Repsol has joined Ecoplanta Molecular Recycling Solutions, a project that Agbar and the Canadian technology company Enerkem announced in 2018 to set up a methanol production plant in El Morell (Tarragona) from the gasification of urban waste. With the incorporation of the energy group chaired by Antoni Brufau, the initiative gains strength, as many synergies can be established with the production complex that Repsol owns in Tarragona.
The objective of the new joint venture is to process some 400,000 tons per year of non-recyclable urban solid waste from the municipalities in the area to transform them into around 220,000 tons of methanol. This product, in turn, will be used as a raw material to produce circular materials or advanced biofuels, contributing to avoiding the emission of some 200,000 tons of CO2 each year and reducing waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.
This facility could require an investment of more than 250 million euros and will be the first of its kind to be built on the Iberian Peninsula. Repsol and Agbar, a group owned by Suez and chaired by Ángel Simón, will be the managing partners of the company, while Enerkem, based in Montreal (Canada), operates as a technology partner. Specifically, this company owns a state-of-the-art technology that allows waste to be transformed into a chemical product such as methanol thanks to a complex gasification process. Enerkem has already tested the technology in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) and has a new facility under construction in Varennes (Québec, Canada).
"We are proud to welcome Repsol as a partner to continue supporting our facilities in Tarragona. Their great experience in the sector, together with Agbar's, will allow us to continue demonstrating the enormous benefits of our unique and disruptive technology in the sector, thanks to which we can transform waste into renewable plastics or advanced biofuels," says Dominique Boies, CEO of Enerkem.
The El Morell project has already obtained the Integrated Environmental Authorization and the favorable Environmental Impact Statement from the authorities and expects to receive resources from the European Union's Innovation Fund.
According to Repsol, the final investment decision for the project will be made in the first quarter of 2022, and the plant is expected to become operational by the end of 2025. "This alliance is another step in the multi-energy company's ambitious goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050," the group states.
Repsol's petrochemical complex in Tarragona is the most important in Spain, and among the many types of polymers produced there, the range of highly specialized products for the automotive sector stands out, such as high-impact resistance polymers. "We are extremely pleased to join forces with such relevant and innovative partners in waste management, because it allows us to demonstrate once again our commitment to the circular economy and reinforces our pledge to recycle the equivalent of 20% of our polyolefin production by 2030," says José Luis Bernal, Repsol's Executive Director of Chemical Products.