British multinational oil and gas company bp has put plans for a biofuels plant at its disused Kwinana oil refinery in Australia on hold, Boiling Cold reported.
bp’s plans for the site, included a biofuel plant – Kwinana Renewable Fuels (KRF) – to produce sustainable fuel from biomass, the 3 February report said.
A green hydrogen plant, H2Kwinana, was also planned for the site.
Located south of Perth, KRF was set be the first of five bp plants worldwide to turn biomass, including used cooking oil (UCO), into 10,000 barrels/day of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel, Boiling Cold wrote.
In an earlier Boiling Cold report, bp was quoted as saying it planned to start production at the site in 2026.
According to sources, bp’s decision to put the projects – estimated to cost around US$1bn in total – on hold was driven by rising construction costs and the lack of a mandate in Australia to use the fuels, leading to uncertainty if the products would have a ready local market.
A bp spokesperson was quoted as saying the company had made significant progress in developing the renewable fuels and hydrogen projects at Kwinana over the past three years.
“While bioenergy remains a core part of bp’s strategy, bp has decided to re-phase the Kwinana Renewable Fuels project,” he said.
“This involves adjusting the pace of delivery with a focus on improving capital efficiency and better alignment with government policies.”
bp closed its Kwinana oil refinery in 2021 after 66 years of operation.
