Vopak to play critical feedstock role for Shell’s new Rotterdam biorefinery

Vopak’s Vlaardingen terminal (Photo: Royal Vopak N.V.)

The Netherlands-based Royal Vopak N.V. will be storing feedstock for Shell’s planned renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel biorefinery in Rotterdam, Vopak announced Feb. 16 in a social media post shared with Biobased Diesel Daily by the company. Shell’s new biorefinery project in Rotterdam is being scaled at approximately 275 million gallons per year.

“Vopak and Shell have embarked on a long-term cooperation deal for the storage of a wide range of feedstocks for Shell’s new facility,” Vopak stated in the post. “Via our site in Vlaardingen, the biorefinery will be supplied with feedstocks. This feedstock operation will be one of the largest in its kind in the global biofuels industry. The set-up will consist of new and existing infrastructure that will be modified to cater for waste-based feedstocks. The new infrastructure is currently under construction consisting of 16 new tanks in total with a combined capacity of 64,000 [cubic meters]. The terminal has extensive prior experience in storing these types of products and is very well connected for logistics by vessels, barges, trucks and trains.”

Vopak first announced the new investment in its biofuel feedstock storage capacity at its Port of Rotterdam facility a year ago.

Shell expects the new Rotterdam biorefinery to be operational in 2024.