Preem’s Lysekil refinery begins producing renewable petrol from pyrolysis oil

According to a statement, extensive tests have now begun in Lysekil on the catalytic cracker, one of the refinery’s largest plants, which primarily produces petrol. The test consists of two parts, an initial smaller batch of 300 tonnes of pyrolysis oil, which will be followed by a longer test operation that will process up to 50 000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil over two years.

The pyrolysis oil will be delivered from Pyrocell’s new facility in Gävle which is currently under construction and expected to be operational during the autumn. At Pyrocell, sawdust from Setra’s Kastet sawmill will be processed into pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil will then be further refined at Preem’s refinery in Lysekil.

Residual products from the Swedish forests have a unique potential to make Sweden self-sufficient in an increasing share of liquid renewable fuels in the long run instead of importing 85 percent, as we do today. This is an exciting step in our work to develop the fuel of the future, said Peter Abrahamsson, Head of Sustainable Development at Preem.

At the beginning of 2022, the national statutory blending requirement for renewables in petrol, the so-called reduction obligation, will increase to 7.8 percent. By 2030, carbon dioxide emissions from petrol will have decreased by 28 percent.

This means that Preem’s production of renewable petrol is an important piece of the puzzle that Sweden must solve to achieve the climate goals. Our long-term goal is to produce approximately 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels by 2030, which means that we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12.5 million tonnes, corresponding to 20 percent of Sweden’s total emissions, concluded Peter Abrahamsson.