Shell has confirmed that it is temporarily pausing on-site construction work at its 820,000 tonnes a year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The plant has been designed to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste.
The fuelling company cited the need to address project delivery and ensure future competitiveness given current market conditions as the reason it was pausing construction. Although the green light on beginning construction was given in 2021 with SAF production planned to begin in 2025, the facility has come up against technical difficulties meaning it had fallen behind schedule.
Contractor numbers will reduce on site and activity will slow down, helping to control costs and optimise project sequencing, as Huibert Vigeveno, Shell’s Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director, said: “Temporarily pausing on-site construction now will allow us to assess the most commercial way forward for the project.”
He also noted: “We are committed to our target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with low-carbon fuesl as a key part of Shell’s strategy to help us and our customers profitably decarbonise. We will continue to use shareholder capital in a measured and disciplined way, delivering more value with less emissions.”
At the end of last year, Shell entered into an agreement with Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTHA) to blend SAF on all aircraft fuelled at the airport from 2024. Speaking at the time, Wilma van Dijk, CEO RTHA said the long-term agreement made it possible for Shell to “invest in production facilities while allowing airlines to gradually adapt to a new reality.”
Shell has not commented on what the temporary pause in on-site construction of its plant in Rotterdam means for its agreement with RTHA.
