Nordic oil firm signs Haldor Topsoe for renewable diesel plant
October 6, 2017
BY St1
Energy company St1 continues its series of investments, targeting to begin the production of renewable diesel in 2020 at its refinery in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company has now signed an engineering design package and license agreement with Haldor Topsoe for a renewable diesel production unit, which would be integrated with the St1 Refinery. The construction of the plant will be subject to final investment decision after completion of the design in spring 2018 and after obtaining required environmental permits. The company announced a €40 million investment in a hydrogen unit at the refinery in July. The hydrogen unit represents the first step in the renewable diesel production investment program targeting an annual capacity of 200,000 tons in renewable diesel production.
The Nordic energy company St1 operates in Sweden, Finland and Norway. The objective of St1’s long-term advanced renewable fuels strategy is to competitively fulfill the 2030 regulations planned in its home market. Sweden will face a challenging greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction obligation, while Finland and Norway must meet tightening biofuels mandates. Despite the increasing binding targets, major regulatory uncertainties remain with respect to feedstocks.
“The Nordic countries in which St1 operates have the world’s most ambitious renewable fuels targets,” said Hilde Wahl, CEO of St1 Sverige. “It would therefore be logical for us to invest in renewable diesel production at our refinery. However, forthcoming EU legislation, particularly concerning feedstocks, is casting a long shadow of political uncertainty, which is making the investment decision very difficult. A flexible feedstock base is therefore the only feasible alternative for us when planning the plant. It will deliver sustainable, high-quality transportation fuels for today’s and future vehicle fleets.”
St1 also continues to develop new, advanced ethanol production technologies with a strong focus on lignocellulosic feedstocks. The first Cellunolix plant to manufacture advanced ethanol from sawdust is in the commissioning phase in Kajaani, Finland. The company is also seeking locations for new Cellunolix plants in its operating countries. A letter of intent was signed in 2016 for a plant in the industrial area of Follum in Hønefoss, Norway, for example. St1 already operates five dispersed ethanol plants producing advanced waste-based ethanol for transportation, using bio waste as feedstock. One of the ethanol plants is integrated with the St1 refinery in Gothenburg with the capacity of 5 million liters of advanced ethanol a year, using 20,000 tons of bakery waste as feedstock.
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”Renewable diesel production in Sweden will perfectly complement our commitment to reduce fossil CO2 emissions in line with our vision,” said Kim Wiio, CEO of St1 Nordic. “We still make most of our profits from fossil energy, which will enable us to invest substantially, on several fronts, in developing innovative renewable energy production, such as advanced renewable fuels, geothermal heat and wind power.”
St1 is a Nordic energy group whose vision is to be the leading producer and seller of CO2-aware energy. The company researches and develops economically viable, environmentally sustainable energy solutions. St1 consists of two sister groups: St1 Nordic focuses on fuels marketing activities in Finland, Sweden and Norway, and on renewable energy solutions such as waste-based advanced ethanol fuels and industrial wind power. The company has 1,400 St1- and Shell-branded retail stations in Finland, Sweden and Norway. Its sister group, St1 Group, focuses on oil refining. Headquartered in Helsinki, the company currently employs 700 people in Finland, Sweden and Norway. The plan is to merge St1 Group with St1 Nordic on Dec. 31.
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