bp is planning a major transformation at the Gelsenkirchen refinery site to make it future-proof for the energy transition. The complex and costly site is facing declining demand for conventional fuels, prompting the need for change. The transformation will involve shutting down some plants, converting others to process biogenic materials, and reducing CO2 emissions. The site will focus on producing lower-emission fuels, including sustainable aviation fuels. This transformation is part of bp's strategy to become an integrated energy company in Germany. The changes will impact the workforce, with negotiations planned to ensure a fair transition. The Gelsenkirchen site currently employs around 2,000 people and plays a significant role in the chemical industry in North Rhine-Westphalia.
bp is planning a major transformation at the Gelsenkirchen site to prepare the refinery site for the energy transition and to make it future-proof
- High plant complexity, structurally high costs and a declining demand for conventional fuels are driving the need for change.
- Opportunities arise from increasing demand for lower-emission fuels and, in particular, more sustainable aviation fuels.
- This opens up new prospects for the refinery site, which are to be enhanced through profound changes in the plant and process configuration.
- Existing plants are to be partially shut down and existing ones - subject to the relevant permits - converted or repurposed in order to be able to process biogenic input materials in addition to conventional ones in the future.
- The planned transformation could reduce the site’s operational CO2 emissions by up to half a million tonnes per year from 2026.
Gelsenkirchen – With its strategy for the German market, bp also wants to drive forward its transformation into an integrated energy company. The refinery in Gelsenkirchen is an important building block of this project. By the end of the decade, bp plans to gradually convert the site so that it can follow the path of the energy transition and exploit its potential.
"Our refinery site in Gelsenkirchen is currently not competitive. We are too complex and – not only because of this – are burdened with structurally too high costs. In order to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that the energy transition presents for our site, we must change today. We want to give the Gelsenkirchen site a perspective and greater potential for its contributions to the energy transition." Arno Appel, Head of the refinery in Gelsenkirchen
Refinery: Perspectives through change and adaptation
- In order to make the refinery future-proof, it is necessary to massively reduce the complexity of the site and to shut down parts of the plant for which capacity utilization is expected to decline in the future - although petrochemical production will remain the core area.
- As a result, as a first step, five plants at the Horst and Scholven plants are scheduled to be shut down as of 2025. This could lead to a planned and controlled reduction in the total production capacity - currently around twelve million tonnes of crude oil per year - to around eight million tonnes at the site.
- With these measures, the site could also reduce its Scope 1 emissions by up to half a million tonnes of CO2 per year.
- bp also plans, subject to appropriate approvals, to enable the production of lower-emission fuels using co-processing in the hydrocracker plant at the Gelsenkirchen-Scholven site in order to produce, among other things, more sustainable aviation fuels (so-called Sustainable Aviation Fuels – SAF).[1]
- Another perspective for future steps towards the production of more sustainable products is the possibility of establishing a circular economy network at the refinery for its petrochemical plants together with a partner. The Gelsenkirchen City Council recently created the basic prerequisite for this by adapting the development plan accordingly.
The planned future orientation of the refinery will also have an impact on the organization of work on site. Arno Appel says: "The tasks on site will change as part of our transformation. We are determined to take as many colleagues as possible with us on this journey. But the truth is that there will be fewer jobs overall in the refinery of the future. In order to make this change as fair and socially acceptable as possible, we want to start negotiations with the employee representatives as soon as possible."
About the Gelsenkirchen location:
In Gelsenkirchen, bp operates the two plants in Horst and Scholven as an integrated refinery and petrochemical site with around 2,000 employees and 160 trainees. The processing capacity is around twelve million tons of crude oil per year. In addition to petrol, diesel, jet fuel and heating oil, this produces more than 50 different products, primarily for the chemical industry. In addition to its great importance for the domestic fuel and energy supply, the Gelsenkirchen site also plays an important role in the North Rhine-Westphalia chemical network.