Shell pulls plug on renewable diesel, SAF project in Rotterdam

Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where in 2021 the company made a final-investment decision to build a 275 mgy renewable diesel and SAF manufacturing facility. Four years later, Shell pulled the plug on completing the project. (Photo: Shell)

Shell Nederland Raffinaderij B.V., a subsidiary of Shell plc, announced Sept. 3 that it has decided not to restart construction of its planned biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which began in 2022.

Following an in-depth commercial and technical evaluation to reassess the project’s competitiveness, Shell said it will no longer proceed with construction of the 275-million-gallon-per-year plant. 

“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,” said Machteld de Haan, Shell’s president of downstream, renewables and energy solutions.

“This was a difficult decision, but the right one, as we prioritize our capital towards those projects that deliver both the needs of our customers and value for our shareholders,” De Haan added.

“We continue to believe that low-carbon molecules, including biofuels, will underpin the future energy system,” De Haan said. “Shell is at the forefront of this industry and its development as one of the world’s largest traders and suppliers of biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).”

Shell said it is “taking action to be the investment case and partner of choice through the energy transition.”

The company noted that, between 2023 and 2024, it had invested USD$8 billion in lower-carbon options, including power, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen and low-carbon fuels.

Shell said in 2024 the company traded over 10 billion liters (2.64 billion gallons) of low-carbon fuels and sold 10 times more than it produced.

“In the same year, Shell became one of the world’s leading suppliers of SAF,” the company stated.

According to Shell, the Netherlands remains a key location for the company, where its businesses span from upstream production of oil and gas through to its network of retail sites.

In recent years, Shell has invested 6.5-billion euros (USD$7.57 billion) across a wide range of energy-transition projects in the Netherlands.

This includes enabling CO2 storage through the Porthos CCS project, developing renewable hydrogen at Holland Hydrogen 1 and installing new furnaces and the electrification of key manufacturing processes at Shell Chemicals Park Moerdijk.