TOWARDS A DECARBONISED REFINERY

The first great transformation

Petronor, from its start-up in 1972 as a refinery focused on producing fuel oil for the thermal power stations, that generated electricity for the new demands of that time, to the present day, in which we are capable of eliminating fuel oil from our production and maximize the production of fuels with a lower environmental impact (diesel, petrol, paraffin, naphtha, …), and replace fuel oil as process energy with natural gas. We can say that Petronor has successfully completed its ‘first great transformation’ which has led to a change in customer, product, energy process and significantly increased the efficiency of the process. All this is thanks to an intense investment program of more than 1,850 million euros in the 2008-2023 period and the incorporation of the best technologies available.

This transformation has meant a significant advance in the decarbonization of both the process and the product, but the existing technology did not allow the level of a decarbonized refinery to be reached. In fact, it was not known how it could look like a decarbonized refinery.

The second great transformation

Petronor began its second major transformation at the end of 2019, when it undertook the commitment to be a net-zero emissions company by 2050, in brief, a decarbonized refinery.

The first challenge it faces is to address the question: WHAT IS DECHARBONISED REFINERY LIKE? To answer this question and to adapt to social demands once again, in this case the fight against climate change.

It was a concept that did not exist until then.

A DECHARBONISED REFINERY is defined based on four elements:

• Circular Economy: Change the raw material that feeds the plant, replacing a significant part of the crude oil with waste (biomass, urban waste, used cooking oil, etc.). In this way, we also contribute to responding to another of society’s great challenges: waste treatment.
• Changing the process of energy: replacing natural gas with renewable hydrogen and ensuring that all electrical energy comes from renewable sources.
• Producing decarbonized fuels: renewable hydrogen, advanced biofuels, and synthetic fuels.
• Capture and use of CO2. To close the balance sheet, the generated CO2 in the process will be captured and used as a raw material in synthetic fuels.

At Petronor we remain faithful to our history and will be part of the solution and to the challenge of decarbonization too.

The formula is the same as always: technology and investment. Consequently, a roadmap of specific projects has been established to progress from the current situation to this decarbonized refinery.