Galp, a Portuguese energy company, has planned to partner with Mitsui to produce renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) biofuels. Reportedly, the joint venture includes an investment of approximately $691 million in two industrial-scale projects: a 270-kilo-tonne per year advanced biofuels unit and 100 MW of electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen. Both units are anticipated to start production in 2025. Furthermore, Galp will have 75 per cent of the joint venture’s shares, with Mitsui owning the remaining 25 per cent.
The advanced biofuels facility, which will get around $425 million in initial funding, will employ waste leftover feedstock from discarded cooking oil or animal fat to make renewable diesel, also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). SAFs will be manufactured in a similar manner as firms want to invest in the decarbonisation of the global travel sector. Additionally, HVO can be used as a substitute for fossil diesel fuel in automobiles with internal combustion engines, while SAF is increasingly being used in aircraft as a lower-carbon alternative to jet fuel. Both fuels are eco-friendly with lower greenhouse gas emissions. A total of $266 million will be spent on the 100 MW electrolysis facility, which is estimated to produce up to 15 ktpa of fully operational renewable hydrogen. The project intends to replace around 20 per cent of current grey hydrogen usage at the Sines Refinery with low-carbon green hydrogen produced with renewable energy. The unit will also consume recycled water from other industrial operations.
In July 2023, Mitsui & Co., RWE, and the Port of Tilbury signed a MoU to construct two green hydrogen projects at the Port of Tilbury in Essex, UK. The partnership is intended to assist the UK in reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The first project entailed a modest proof-of-concept demonstrator project that produces green hydrogen, which will be used to decarbonise port equipment from fossil fuels to hydrogen in order to reduce carbon emissions.
