London, 6 December (Argus) — The first biodiesel vessels have started to discharge at Hong Kong-Dutch joint venture Botlek's tank terminal in Rotterdam after completion of the expansion project in mid November.
The first biodiesel vessel discharged some 4,000t of biodiesel made of used cooking oil (UCOME) on 4 December, followed by another 3,000t UCOME vessel yesterday.
Botlek expects to handle a total of 2mn t/yr of products, of which up to 500,000 t/yr could be biodiesel.
Botlek has a total of 34 storage tanks, providing a combined storage capacity of 200,000m³, of which 130,000m³ is earmarked for clean fuels and 70,000m³ for edible oils and biodiesel.
Construction of the first phase started in April 2010 with an investment of €70mn ($94mn).
Botlek will further expand its storage capacity in Rotterdam by as much as 550,000m³ as part of a new development that is scheduled to be operational by 2014.
These storage sites will be used for storing clean fuels, but Botlek will decide on the exact products split at a later stage, depending on market developments. Products to be handled include gasoline and gasoline components, jet fuel, diesel and ethanol.
Botlek is a joint venture of Hong Kong-based trading firm Noble and Dutch logistics company HES Beheer.
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