Petrobras will expand renewable diesel production capacity

Petrobras informed this Tuesday (27) that it expects to increase by 146% the production capacity of diesel with renewable content (Diesel R), after having received authorization from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) to operate more a fuel production unit at the Presidente Getúlio Vargas Refinery (Repar), in Araucária, Paraná. According to the company, the use of capacity depends on the availability of raw materials and market conditions.

From the current 5 million liters per day, the company will have the potential to process 12.3 million liters per day later this year. According to the state company, this total volume would be enough to supply around 41,000 conventional buses, generating an emission reduction of around 1,300 tons of greenhouse gases.

Diesel with renewable content is the first product launched under Petrobras’ BioRefining Program, which will invest, over the next five years, approximately US$ 600 million in the development of a new generation of sustainable fuels.

Repar’s general manager, Felipe Leonardo Gomes, highlighted the benefits of implementing the project. “The expansion of Repar’s vegetable oil processing capacity will add greater reliability and flexibility to the production of Diesel R, meeting the demands of customers and society for products with less environmental impact,” he said in a note.

For the director of Industrial Processes and Products at Petrobras, William França, the increase in the production capacity of Diesel R represents an important milestone for Petrobras’ BioRefining program. “We are preparing the company for the future. On the way to energy transition, the co-processing of mineral diesel with raw material from renewable sources has proven to be an industrially viable path and will contribute to an environmentally more sustainable market”.

Diesel R is a Petrobras fuel produced by co-processing mineral diesel with vegetable oil, with a proportion of up to 10% renewable content. In addition to the environmental benefit, Diesel R can be mixed with conventional diesel in different proportions, without the need for adaptations in vehicle engines and without requiring alterations or changes in the logistics chain or in its storage.