Repsol gets EIB grant to develop biofuels facility in Spain

Spanish energy company Repsol has been granted funds worth over $127 million by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to develop a biofuels production plant at its facility in Cartagena, Spain.

PHOTO: Repsol’s chief financial officer Antonio Lorenzo with EIB vice president Ricardo Mourinho Félix. Repsol

The company intends to process about 300,000 mt/year of biomass at the facility to produce around 250,000 mt/year of second generation, or advanced, biofuels. These are manufactured from various types of non-food biomass comprising animal fats and non-edible vegetable oils.

Construction of the facility started in March this year and is scheduled to be completed by the second half of 2023.

Repsol claims that these biofuels can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 70-90% compared to conventional fuels.

The grant will also fund research on advanced biofuels at Repsol's Technology Lab in Madrid.

Repsol’s chief financial officer Antonio Lorenzo believes that the project will support a “rapid, effective and just energy transition.” EIB vice president Ricardo Mourinho Félix said the EIB is “committed to financing green transformation, the use of alternative energy sources and innovative research programs across Europe.”

Biofuels have increasingly been gaining traction amid shipowners to reduce near-term carbon emissions as these can be used as drop-in fuels through blending with conventional fuels.

Earlier this month, bunker supplier Gib Oil bunkered one of Norwegian Cruise Line’s ships with a biodiesel blend in Gibraltar.

By Tuhin Roy

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