Global energy giant bp has announced plans to halt work on its conversion project to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its Castellon refinery in Spain due to lower-than-expected growth in the market, SAF Investor wrote.
Announced in 2023, the project was part of a €2bn (US$2.27bn) investment to turn the site into a renewables unit, the 23 April report said.
bp said in the SAF Investor report that the decision to halt work at the Castellon refinery was due to a lack of policy support and low demand.
The company is currently undergoing a strategic shift in its low-carbon strategy, pausing various planned sites as it invests in high return projects.
In February, it announced that it was slashing planned investments in renewable energy but boosting oil and gas spending to US$10bn/year in a bid to increase cash flows and returns.
In June 2024, bp announced it was scaling back plans to develop new SAF and renewable diesel projects at its existing sites, pausing planning for two potential projects while continuing to assess three for progression.
According to a bp spokesperson quoted in a 21 June Biobased Diesel Daily report, the Castellon site was one of three projects under assessment with the others in Kwinana, Australia, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The Kwinana renewable fuel project has now been paused, according to a 4 February Bloomberg report.
However, the company was still going ahead with its Rotterdam project with a final investment decision expected in 2027 if market dynamics were favourable, SAF Investor wrote.
