Shell Nederland Raffinaderij will not restart construction of its planned 820,000 mt/year biofuels facility in Rotterdam.

IMAGE: Barrels of used cooking oil. Getty Images

The company has attributed adverse market dynamics and high completion costs that would make the project economically unviable as reasons for its decision.

“As we evaluated market dynamics and the cost of completion, it became clear that the project would be insufficiently competitive to meet our customers’ need for affordable, low carbon products,” Machteld de Haan, president at Shell said.

Shell already produces HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil)-based biofuel for bunkering and recently supplied HVO100 to three vessels operated by German fleet manager Flotte Hamburg.

The company has stressed that existing customers will not be affected by the decision, Shell Nederland president-director Frans Everts said.

Shell’s move comes amid wider industry pressures. UK-based Greenergy launched a consultation to cease production at its Immingham biodiesel plant, citing sustained "market pressures" despite recent cost-cutting measures.

The European Waste-based & Advanced Biofuels Association (EWABA) has also warned that policy inaction risks pushing biofuel production “to the brink” across Europe.

By Konica Bhatt

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