Repsol Accelerates Transition to Net Zero

At its Low Carbon Day event held for analysts and investors on Oct. 5, Repsol revealed that it is allocating an additional €1 billion to low-carbon projects in the period 2021-2025, up to a total of €6.5 billion. Investments will be focused on generating renewable electricity, producing renewable hydrogen, as well as reducing the carbon intensity of its operations.

The company will invest €1.5 billion in its chemicals business, aiming to recycle the equivalent of 20% of its polyolefin production by 2030. It also intends to make progress in mechanical and chemical recycling projects for polyolefins, polyurethane recycling and producing methanol from waste.

By 2030, Repsol’s ambition is to reuse 3 million t/y waste, mitigating more than 7 million t/y of CO₂. The Spanish group is analyzing more than 40 types of waste and technologies to ensure the production of advanced biofuels and circular petrochemical materials.

Another aim is to produce 2 million t of low-carbon fuels by 2030. Its planned advanced biofuels plant in Cartagena, Spain, is due to start up in the first quarter of 2023 and will avoid the emission of 900,000 t/y of CO₂.

With regard to hydrogen, Repsol stated that it wants to be a leader in renewable hydrogen production in the Iberian Peninsula and gain “a relevant position in the European market.” This ambition, it said, will be achieved by installing electrolyzers and biogas production plants at its industrial complexes, as well as developing proprietary photoelectrocatalysis technology.

The technology is being jointly developed with Enagas and the partners will install a demonstration plant at Puertollano in 2025 to obtain hydrogen directly from water using solar energy.

Carbon capture and storage will also play a key role in cutting CO₂ emissions. Repsol will commission a storage facility for 2 million t/y CO₂ at Sakakemang, Indonesia, in 2027. The project will be the first for both Repsol and Indonesia.