Green Future Revealed for Scotland's Grangemouth Refinery

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A plan to repurpose Scotland's only oil refinery into a hub for green industries has found that up to 800 jobs could be created but that it will require £3.5 billion (US$4.5 billion) of private investment.

The 150,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery at Grangemouth - one of only six refineries in the U.K. - is due to shut this summer with the loss of more than 400 jobs. Owner/operator Petroineos (London) - a joint venture between Chinese state oil firm PetroChina (Beijing, China) and U.K. chemicals major INEOS Limited (London, England) - cited high costs and declining fuel demand in Europe for its decision and wants to turn the site into a fuel-import terminal.

The Project Willow report, sponsored by the U.K. and Scottish governments and carried out by Ernst & Young (EY) (London), outlined nine low-carbon options for the wider site that employs more than 2,000 people. They include sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen production and plastics recycling among others, but all options will require significant investment. Earlier this month, Industrial Info reported that both governments had pledged to invest £225 million (US$283.5 million) into transforming the site of the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland into a clean energy hub. For additional information, see March 5, 2025, article--Scotland's Grangemouth Refinery Gets $252 Million Lifeline.

The nine projects are divided into three sectors and include:

• Waste: hydrothermal upgrading (breaking down hard-to-recycle plastics), chemical plastics recycling, ABE biorefining (breaking down waste material)
• Bio-feedstock: breaking down Scottish timber into bioethanol, anaerobic digestion of bioresources and digestate pyrolysis, HEFA (conversion of Scottish cover crops into sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel using low carbon hydrogen)
• Offshore wind conduit: Replacing natural gas with hydrogen, using low-carbon hydrogen to produce methanol and convert it to sustainable aviation fuel, producing low-carbon ammonia from hydrogen for shipping and chemicals

The different options all come with different price tags. The HEFA option for using Scottish cover crops for the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel using low-carbon hydrogen will need £4.3 billion (US$5.6 billion) in investment and result in just over 100 jobs. The E-ammonia option for producing low-carbon ammonia from hydrogen for shipping and chemicals will need as much as £7.3 billion (US$9.5 billion) and would create just over 200 jobs. Other options would cost much less, hundreds of millions of pounds, to get off the ground, including hydrothermal plastic recycling of hard-to-recycle plastics to produce recycled naphtha and vapor (and pyrolysis oil), as well as anaerobic digestion fermentation of organic waste and biogas upgrading to produce biomethane.

Scotland's First Minister John Swinney said: "We will leave no stone unturned in order to secure the future of the Grangemouth refinery site, and the Scottish Government has already committed or invested a total of £87 million (US$113 million) to help do so. Grangemouth is home to over a century of industrial expertise and employs thousands of highly skilled workers, placing the site at a massive competitive advantage and creating a unique opportunity for investors. This report sets out a wide range of viable alternatives for the refinery site, demonstrating that a long term, new industrial future at Grangemouth is achievable. We will continue to work closely with the U.K. government to realise these opportunities and Scottish Enterprise stands ready to support inward investors looking to progress any of these technologies."

The Grangemouth site is home to a number of operations, including the refinery. Around 450 people are employed at the Forties oil and gas pipeline from the North Sea and roughly 1,000 in the INEOS petrochemicals business. Industrial Info is tracking 23 projects at the Grangemouth complex worth more than US$1 billion in investment across its refining, chemicals and pipelines businesses. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

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).