By Ejekwu Chidiebere
The ongoing conversion of the Grandpuits refinery is entering a key phase, TotalEnergies said in an email statement posted to Energy Window International. It adds that over 1,200 people are currently working on the project, which includes the launch of an advanced plastics recycling unit TotalEnergies said is the first company in France to use this particular technology, and the construction of a biorefinery for the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). “Once completed, this vast project will be the Company’s first zero-crude platform,” the French Major said.
The Company added that the complex construction operation, for which as much of the site’s equipment as possible is reused, would require the mobilization and expertise of all the employees who know the Grandpuits site. Some projects due to arrive in the second phase — biogas and mechanical recycling — have already been suspended and the employees who were to join them reassigned, with their agreement, to the success of the first two major projects, the Company said. The French energy firm also said that the 250 jobs which would be maintained at Grandpuits following the conversion was in line with its plans at the outset of the project in 2020,
“Within a few months, Grandpuits will be able to produce 10,000 tons a year of pyrolysis oil from recycled plastic, and from the beginning of 2026, up to 230,000 tons a year of Sustainable Aviation Fuel,” the company said.