News item | 14-09-2023 | 2:30 PM
The Zeeland Refinery company wants to take extra steps to make its refinery more sustainable extra quickly, on top of what has been agreed in the climate agreement. The company wants to reduce total CO2 emissions by 1 megaton by 2030, which is 62% less than the level in 2022. At the same time, Zeeland Refinery wants to further improve the living environment by reducing nitrogen emissions and water use by at least 10% and to investigate whether this can possibly be reduced by up to 50%. These plans are laid down in an agreement of intent (Expressions of Principles) that was signed today by Minister Micky Adriaansens (Economic Affairs and Climate), State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Infrastructure and Water Management), Jo-Annes de Bat (province of Zeeland) and Jessica Hahn ( General Manager Zeeland Refinery). It is the eighth declaration of intent that this cabinet has signed, in which ambitious plans are laid down between government and companies to emit less CO2 more quickly.
Zeeland Refinery is a refinery in Nieuwdorp and is located in the Zeeland chemical cluster. The company employs approximately 700 people in the region and supplies customers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Zeeland Refinery mainly produces fuels from crude oil for road traffic, aviation and shipping. The company also produces solvents and raw materials for the plastics industry.
Less CO2 emissions with green hydrogen
To achieve the target of 1 megaton less CO2 emissions, Zeeland Refinery wants to improve its production processes and thus reduce energy consumption. Zeeland Refinery is investigating several scenarios in which different techniques are applied to achieve this objective. For example, the company wants to use cleaner green hydrogen for its production processes. Zeeland Refinery wants to use an electrolyser that runs entirely on green electricity, for internal use and supply to other industries and the transport sector. The European Union has awarded a subsidy for this project. The company also wants to make the current gray hydrogen production more sustainable and replace it with blue hydrogen production, in which CO2 is captured and stored according to the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) method. Ultimately, Zeeland Refinery wants to switch completely to green hydrogen production and therefore no longer use fossil fuels. It is also being investigated how green electricity can be further integrated into production processes.
Improve living environment
In addition to CO2 reduction, Zeeland Refinery wants to improve the living environment by 2030 by reducing nitrogen emissions (NOx) and water use by at least 10%. The company will investigate whether this can possibly be reduced by up to 50%. The aim is also to replace 10% of fossil raw materials (petroleum) with renewable raw materials by 2030, with the ultimate goal of using only fully renewable raw materials and being completely circular by 2050.
Sustainable energy hub
Zeeland Refinery ultimately wants to become a sustainable energy hub in Zeeland. Green electricity is used, originating from offshore wind farms, for example, and sustainable fuels, green hydrogen and renewable raw materials are produced. This will be available for internal use as well as for other companies in the region and beyond.
Follow-up
This declaration of intent is an important step towards a binding agreement between the government and Zeeland Refinery. Joint research is being conducted into which measures can best be implemented to achieve the aforementioned reductions in CO2, nitrogen and water use. The plans are further developed and assessed by an independent external advisory committee before they are recorded in an agreement (Joint Letter of Intent). Ultimately, these agreements are formalized in a binding customized agreement. In the declaration of intent, the government agrees to investigate, together with Zeeland Refinery, what possible bottlenecks are, such as the construction of necessary pipelines or the expansion of electricity networks, and how the government can play a role in removing them.
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