bp unveils new investment projects for Cherry Point refinery

bp is investing in a series of new projects to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and expand renewable diesel production at its 238,450-b/d Cherry Point refinery in Blaine, Wash.

In line with the company’s goals of achieving net zero emissions across its operations and reducing the carbon intensity of products it sells by 2050 or sooner, the nearly $270-million trio of investment projects will reduce the refinery’s operational carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by about 7% from existing levels and double the site’s current output of renewable diesel, bp said on Oct. 4.

Designed to improve the refinery’s efficiency and reduce periods of planned maintenance to result in fewer unit shutdowns and associated flaring events, a proposed $169-million hydrocracker improvement project (HIP), upon completion, will enable the unit to consume less hydrogen—which Cherry Point produces by conversion of natural gas in process that yields CO₂ emissions—as well as reduce its current heat input requirement from the consumption of gaseous fuel in refinery process heaters.

With work on the project scheduled to begin later this year, bp said it expects to complete the HIP in 2023.

As part of its proposed cooling water infrastructure (CWI) project—which is also slated to begin by yearend for targeted commissioning in 2023—bp will invest $55 million to upgrade the refinery’s cooling water infrastructure, allowing for increased utilization, better energy efficiency, and a related reduction in CO₂ emissions.

Alongside improving reliability by enabling the refinery to maintain a year-round optimum cooling water temperature, increased efficiency of the site’s cooling towers upon the CWI project’s completion will result in reduced production of light hydrocarbons—such as methane and ethane—combusted in process heaters and utility boilers.

The combined CO₂-emissions reductions from the HIP and CWI projects—estimated at about 160,000 tonnes/year (tpy)—will be the equivalent of removing more than 32,000 passenger vehicles from the road annually, bp said.

Renewable fuels expansion

bp’s third major investment at Cherry Point includes the $45-million renewable diesel optimization (RDO) project, which aims to expand the refinery’s current renewable diesel production capacity to an estimated 2.6 million bbl/year, according to the operator.

Scheduled to be available in 2022, bp said it expects increased renewable diesel production enabled by the RDO project will reduce CO₂ emissions resulting from diesel produced at Cherry Point by about 400,000-600,000 tpy.

While bp disclosed no further details regarding the HIP, CWI, or RDO investments, the operator confirmed the three projects were enabled by the 2018 startup of renewable diesel production at the refinery, which became the first and only in the US Pacific Northwest equipped to coprocess biomass-based feedstocks alongside conventional feedstocks like crude oils.

“Our team’s success since we first began producing renewable diesel made these [new] projects possible,” said Amber Russell, bp’s senior vice-president of refining, terminals, and pipelines.

“We’re excited that Cherry Point continues taking steps toward a lower carbon future [which] shows the important role refining can play in helping both bp and the world reach net zero,” Russell added.

The Cherry Point refinery began producing renewable diesel in 2018 following a less than 12-month modification of an existing low-sulfur diesel unit that equipped it to coprocess tallow, an agricultural byproduct from rendered animal fat, according to an Apr. 10, 2019, post to the operator’s website.

The refinery—which currently can produce 120,000-122,000 gal/day of renewable diesel—has since added soybean oil to its renewable feedstock slate, with bp also securing agreements for reliable and cost-advantaged supplies of used cooking oil from fast food restaurants in the Asia Pacific to ensure a cost-advantaged renewable feedstock supply that can be incorporated into the company’s overall portfolio, Carol Howle, bp’s executive vice-president of trading and shipping said in a September 2020 presentation to investors.