Renewable fuels have become one of the main levers of Repsol’s strategy to achieve being a net zero emissions company by 2050. It continues to advance like this and if in May it announced that it was beginning to supply 100% renewable diesel at three service stations. Today there are already 14 gas stations where you can refuel this ‘green’ fuel.
Specifically, there are four in Madrid, two in Zaragoza (Zaragoza and Puebla de Alfinden), two in Valencia (Siete Aguas and Rocafort), two in Álava (Lopidana and Zurbano) and one in Barcelona (Esparraguera), Toledo (Illescas), Ciudad Real (Santa Cruz de Mudela) and Badajoz (Lobón). In addition, the multi-energy company has another four in Portugal. Repsol has drawn up an expansion plan to cover the main cities and transport corridors of the Iberian Peninsula and plans to reach 50 points by the end of the year. Currently, it is the only one that supplies biodiesel in gasoline to individuals.
However, since July of last year, Repsol has been supplying renewable diesel to professional customers in the freight transport sector, as well as collective passenger transport and professional machinery companies. In this sense, it has been manufacturing and marketing biofuels for more than two decades, and since 2019, it has been incorporating waste in its manufacture.
750,000 tons of biofuels in 2022
“What many people are unaware of is that currently, when we go to a service station to fill up our vehicle tank, we are already refueling more than 10% of renewable fuel (according to current legislation). In fact, Repsol in 2022 will introduce approximately 750,000 tons of renewable fuel into the market,” the company highlights.
Renewable fuels are those produced from raw materials of renewable origin. They have properties similar to conventional fuels, but are net zero emissions. There are different types and from Repsol they advocate for the advanced ones, which are those that are produced from organic waste that does not use or compete with products intended for food (agricultural and forestry waste, municipal waste, used oils, among others). ). ); and by synthetic fuels or ‘e-fuels’, which are generated with captured CO2 and renewable hydrogen as the only raw materials.
In 2025, the company led by Josu Jon Imaz aspires to a renewable fuel production capacity of 1.3 million tons and to exceed two million tons in 2030. To this end, it will start up the first plant on the peninsula this year in Cartagena Ibérica dedicated exclusively to the production of advanced biofuels from waste. With an investment of 200 million euros, it will manufacture 250,000 tons annually from waste such as used cooking oil, and that can be used in cars, trucks, boats or planes without the need to modify current engines and avoiding the emission of 900,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Cepsa commits to second generation biofuels
FOR THEIR PART, Cepsa claims to be committed to Second Generation (2G) biofuels AS AN ELEMENT TO PROMOTE THE DECARBONIZATION OF TRANSPORTATION, ESPECIALLY IN SECTORS WHERE Electrification Is Complex, Such As Road, Maritime And Air Transport. In road transport, biofuels have been used in Spain for years in diesel and gasoline engines, both in light and heavy vehicles, mixed with conventional fuels. The percentage of incorporation of biofuels in this type of transport will increase from the current 10% to 12% in 2026. According to the company, it will soon have specific pumps for transporters.
Together with Bio-Oils, Cepsa will build the largest 2G biofuel plant in southern Europe, which will involve an investment of up to 1,000 million euros, in the La Rábida Energy Park (Huelva). The facility, which will use agricultural waste and used cooking oils as feedstock, will have a flexible production capacity of 500,000 tons of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In this way, it intends to reach an annual production capacity of 2.5 million tons of biofuels between Spain and Portugal, of which 800,000 tons will correspond to SAF.
Oil companies race for green hydrogen
Another race in which the oil companies compete in Spain is that of green hydrogen. Repsol has already announced that it will locate electrolyser plants in the surroundings of its industrial complexes and has committed 2,549 million euros up to 2030 throughout the value chain. It will use different technologies to reach a capacity of 552 MW in 2025 and 1.9 GW in 2030-2027. It will invest a total of 320 million euros (62 million European funds). Enagás Renovable, Iqoxe and Messer are also taking part.
On its side, Cepsa has launched the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley. According to the company, it is the most ambitious renewable hydrogen project in Spain and one of the most important in Europe, which will speed up the ecological transition and achieve greater energy independence for the continent. The project, which involves an investment of 3,000 million euros, will create two new green hydrogen generation plants in the energy parks in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) and San Roque (Campo de Gibraltar, Cádiz), which will have a capacity total of 2 GW of electrolysis and will be commissioned in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
The British BP will also play an important role in this field in Spain. It will take advantage of the presence of its refinery in Castellón and the link with important electro-intensive consumers such as the ceramic and textile industries. In this way, in February Hyval presented, the Cl Will Hydrogen with the Levantine Region Aspires to Develop Up to 2 Gw of Electrolysis Capacity Before the Year 2030. The Plan Plan Plan Plan E the oil company will replace the use of gray hydrogen in its Green hydrogen facilities, which will also be used in the production of biofuels for aviation.
