BP Drops $600 Million Biofuels Plant in Netherlands

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--BP (London, England) has pulled the plug on a US$600 million biofuels plant project at its Rotterdam refinery in a move that marks the latest in a series of blows to Europe's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its transport sector.

Citing rising costs, the company said that the standalone plant, which would have been capable of producing 10,000 barrels per day (BBL/d), or 515,000 tons per year, of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), would no longer go ahead. It comes just weeks after fellow oil and gas major Shell plc (London, England) abandoned plans for a similar SAF plant in Rotterdam. Located at its Pernis refinery at the Port of Rotterdam--now called Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam--the partly constructed Shell SAF plant would have had a planned capacity of 820,000 tons per year and been one of the largest European SAF-manufacturing operations. For additional information, see September 16, 2025, article--Shell Scraps Biofuels Project in Rotterdam.

"BP is stopping further work on development of a standalone biofuels production facility at our Rotterdam refinery," a spokesman told Reuters. "We are growing our co-processing capacity, maximising integrated value from our refineries, and will continue to evaluate biofuels options at our refining sites, favouring capital-light opportunities." In 2024, BP paused plans for an SAF plant at its Glesenkirchen refinery in Germany and earlier this year announced the proposed sale of the refinery. BP, like Shell, is pursuing an active reduction in its investment into renewable and green energy projects.

The European Commission (EC) has made increased biofuels production and use in transport a major part of its effort to lower emissions and to secure its own biofuels supplies. The revised Renewable Energy Directive establishes binding targets for the share of renewable energy in the transport sector, including maritime and aviation. By 2030, European Union (EU) countries are required to either achieve a share of 29% of renewable energy in transport, or to reduce the emissions intensity of transport fuels by 14.5%, as well as a combined sub-target for renewable hydrogen and advanced biofuels of 5.5%.

Industrial Info is tracking 149 SAF-related projects in Europe, worth more than US$27 billion in investment. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

Last month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) (Geneva), which represents some 350 airlines comprising more than 80% of global air traffic, said that the slow deployment of SAF technology is the main obstacle to net-zero, not raw material availability. A report commissioned from Worley Consulting confirmed that sufficient SAF feedstock exists to enable the airline industry to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Airlines will need 500 million tonnes of SAF to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, as outlined in the IATA Net Zero Roadmaps. It said that this can be achieved from two main sources: biomass, which could supply more than 300 million tonnes of bio-SAF annually by 2050, and power-to-liquid (PtL) technology, which uses renewable energy to power electrolysers to produce green hydrogen that can be mixed with carbon feedstock.

"We now have unequivocal evidence that if SAF production is prioritized then feedstock availability is not a barrier in the industry's path to decarbonization," said Willie Walsh, IATA's director general. "There is enough potential feedstock from sustainable sources to reach net zero carbon emissions in 2050. However, this will only be accomplished with a major acceleration of the SAF industry's growth. We need shovels in the ground now."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).