OMV starts up coprocessing plant at Schwechat refinery

The Schwechat refinery in Austria (Photo: OMV)

OMV announced June 10 that it has started up its coprocessing plant at the Schwechat refinery in Austria.

The company first announced its plans to coprocess renewable diesel at the Schwechat refinery near Vienna in December 2020.

Almost 200 million euros (USD$214.5 million) have been invested to allow up to 160,000 metric tons of liquid biomass being converted into high-quality renewable hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) components.

These more sustainable blending components will be used also for formulation of OMV’s MaxxMotion Diesel.

It will have a new unique CleanTech+ formula combining a lower-carbon footprint with superior performance, OMV stated.

The new product will be available for consumers at approximately 550 OMV filling stations in Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary this year. 

The coprocessing of HVO, also known as renewable diesel, will allow OMV to reduce its carbon footprint by up to 360,000 metric tons of fossil CO2 per year—the equivalent of 38,000 cars driving around the globe.

The plant has considerable feedstock flexibility, according to OMV.

Waste-based feedstocks such as used cooking oil and advanced feedstocks like liquid from nut shells, which are not competing with food and feed production, can be used for coprocessing.

OMV said this production fully complies with the requirements for more sustainable production of fuel components in the EU and is certified in accordance with the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification System GmbH’s ISCC-EU certification.

The newest generation of OMV MaxxMotion Diesel with a unique CleanTech+ formula features a premium bio component comprising 20 percent HVO and an exclusive additive package.

This integration of renewable components during the refining process, known as coprocessing technology, differentiates OMV MaxxMotion Diesel as a more sustainable fuel of superior quality and performance, according to OMV, which added that the fuel meets the highest quality standards and can be used in all vehicles as a drop-in solution to make mobility more sustainable.

“In line with our Strategy 2030, we are investing in transforming the OMV refinery in Schwechat,” said Martijn van Koten, OMV’s executive vice president of fuels and feedstock. 

“The new plant highlights OMV’s innovative capabilities as one of the first companies in Europe to deploy coprocessing on an industrial scale,” van Koten added. “It also allows us to support the trend towards more sustainable mobility at high levels of quality and performance across our extensive filling-station network.”