ARGENT ENERGY: Driving the Decarbonisation Mission
As one of Europe’s leading producers of waste-based biodiesel, Argent Energy is looking forward with ambition as it nears completion of a large expansion at its site in the Netherlands. The company is also busy developing new products and new ideas as it pushes forward with decarbonisation and net-zero concepts that will benefit a range of industries now and in the future.
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As the global energy sector races towards net zero, the role of biofuels remains central to bridging the gap between today’s fossil-dependent reality and the electrified future. While the conversation around hydrogen, carbon capture, and large-scale electrification is advancing, biofuels have carved out an irreplaceable space in the energy transition. Their ability to decarbonise transport quickly and cost-effectively, particularly in sectors where electrification is not yet viable, makes them vital.
International frameworks, including those championed by the NDC Partnership, stress that biofuels are not only a low-carbon substitute but also an immediate solution to tackling emissions across road, marine, and aviation. In this crucial space, Argent Energy has built a strong reputation as one of Europe’s foremost producers of biodiesel (FAME) and renewable fuels.
From its flagship site in Stanlow, Cheshire, and its growing operations in Amsterdam, the company continues to expand its capacity and capability. But this expansion has not been without challenge, as Director of Corporate Affairs, Dickon Posnett, unpacks for Energy Focus.
TOUGH MARKET
“Last year we had to close our Motherwell biodiesel plant. The site is being decommissioned, and the company is taking a long-term view of the land. Meanwhile another UK biodiesel plant, one of two owned by Greenergy, has had to close. We also expect at least one of the UK’s two ethanol plants to close, and that proves that times are tough,” says Posnett.
One of the key difficulties has been global competition. “Subsidised imports from China and America damage our industry and there are many trade defence actions that are ongoing to try and level the playing field. There are also many other fuels being imported, some fairly, but we simply cannot compete against unfairly subsidised products, and we are forced to export. That is great news for importers around the world, and good news for those collecting import duties, but it brings huge challenges for us and the UK biofuels industry that has to compete in Europe but with the added cost of freight to get it there.”
Despite these headwinds, Argent has continued to supply the UK market while strengthening its export base. “Our customer base from UK operations is mainly export but we do blend our own fuels which are sold into the local market,” says Posnett. “We produce a high blend for heavy duty vehicle fleets looking to decarbonise their operations, including bus and truck companies. We blend at the Argent oil terminal, which is also near the biodiesel plant at Stanlow, and there is another plant at Dagenham where we blend and supply London and the Southeast UK.”
EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES
That UK product has a new identity, designed to catch the attention of HDV fleet operators and government alike. “It’s a high blend of bio – anything above B10, and it can be customised to customers’ needs with our flexible ‘dynamic blending’ to adapt the blend levels. Launching later this year, the product is called Dieselite, offering carbon savings of triple or quadruple greenhouse gas savings as a drop-in alternative to standard diesel. It is something that we feel is quite exciting for the UK because it is just scratching the surface of the decarbonisation mission, but it is an easy and cost-effective win while we wait for the electrification transition.”
Posnett makes clear that with government support, biofuels could deliver far more. “We are pushing the message out to government that there is a lot more that we can do if that avenue is opened up. At the UK pumps, we are working to get away from B7 and switch to B10 being the standard fuel, as Europe is now mandated to do under the Renewable Energy Directive. That would automatically open the doors to an increase of around 40% bio instead of fossil diesel in the road sector.”
While challenges persist in the UK, Argent is thriving across the North Sea. “We are busy expanding our site in the Netherlands. Stanlow has a capacity of 95,000 tonnes and we are currently at 100,000 in the Netherlands.”
The Amsterdam location is a strategic asset, enabling flexible supply across Europe. “From our Netherlands plant, which is based in Amsterdam – right on the water – we can export to whichever EU country is most valuable to us at the time. Some of our biodiesel goes into high blends through partnerships with local fuel suppliers. However, more and more in the Netherlands we are being asked about marine fuels and how we can assist decarbonisation efforts. We currently manufacture and supply biofuels that go to inland marine vessels as well as sea-going ships thanks to the new legislative drivers to reduce emissions in the EU. In the UK however, we are lagging behind with no sign of policy plans for marine decarbonisation here. It would make a lot of sense to at least align with the EU targets and become part of that wave of reducing shipping emissions.”
In Amsterdam, the company has just completed a major new phase of investment. “Our new glycerine plant commenced full production only a few months ago is the largest European refinery for the production of technical refined glycerine. The plant reprocesses a by-product of biodiesel manufacturing into a high-quality, green product for use in the chemical industry. The facility is co-located at the same site as our Dutch biodiesel plant. Also, by the end of the year we will have completed the construction of a new plant, also co-located, that will have 220,000 tonnes of new biodiesel (FAME) capacity. The building is more or less complete, and there is a lot of work going on to get the various services in place. It will bring significant additional capacity for the Dutch market and allow us to offer more product to help ship owners comply with the growing requirement to reduce the use of fossil fuels.”
BACKED FOR GROWTH
This expansion was made possible thanks to the support of Argent’s parent company, Swire. “Swire purchased Argent in 2013 at the time we were seeking funding to assist in the building of our second UK biodiesel plant. Once the new plant was operational we then looked for a foothold in Europe and we purchased what is now our biodiesel plant in Amsterdam. With considerable assets in haulage, shipping and aviation sectors, Swire make an ideal partner for Argent, focussed on sustainability and our vision of helping decarbonise the world with the most sustainable resources.,” says Posnett.
With Swire’s support, Argent has been able to innovate and trial new solutions with a wide range of customers. “We are trialling a number of different types of fuels with various customers, all going very well – everything from pure biodiesel right through to blends of heavy biofuel oils.”
INNOVATION FOCUS
Marine fuels are an area of particular innovation. “The long-term solution is electrification – similar to road. But in the meantime, there are engines running burning gas oil and seagoing vessels have large engines that burn a thick heavy fuel oil.
“Facilities like ours that specialise in converting difficult waste streams into biofuels, utilise an end-stage distillation phase. While the light fractions make our pure, high ester FAME, the heavy fraction of the distillation process produces a biofuel oil from the same waste fats and oils. Traditionally, this fuel can go into the heating sector to replace fossil heating oils but Argent has developed a new process to adapt the fuel to make it an ideal, low carbon, low sulphur substitute for the marine fuel oil that sea-going ships use.”
As Posnett points out, contrasting fortunes on each side of the Channel illustrate the importance of supportive legislation. “It’s an interesting juxtaposition because there are obvious problems in the UK around the plant closures, but the Netherlands is attracting investment thanks to a target and obligation for renewable fuels which is almost double that of the UK. They also have a strong focus on marine operations and decarbonisation of the vessels going through Amsterdam and Rotterdam.”
Argent’s innovation extends beyond fuel products. Its entire operation is under the spotlight to find every improvement possible. “Our wastewater treatment system is working well in the UK and we’ve now rolled out the same system in the Netherlands. The water treatment where we are on the Stanlow site was cumbersome, costly and ineffective. That gave us a whole set of challenges so we decided that instead of relying on existing infrastructure, we would build our own. The water treatment plant we have on each site allows us to recycle almost all the water we use in the process, meaning we don’t need to use as much fresh water. It was significant investment but provided us with a range of benefits across a range of environmental concerns. Reduction in the use of water, reduction in waste into waterways, and improvement on water security.”
Argent is also focused on reducing its own energy footprint as much as possible. “We have embedded our sustainability goals into all aspects of the business,” Posnett explains. “One of the most obvious areas is the use of energy in our plants. Historically our process heating was done with oil but now, we are moving to gas and away from gas oil. Our sustainability goals are also driving reductions in energy use across the sites with a whole raft of projects, small and large, designed to bring real GHG emission savings. Not only do we push for continual improvements because of the kind of company we are, and our core values, but the more sustainable our business operations are, the more sustainable our products are. Incentives around sustainability in the UK and the Netherlands come from wider legislative targets under the ETS for example but also the UK’s renewable fuel obligation (RTFO) and the Dutch equivalent.”
The Netherlands is moving from a system that mandates use of renewable fuels to one that aims to reward use of fuels that reduce GHG emissions.
“That means the supply chain will be measured for energy usage and that means if we can reduce our use of fossil then we will be a more valuable partner. Unfortunately, the system is not ideal as it tends to disadvantage those companies using genuine and the more ‘dirty’ wastes, but we are working with governments to ensure they understand the limitations of a GHG system and do something to mitigate the problems.”
AMBITIOUS & FORWARD LOOKING
The ambition remains clear: consolidate, strengthen, and grow. “We don’t have a confirmed way ahead on a number of projects under development, but our corporate development team spend their time seeking new possibilities for Argent, an ambitious and forward-looking company,” says Posnett. “At the same time, we recognise that the market conditions right now dictate the need for consolidation. We have to ensure that we are strong enough to navigate tough times and help build the legislative and regulatory structure that underpins renewables so that it is fair, can stand up to fraud and creates the environment for maximising biodiesel use over fossil in internal combustion engines to ever-greater levels, while they are still on the roads and the waterways.”
That ambition stretches into the future and Posnett says that Argent sees many decades of use for its products at high blends – B10, B+ (>B10 for HDVs), marine, and other options even beyond 2050.
Governments, he argues, have a critical role to play. “When governments have high targets and ambitious plans that create demand, that is where investment follows. With the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) revision coming up in the not-too-distant future, it will be interesting to see what course the UK government will take. The problem with greenhouse gases is that everything we emit today is more we have to save tomorrow. So optimisation of the existing, and highly cost-effective biodiesel is critical if we are to avoid missing major opportunities.”
Biofuels are not a silver bullet, but as Argent Energy demonstrates, they are a vital and scalable solution for cutting emissions today. By expanding its capacity in the Netherlands, strengthening its UK operations, and broadening its product base, Argent continues to prove that innovation in biofuels is not only possible, but essential. With the right policy support, the company is well-positioned to play a defining role in decarbonising transport and supporting the global energy transition.