EIB announces $450m loan for Galp’s Sines refinery

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced a grant of €430m ($450m) loan for the construction of two key projects at Galp’s Sines Refinery.

“These pioneering projects are a clear example of how we can combine financing, innovation, and our environmental commitment to promote a fair and sustainable energy transition,” said Jean-Christophe Laloux, Director General, head of EU lending and advisory at the EIB.

Galp is developing a Biofuels unit, already at a construction stage, in partnership with Japan’s Mitsui, as part of a total €400m ($418m) investment, of which €250m ($261m) is provided by the EIB.

This unit will convert vegetable oils and residual fats into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel of biological origin (HVO) with identical characteristics to the fossil-based fuels used in regular combustion engines.

This unit, set to begin production in 2026, will have the capacity to produce up to 270,000 tons of renewable fuels, enough for Portugal to comply with the European Union mandate for this type of fuels in aviation.

In parallel, Galp is also building in the same site a 100MW electrolyser, a €250m ($261m) investment of which the EIB will finance €180m ($188m). The site will produce up to 15,000 tons of renewable hydrogen per year when it goes online next year.

“We have mobilised partners, private investment, and European financing to drive a transformative project that brings European and national energy and industrial policies to life,” said Ronald Doesburg, Galp’s executive board member responsible for the industrial area.

Earlier in February, Galp said that it continued to make capital expenditure into its HVO/SAF unit in the Sines Industrial Complex, Portugal.

The company, in fourth quarter report, said that it invested funds into the it invested funds into the it invested nearly €232.4m ($242.5m) in Sines Industrial complex during the full year 2024.

In December last year, the company announced it has recently received three new reactors for its Sines site to begin SAF/HVO production from 2026 onwards.