La Mede Platform

Start-up of Ecoslops Unit for the Production of Recycled Fuel

Châteauneuf-Les-Martigues, July 5th, 2021 – The Ecoslops P2R¹ unit has just started-up at the TotalEnergies La Mède platform in Bouches-du-Rhône, France. The production of the first liters of recycled fuel consolidates the agreement signed in 2019 between TotalEnergies and Ecoslops SA², an innovative company that produces fuel and light bitumen from “slops” (hydrocarbon residues such as bilges) from maritime transport.

The Ecoslops unit will produce, from these residues, up to 30,000 tons per year of recycled fuel (Naphtha, Gasoil and Fuel oil) and light bitumen. This circular business model, applied to petroleum waste, allows the revalorisation of these residues from maritime transport, and the creation of value locally.

“The start-up of the Ecoslops unit is fully in line with TotalEnergies’ circular economy and energy transition ambitions at La Mède platform. Acquiring an equity interest in Ecoslops Provence in 2019 reaffirmed our position as a strong player in the local economy and we are now further consolidating our site’s industrial redeployment project”, states Stéphane Cambier, Director of the La Mède platform.

“This is an important day for our Group because it means that we now have a second P2R unit in Europe. Our teams have shown great tenacity and professionalism in making this project possible. It was also a team effort with the staff of TotalEnergies at La Mède and we thank everyone for their hard work”, notes Vincent Favier, Chairman and CEO of Ecoslops.

Ecoslops relied on the support of local companies to build the unit, placing 75% of its orders with them.

About La Mède Platform:
In 2019, the La Mède platform became the site of France’s first world-class biorefinery with an investment of €275 million. It will produce 500,000 tons of biodiesel each year. The La Mède platform also hosts four other important business activities:

• an international training center with real-life installations accommodating 2,500 trainees a year, which opened its doors in 2017;
• a 50,000 m3 AdBlue production unit (AdBlue is an additive that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions from trucks);
• an oil depot with a storage capacity of 1.3 million m3 per year and operational since April 2017;
• and an 8-megawatt solar farm, connected to the grid since December 14th, 2017.

The platform will employ 250 people. In January 2020, TotalEnergies also announced, in partnership with Engie, that La Mède would see the installation of France’s largest site to produce green hydrogen from 100% renewable electricity. This is a clear sign of the group’s commitment to include this site in its long-term energy transition.