Repsol to invest more than $130 million to retrofit plant to produce biofuels

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish oil company Repsol will invest more than 120 million euros ($132.95 million) to retrofit a decades-old diesel plant to produce second-generation biofuels, a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

As part of its strategy to pivot to renewables, Repsol targets the production of two million tons of low-carbon fuels by 2030, tripling the capacity it had at the beginning of this decade.

The Puertollano plant, built in the 1960s, will start producing biofuels for cars, trucks an shipping at the end of 2025 and will have a capacity of 240,000 tons per year. It will use organic waste, such as used cooking oils.

This will be the second plant of this type in the Iberia region, along with Repsol's plant at its Cartagena refinery, the spokesperson said.

Biofuels are seen as key to decarbonise transportation in sectors hard to electrify, like aviation and shipping.

($1 = 0.9026 euros)

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, editing by Inti Lanbdauro)

By Pietro Lombardi