Neste breaks ground on world's first Bio LPG facility in Rotterdam

A ground-breaking ceremony held at Neste's renewable product refinery in Rotterdam marks the beginning of construction for the world's first Bio LPG production facility. The EUR 60 million facility will start production of Bio LPG in the end of 2016. SHV Energy will market and sell Bio LPG to be produced at Neste's Rotterdam refinery.

Bio LPG will enable users of existing fossil fuels to reduce their carbon footprint without any modifications to existing gas applications technology. Bio LPG can be used within a full range of existing LPG applications, from transport and commercial heating to retail leisure cylinders.

"Today is the start of the building phase of our project to make a new renewable product, Bio LPG, a reality. For us it represents an important step in implementing our renewable product strategy. We have developed an innovative renewable product family based on our NEXBTL production technology. Bio LPG is the latest addition to our list of renewable products," says Ms Kaisa Hietala, Executive Vice President of Renewable Products at Neste.

"I am happy to say that the cooperation with SHV Energy has been seamless. It ensures that customers in Europe will be able to use this new renewable product and enjoy its environmental benefits and other unique properties," continues Ms Hietala.

"Bio LPG is a wonderful addition to our product portfolio, and our customers can benefit from it," says Fulco van Lede, Management Board Member of SHV Energy. "Bio LPG can be used within a full range of existing LPG applications, from transport and commercial heating to retail leisure cylinders, demonstrating the versatility of the fuel without having to change conventional equipment. This provides our customers with an even cleaner rural energy alternative to the high-carbon fuels many are dependent on in off-grid areas."

The new facility will have a production capacity of 40,000 tonnes per year of Bio LPG for the European market. SHV Energy will be the exclusive distributor, supplying the 160,000 tonnes over four years.

The new fuel is already being recognized by policy makers as an effective method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meeting sustainability targets. The UK Department for Transport has issued Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) for Bio LPG under their Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) accreditation, and SHV Energy is working with customers and policy makers in France, Germany, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia, and Ireland on similar schemes.

Neste's Rotterdam refinery primarily produces premium-quality NEXBTL renewable diesel from various waste, residues and vegetable oils. The EUR 60 million investment to produce and store Bio LPG in Rotterdam was announced in fall 2014. The new unit will purify and separate Bio LPG from the sidestream gases produced by the refinery. Technology, engineering and project management company Neste Jacobs has designed the Bio LPG production process.