Petrobras conducts Brazil’s first biofuel blend bunkering on “Darcy Ribeiro”

Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas producer Petrobras on Saturday (31 December) carried out the first bunker delivery with renewable content in the country at the Rio Grande Terminal (Terig), in Rio Grande do Sul.

Transpetro’s Darcy Ribeiro vessel was refuelled with the new, lower carbon footprint fuel, a mixture of 90% bunker volume of mineral origin and 10% of biodiesel. 

The purpose of the test is to evaluate the use of the bunker with renewable content for two months and the logistical challenges associated with the use of the product.

The renewable fraction of the new fuel has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in relation to the bunker when considered over the full life cycle. The estimated percentage reduction of CO2 equivalent emissions from this mixture is around 7%.

In the first stage of the project, during the tests carried out in the laboratory of the Petrobras Research and Development Center (Cenpes), no impacts were found in meeting the main properties of the bunker specification.  

The assessment of the burning quality and the stability of the mixture indicated the approval for the field test in a sea vessel. It is expected that the operation of the ship will confirm the laboratory results and will be uneventful in the performance of the engines, filters, and fuel purification systems.

As of January, the IMO 2023 initiative will come into force, aiming at fostering the improvement of ship efficiency and the adoption of fuels with low carbon emissions.

“With the IMO 2023 seal, vessels will be certified and ranked according to the level of energy efficiency and Transpetro has been investing in several solutions in recent years, with a focus on taking our fleet to the best levels of efficiency”, said Sea and Land Engineering and Technology Director at Transpetro, Jair Toledo. 

“In order to achieve that, we invested in several improvements. We have installed propeller and hull appendages on our fleet vessels, as well as conducted operational optimisation actions, among others, which allowed for a 7% reduction in emissions in 2022 when compared to 2021, which is an important proof of the advances made in our journey towards the evolution of energy efficiency”, he said.  

In the maritime sector, depending on the percentage of biodiesel mixed with the fuel, little or no adaptation is required on the vessels, which makes adopting this new product easier. With the field test, Petrobras will take another step towards contributing to selling fuels with less impact on the environment.

Petrobras is set to invest USD 4.4 billion in projects focused on energy transition, aimed at low carbon initiatives, under the new Strategic Plan from 2023 to 2027. 

“We are working on a new generation of more efficient products and fuels, with lower greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the demands of our society.  The development of the bunker with renewable content is an example of our commitment to the transition to a low-carbon future,” said Commercialisation in the Internal Market Executive Manager Sandro Barreto.

Photo credit: Petrobras
Published: 10 January, 2023