Worley works on Shell's low carbon fuels project in Rotterdam, Netherlands

Worley is providing detailed design and procurement services to support the development of a low-carbon fuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The facility is expected to be one of the biggest of its kind in Europe and will produce 820,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel every year. These fuels will help to meet growing demand from the transport sector, including hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as heavy road transport and aviation. The renewable diesel alone could avoid 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. That is the equivalent of taking more than 1 million European cars off the roads.

The renewable diesel and SAF will be produced from waste including used cooking oil, certified sustainable vegetable oils, waste animal fat and other industrial and agricultural residue using advanced technology developed by Shell. The fuels will be used for blending in support of the EU legislation and commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Delivering a more sustainable world with Shell

The award follows the collaboration between Shell and Worley over the last 18 months to define the project as an integrated team using new ways of working.

“We value Shell’s continued trust in Worley to deliver this important project. The facility opens up new possibilities in low‑carbon fuels and is aligned with our purpose of delivering a more sustainable world,” said Peter van Alphen, Senior Vice President, the Netherlands and Germany, Worley.

To deliver a net-zero economy, the IEA estimates liquid biofuel production to quadruple, while that of biogases is estimated to expand sixfold between 2021 and 2050. We’re well positioned to support our customers in this space having won over 40 low-carbon fuels contracts in the last 12 months.

Worley will lead this project from its office in The Hague, with support from its Global Integrated Delivery team.

“The new hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) plant we are building is a major investment, vital to Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam’s path to net zero. We can only make Shell’s transformation and the energy transition successful when we work together with strong partners. We are therefore proud to collaborate with Worley, helping to engineer a more sustainable world,” said Jos van Winsen, General Manager – Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam.

Shell made a final investment decision to proceed with the project earlier this month. The Rotterdam facility is expected to start production in 2024.