Alex Trelinski
OIL company Cepsa has formed a joint venture to set up a large-scale biofuels plant in Andalucia.
Cepsa and Bio-Oils, who process vegetable oils, have announced their agreement with an investment of up to €1 billion at Cepsa’s La Rabita Energy Park in Huelva.
The facility is targeting the annual production of 500,000 tonnes per annum of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel for aviation, maritime and land transport.
The use of biofuels can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90% compared with conventional fossil-based fuels
Cepsa described the project as ‘the largest second generation biofuels plant’ in southern Europe.
Chief executive Maarten Wetselaar said that the joint venture ‘is a decisive step in our strategy to lead biofuels in Spain and Portugal’.
The two treatment units plant will source organic non-food waste feedstock supplied through a long-term agreement with Bio-Oils.
The feedstock will include agricultural residue and used cooking oils.
The agreement, Cepsa said, allows the company to overcome one of the main hurdles in scaling bio-refining, which is the access to feedstock.
Biorefining is a fast-growing sector that has been the target of large-scale investments from European companies, including fellow Spanish energy producer Repsol.
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