CVR wastes no time converting its Wynnewood refinery to renewable diesel fuel production

 

CVR Energy, Inc. is moving quickly ahead after its board of directors approved a $110 million renewable diesel project at its refinery in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. The company is among others nationally in converting refineries to renewable diesel fuel production.

The refinery’s hydrocracker unit will be converted for the production of renewable diesel. While approval from the board was announced last week, construction activities including engineering design had been underway.

CVR Energy hopes to have the conversion complete and operational by July of 2021. The conversion effort should result in the production of nearly 100 million gallons of renewable diesel a year and more than 6 million gallons of renewable naphtha a year.

“By leveraging assets already in place, particularly the existing hydrocracker unit and underutilized hydrogen plant at our Wynnewood refinery, we believe we can deliver one of the lowest cost renewable diesel projects in the industry,” said Dave Lamp, CVR Energy’s Chief Executive Officer.

As a result, CVR will reduce its annual Renewable Identification Number exposure under the Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard. CVR was one of the small refineries that challenged mandated production of biofuels and lost its case earlier this year with the 10th U.S. District Court of Appeals in Denver. It has since appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Company currently estimates total capital costs for the project to be approximately $110 million, or $1.10 per gallon of renewable diesel capacity, most of which should be recouped by the end of 2022 through the generation of RINs as well as Blender’s Tax and Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits.

Source: CVR Energy