Inspectioneering
News

Shell Rheinland Refinery Plans to Shift Towards Low or Zero Carbon Products

Reuters, November 4, 2021
Reuters

Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday it plans to shift its Shell Rheinland refinery at Wesseling in Germany away from crude oil and towards low or zero carbon products from 2025.

Shell has set a goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and is under increased pressure after a Dutch court ruled it must drastically deepen planned greenhouse gas cuts.

Under its transformation plans, the complex will become Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland, a venture focused on renewable energy-derived hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuels and renewable liquefied biogas (bio-LNG).

Wesseling is one of two sites that make up the Shell Rheinland refinery complex and out of a total 340,000 barrels per day capacity, it accounts for 150,000 bpd.

Godorf, the other site, will continue to distil crude oil into mineral oil products under the plans, which have not yet received a final investment decision (FID), Shell's German business said in a statement.

The plants employ a total 3,000 people, of which half are with Shell and the rest with contractor firms and Shell said it would try and avoid redundancies as workers could be switched to other jobs, retrained, or retired.

In July, Shell launched Europe's biggest hydrogen electrolysis plant of 10 megawatts (MW) called Refhyne at Wesseling to produce green fuels.

A final investment decision (FID) for scaling up the 10 MW size to 100 MW has not yet been received but European Union funding has been approved.

A power-to-liquid (ptl) plant for synthetic aviation fuel and naptha from renewables and biomass at Wesseling is also awaiting a final investment decision, while a bio-LNG plant at Godorf has received one already.

Marco Richrath, General Manager of the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland, said on a call with reporters that he intended to maintain the refinery's important role with a completely new portfolio.


(Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff and Vera Eckert; Editing by Miranda Murray and Alexander Smith)

Click here to read the full article from Reuters.

Copyright 2024 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Comments and Discussion

There are no comments yet.

Add a Comment

Please log in or register to participate in comments and discussions.


Inspectioneering Journal

Explore over 20 years of articles written by our team of subject matter experts.

Company Directory

Find relevant products, services, and technologies.

Training Solutions

Improve your skills in key mechanical integrity subjects.

Case Studies

Learn from the experience of others in the industry.

Integripedia

Inspectioneering's index of mechanical integrity topics – built by you.

Industry News

Stay up-to-date with the latest inspection and asset integrity management news.

Blog

Read short articles and insights authored by industry experts.

Expert Interviews

Inspectioneering's archive of interviews with industry subject matter experts.

Event Calendar

Find upcoming conferences, training sessions, online events, and more.

Downloads

Downloadable eBooks, Asset Intelligence Reports, checklists, white papers, and more.

Videos & Webinars

Watch educational and informative videos directly related to your profession.

Acronyms

Commonly used asset integrity management and inspection acronyms.