 900 highly qualified people work in the industrial complex, performing their work in highly specialized positions. In addition to direct employment, the refinery generates some 400 jobs through contractor companies on a recurring basis, rising to 2,000 to undertake specific projects.

 

Repsol has invested more than 456 million euros in the Cartagena industrial complex in the last ten years. To this amount, we must add the refinery expansion project, inaugurated in 2012 by His Majesty King Felipe VI, then Prince, and which represented the largest industrial investment made in Spain, worth 3,200 million euros, placing the complex at the forefront of technology in its sector. Today, the Cartagena refinery is a benchmark industrial model and is among the most efficient facilities in Europe.

 

Currently, the Cartagena industrial complex is facing a transformation that will involve an evolution of its processes to become a multi-energy pole capable of producing a multitude of products with low, zero or even negative carbon footprint. To do this, Repsol will use all available technologies such as renewable hydrogen, circular economy and capture and use of CO 2 , and will rely on different tools, including digitization and energy efficiency. In 2021 alone, during the maintenance work at the lubricant units and at the last scheduled stoppage carried out in the conversion and hydrotreatment areas, Repsol has invested 31 million euros in projects to improve the energy efficiency of its facilities in Cartagena .

 

The community institutions have already marked, through the RED II directive, the roadmap for the decarbonization of transport, establishing a share of renewable energies in final energy consumption that must be at least 14% in 2030. Of that percentage, at least 3.5% must be advanced biofuels in that year. Furthermore, in July 2021, the European Commission published a new legislative package to increase the level of ambition for CO 2 reductions in 2030 and align it with the objective of achieving climate neutrality in 2050. This package, called Fit for 55 , because it promotes that the reduction of CO 2 emissionsin the European economy as a whole reaches 55% in 2030, it puts the focus on the need to increase the speed of decarbonisation of transport. Among other measures, it includes the RefuelEU Aviation initiative, which sets the objective of boosting the supply and demand of sustainable aviation fuels in the European Union ̶ such as biofuels and advanced biofuels ̶ , reaching a use of 2% in 2025, from 5% in 2030 and 63% in 2050.

 

For its part, the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) establishes an even more demanding objective of 28% renewable energy in transport by the year 2030. The PNIEC recognizes that biofuels constitute the most widely available renewable technology and currently used in transport, especially in sectors such as heavy vehicles, aviation and maritime, where electrification currently presents difficulties. In addition, the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, approved in May 2021, contains an article dedicated to sustainable alternative fuels in transport, with special emphasis on advanced biofuels and others of non-biological origin. 

 

Repsol is fully aligned with these initiatives and supports the achievement of these objectives with the construction of the first advanced biofuels plant and other projects that it has underway. Specifically, the multi-energy company has processed, for the first time at its refinery in A Coruña, frying oil to manufacture biodiesel, and batches of biojet have been produced at its refineries in Puertollano, Tarragona and Bilbao, which have allowed, together with Iberia and Vueling, carrying out the first flights with biofuel produced in Spain from waste. In this way, Repsol anticipates the regulatory framework and decisively advances in its goal of being a carbon-neutral company offering sustainable fuels to sectors that are difficult to decarbonise, such as aviation, long-distance transport or maritime.