Oleochem Analytics – Repsol, an energy company headquartered in Spain, has announced that it will join the Ecoplanta Molecular Recycling Solutions (Ecoplanta) project, together with Canadian gasification technology developer Enerkem and Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar), a global expert in water and waste management, to build a waste-to-chemicals (WtC) plant in Tarragona, Spain.
The plant will be the first of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula, and it will process around 400,000 tons/year of non-recyclable municipal solid waste (MSW) from its surrounding regions and produce 220,000 tons/year of methanol, the company said.
This methanol will be used as raw material to produce circular materials or advanced biofuels, contributing to avoid 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and reducing the waste that ends up in the landfill. This alliance is a further step towards the Repsol’s ambition to become a net-zero emissions company by 2050, the company said.
The plant will be co-managed by Repsol and Agbar, while Enerkem will be the key technological partner. The plant is projected to be in operation in 2025 after taking the project’s final investment decision by the first quarter of 2022.
The project has already obtained the Integrated Environmental Authorization and the approval of the Environmental Impact Statement from the local authorities.
Repsol has a large industrial complex in Tarragona, a factor that will allow for synergies among the facilities, and according to the company, this petrochemical complex is the most important of its kind in Spain.
