Candidate speaking: SHELL REDIIGREEN PROJECT

13-10-2023

Shell REDIIGreen project

Hi, I am Tim de Jong and since December 2022 I work as freelancer with Burdock as agency and Shell as client on the REDIIGreen project. Before December 2022 I already worked on the same project for more than one year. I think this is one of the best projects to work on in the Netherlands.

On the REDIIGreen project I work as Cost Engineer and my expertise and daily work is Cost Estimating, Cost Control and Risk Management. I work in a team with several cost engineers and schedulers. Together we are working to provide reliable cost and schedule forecast information on which important project decisions are being taken.

I find it very interesting to work on such a large and complex project. There are challenges that need to be solved every day. At the same time it is good to contribute actively to the energy transition and make it really happen, because that is what this project is all about.

Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam

Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, also known as Shell Pernis or Shell Nederland Raffinaderij (SNR) is a well-known refinery in The Netherlands. It is the largest in Europe.

Many of the projects currently in execution and in the pipeline on this Shell site are aiming at reducing carbon emissions: carbon capture, biofuels etc. This is also the reason for the new name ‘Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam’.

Biofuels

The project I am working on is the REDIIGreen project. RED stands for Renewable Energy Directive and RED II is the revision from 2018. It is a European directive to increase the share of renewable energy use. Green obviously points towards the much greener products which will be produced once this project is finished.

This project is building a new plant to turn used vegatable oil, animal fats and used cooking oilinto biodiesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). What was previously waste now becomes a valuable feedstock for new products. The plant is designed to produce 820 kilo ton per year.

For Shell in Pernis this is new as until today the feedstock has been crude oil. Currently there are around 60 plants on the site which produce all kind of products, or are a basis for products, which we use in daily life. These plants are being modernized or replaced over time to reduce carbon emissions.

Pernis

The location of the project is visible from the A4 highway between the Benelux-tunnel and the intersection with the A15. Currently there are big tanks visible and a few pieces of large equipment which are waiting to be installed.

A large portion of the work is already done. The majority of the engineering work is ready and a significant part of the underground civil works, such as plot clearing, piling and foundation works, is ready. The project is currently fully in construction phase and in the near future more and more buildings, structures and equipment will be visible.

The CO2 that is produced by the plant will be captured and will be stored in a an empty gas field offshore in the North Sea.

Construction complexity

Many parts of the plants are produced at a vendor shop and need to be transported to the construction site. A number of these parts are several hundred tons in weight and some even around 2.000 tons. A lot of engineering effort has been done to make sure these parts can actually be handled on site.

Most of the heavy things arrive by ship. A roll-on roll-off facility has been constructed, so large and heavy parts can be moved from a ship on SPMTs (Self-Propelled Modular Transporter) to their final destination on site. Also improvements have been made to the soil on site to make sure the soil bearing capacity is sufficient to accommodate the transport on site.

In the coming period the site will become busier and busier as more contractors will be on site. Apart from the civil contractors, there will also be structural steel contractors, piping contractors, electrical and instrumentation contractors as well as many others. This makes the site a busy place and a challenge to manage and plan all the work that needs to be done.

Investment for the future

The investment size is very significant for European standards, in between 1 and 2 billion Euros. This clearly indicates Shell is moving towards products with low carbon intensity. For many years Shell has not done such a large investment in this location. This also tells something about the future of the industry in The Netherlands as these large investments are only being made to last for decades.

Burdock

For roughly half a year I work with Burdock as agency. Especially the communication I find to be excellent. Regularly, Burdock visits the project and every now and then I get a phone call out of pure interest in me and the project. This is very much appreciated.

Bron: Shell Nederland