Total to transform its Grandpuits refinery into a platform for advanced biofuels and bioplastics production

Type of post: NEWS. 

Within the framework of the “net zero” strategy, Total will convert its Grandpuits refinery (Seine-et-Marne, France) into a zero-crude platform. By 2024, following an investment totalling more than 500 M€, the platform will focus on the production of advanced biofuels and bioplastics. 

Press release: “Total is investing more than €500 million to convert its Grandpuits refinery into a zero-crude platform for biofuels and bioplastics”, 24/09/2020. 

Related posts: 

- “Total ready to start-up its HVO biorefinery in La Mède”, 5/6/2019. 

- “Total is considering the conversion of its oil refinery in Grandpuits into an HVO biorefinery”, 26/6/2020. 

Figure 1. View of the Total site in Grandpuits where the zero-crude platform will be established 

In addition to the first commercial PLA plant in Europe, the platform will host three new industrial facilities. 

(1) Production unit of renewable diesel primarily intended for the aviation industry. 

This new unit, to be commissioned in 2024, will be able to process 400,000 tons per year, with potential annual production of: 

- 170,000 tons of sustainable aviation fuel, 

- 120,000 tons of renewable diesel, 

- 50,000 tons of renewable naphtha, used to produce bioplastics. 

The unit will process primarily animal fats from Europe and used cooking oil, supplemented with other vegetable oils like rapeseed (but excluding palm oil). Total will prioritize local suppliers. 

This initiative will contribute to France’s roadmap for deploying sustainable aviation fuel, which calls for an incorporation target into aviation fuel of 2% by 2025 and 5% by 2030. Biofuels that reduce carbon emissions by at least 50% compared to their fossil equivalents are one component of Total’s strategy for meeting the challenge of carbon neutrality. 

(2) Plastics recycling unit. 

Total will be constructing France’s first chemical recycling plant with Plastic Energy (Total 60%, Plastic Energy 40%). Based on a new innovative recycling technology, this plant will convert plastic wastes into a liquid called TACOIL through a pyrolysis process. This TACOIL will then be used as feedstock for the production of polymers with identical properties to virgin polymers. In particular, they will be suitable for use in food-grade applications—a major criterion for food packaging businesses. The plant will help Total meet its objective of producing 30% of its polymers from recycled materials by 2030. 

(3) Two photovoltaic solar power plants. 

In addition, Total will be building two photovoltaic solar plants, one with capacity of 28 MWp (at the Grandpuits site) and the other with capacity of 24 MWp (at the Gargenville site), which will contribute to Total’s ambition to provide green electricity to all its industrial sites in Europe. 

The plants will be built and operated by Total Quadran, a wholly-owned Total affiliate that specializes in renewable energy development and production in France. 

Meanwhile, crude oil refining at the platform will be discontinued in the first quarter of 2021 and storage of petroleum products will end in late 2023. Operations at service stations and airports in the Greater Paris region will not be affected: they will be supplied by the refineries at Donges and Normandy. 

This decision to end its oil refining comes in the wake of an audit conducted over several months on the 260-kilometer Ile-de-France pipeline (PLIF), which carries crude oil from the Port of Le Havre to the Grandpuits refinery. The refinery was forced to shut down for more than five months in 2019 when a leak appeared on the PLIF, following an earlier leak near Le Havre in 2014. With the approval of government officials, the PLIF’s maximum working pressure was reduced to ensure safe operation. As a result, the refinery could operate at only 70% of its capacity, threatening its long-term financial viability. The audit found that normal operations at the refinery could be restored only by replacing the PLIF, at a cost of nearly 600 M€. Given France’s plans for the energy transition up to 2040, therefore, Total has decided to end its oil refining at Grandpuits and embark on an industrial transformation of the site, backed by a major investment plan.