Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 3, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleShell cancels its Rotterdam biofuels facility due to market challenges, focusing on projects that meet customer needs and shareholder value.
(Reuters) -Shell will not resume construction of a biofuels facility at its Shell Energy and Chemicals Park in Rotterdam after an in-depth evaluation found it would not be competitive, the company said on Wednesday.
The project's construction was paused in July 2024 due to weak market conditions. Shell in September 2021 had approved the development of the plant to produce 820,000 metric tons per year and had planned to bring it online in 2025.
"As we evaluated market dynamics and the cost of completion, it became clear that the project would be insufficiently competitive to meet our customers' need for affordable, low carbon products," said Machteld de Haan, Shell's Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions President.
"This was a difficult decision, but the right one, as we prioritise our capital towards those projects that deliver both the needs of our customers and value for our shareholders," Haan said.
Along with other major oil companies, Shell has been shifting away from renewable projects and back to its traditional expertise of fossil fuel production.
(Reporting by Anmol Choubey and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis)
Shell found that the project would not be competitive after evaluating market dynamics and the cost of completion, leading to the decision to prioritize capital towards more viable projects.
The construction was paused in July 2024 due to weak market conditions.
The facility was planned to produce 820,000 metric tons of biofuels per year.
Shell, along with other major oil companies, has been shifting away from renewable projects and returning to its traditional expertise in fossil fuel production.
The article was reported by Anmol Choubey and Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru, with editing by Barbara Lewis.
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