Future of biodiesel at Port of Ferrol unclear

In Spain, La Voz reports that Jaen biofuels firm Linares Biodiesel Technology (Libitec) has withdrawn from the project to operate a storage plant in the outer port of Ferrol for which, however, administrative procedures continue to advance.

The company was behind Terminal de Líquidos Ferrol SL, which processed the request for the occupation of some 21,000 square meters in the facilities of the former Entabán, the Zaragoza company that manufactures biodiesel that was inaugurated in June 2008 in Caneliñas, which was the first large biodiesel plant in Galicia, but which closed four years later without producing.

The process that began almost a year ago with the official publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) followed the usual procedures and, in fact, another firm in the sector was interested in the concession once the one-month period for submitting other requests that fit the requirements. In June, the board of directors of the Port Authority resolved the process of project competition, in which the proposal presented by Terminal de Líquidos Ferrol was accepted, ruling out that of the second candidate bidder, whose purpose was also the storage of fuels in the port esplanade. 

Sources from the Port of Ferrol indicated that this procedure is now pending a regional report from the Environment, regarding the change of use of the activity. That is, the approval of the Xunta for the new function of the facilities of the outer dock. When consulted in this regard, the management of the Andalusian parent company, Libitec, stated that the project “no longer belongs to the company”, although the reasons for its separation from the proposal formalized through Terminal de Líquidos Ferrol SL were not specified. On the other hand, the Port Authority pointed out that there is no official notification of resignation by the requesting company and that, therefore, there is no change and the process is still pending.