Repsol and Aramco to develop synthetic fuel plant in Bilbao

The plant is expected to be commissioned in two years and have capacity to produce 2,100 mt/year of synthetic fuel initially.

PHOTO: Aerial view of Bilbao port. Bilbao port authority

Repsol and Aramco have partnered to build a synthetic fuel plant in Spain’s Bilbao. Synthetic fuel will be produced using green hydrogen and carbon dioxide and is likely to be blended further before it can be consumed as marine fuel, they say.

A combination of production technologies developed by BP and technology firm Johnson Matthey will be used in the plant to produce premium synthetic crude oil, says Johnson Matthey.

Synthetic gas generated from industrial emissions, municipal waste and direct air capture can be converted to hydrocarbons through technology developed by BP and Johnson Matthey. The hydrocarbons are suitable to produce diesel and jet fuels, claims Johnson Matthey.

Johnson Matthey recently launched a catalyser technology to convert carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into carbon monoxide, which is then further combined with additional hydrogen to form synthetic gas.

The two technologies allow the firms to produce sustainable fuel from carbon dioxide and green hydrogen "as unique raw materials, says Repsol’s Industrial Transformation and Deep Tech director Adriana Orejas.