Shell has received the first components of an electric process furnace for its planned Group III base oil unit at the Wesseling section of its Rhineland refinery complex in western Germany, the company said today.
The electric heater will replace conventional gas-fired units in a bid to cut CO2 emissions. Shell expects the wider transformation of the Wesseling site — including the cessation of crude distillation in March 2025 and the decommissioning and commissioning of various units — to reduce Rhineland's emissions by around 620,000 t/yr.
Shell announced plans to convert Wesseling's hydrocracker into a Group III base oil production unit in January. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2027, with the plant expected to enter operation in 2028. It will have a nameplate capacity of 300,000 t/yr — equivalent to around 9pc of EU demand, Shell said.
Europe has an estimated 7mn t/yr of base oil capacity, of which 13pc is Group III. The largest Group III plants are Chevron's 250,000 t/yr unit at Neste's Porvoo refinery in Finland and a 630,000 t/yr facility in Cartagena, Spain, jointly owned by Repsol and South Korea's SK Enmove.
