OMV Petrom begins construction of new unit at Petrobrazi refinery

OMV Aktiengesellschaft’s majority owned OMV Petrom SA started construction of a new plant for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewables-based diesel—or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO)—at the operator’s 4.5-million tonne/year (tpy) Petrobrazi refinery in southeast Romania, near Ploiesti City, about 60 km from Bucharest (OGJ Online, Dec.19, 2024).

With construction activities under way as of Feb. 19, the grassroots SAF-HVO plant, once online, will be able to process a mix of biofeedstocks such as used cooking oil and animal fats to produce a combined 250,000 tpy of SAF and HVO (biodiesel), including by-products such as bio-naphtha and bio-LPG, OMV Petrom said.

Designed to allow integration of SAF-HVO production with the refinery’s existing infrastructure for fuel production, storage, and distribution, the new €560-million plant will also equip OMV Petrom with flexibility to adjust production slates at any given time based on market demand and feedstock availability, according to the operator.

The SAF-HVO plant will receive most of its 11,000-tpy hydrogen supply required for the manufacturing process from the Petrobrazi refinery’s previously approved €190-million on-site hydrogen plant that—once completed—will include two water electrolysis plants of 35 Mw and 20 Mw capable of producing about 8,000 tpy of carbon-free green hydrogen (OGJ Online, Feb. 27, 2024).

Reduced-carbon plans

Targeted for startup in 2028 and representing a combined investment of €750 million, the SAF-HVO and green hydrogen projects at Petrobrazi come as part of OMV Petrom’s broader €11-billion spending plans under its Strategy 2030 to transform the Petrobrazi refinery in line with the operator’s pledge to transform its business operations for a reduced-carbon future while continuing to meet regional mobility needs.

"Investing in sustainable fuel production is part of our Strategy 2030 and reflects OMV Petrom's commitment to energy transition and reducing carbon emissions,” said Christina Verchere, OMV Petrom’s chief executive officer.

Verchere also confirmed that between 2022 and 2030, OMV Petrom is allocating 35% of its overall investment budget towards projects that support the energy transition in Romania and the surrounding region.

As part of its journey to net-zero operations by 2050, parent OMV is targeting production of 450,000 tpy of renewable diesel and SAF from sustainable feedstock by 2030 across its global operations (OGJ Online, Oct. 13, 2022).

As part of its Strategy 2030, OMV most recently commissioned a new €200-million co-processing plant for production of renewable HVO blending components at its 9.6-million tpy integrated refining complex in Schwechat, Austria (OGJ Online, June 10, 2024).