Aligning Refinery Turndown Strategy with Decarbonization Goals

A European refinery is currently developing a long-term strategy to become climate neutral by 2035. The transition plan includes expanding bio- and renewable processing capabilities, reducing fossil fuel refining, and ultimately ceasing fossil fuel processing altogether.

Objective

The refinery wanted to review turndown capabilities across their processing units and identify which projects could be implemented during upcoming turnarounds in order to achieve various decarbonization milestones.

Approach

Becht reviewed detailed site information for each unit, including current condition, planned feedstocks, and target operating rates required to meet the refinery’s climate objectives. The team collaborated with the refinery through a series of workshops to determine which operating adjustments could be made without modifications, and to define project scopes for the changes that would be necessary.

Solution

The final report consolidated the workshop results and provided a recommended prioritization of projects for each upcoming turnaround. This work offered the refinery a clear set of actionable projects required to meet transition targets, along with insights on investments that would be difficult to reverse should future management objectives change.

Value

Becht enabled the refinery to obtain critical answers more quickly than could have been achieved internally, giving them the information needed to move forward within the time constraints of their turnaround schedule.