The managing director of the Sines plant, Pedro Simões, said they were in the “engineering design phase”, so they could take a final decision by “the end of 2017”, about creating the new unit in La Mède in the south of France.
The first refinery of its kind was opened in June this year in Sines and it is unique in the world as it uses tanker waste to produce the fuel and asphalt.
Apart from the new unit in France, there is also interest in Ecoslops’ technology from the north of Europe, Romania, Ivory Coast and Oman.
“The port authorities have to have resources available to collect this kind of waste and millions of tons are collected every year. Typically, this waste is dried and sent to be burnt in industries that need a lot of cheap energy, such as cement plants and steel works”, Pedro Simões said.
The refinery unit in Sines has already produced “about 18,000 tons” of fuel and asphalt and is expected to reach 20,000 tons by the year’s end.