The former Marsden Point refinery. Photo: LDR / Northern Advocate / Michael Cunningham
The days of making fuel at the site of the former Marsden Point refinery may not yet be over.
The taps were turned off at the refinery in early 2022 as Refining NZ stopped processing crude oil because of weak margins and the slump in demand because of Covid-19 restrictions, with the major oil companies opting to import processed fuel largely from South East Asian refineries.
Since then the old refinery has been dismantled, hundreds of staff made redundant, and it is now purely a fuel import and storage facility, with a supply pipeline to Auckland.
But it also has a large industrial site looking for a use other than storage tanks.
Chief executive Rob Buchanan said rebuilding a refinery at the site -- which is to be investigated under the coalition deal between National and New Zealand First -- would cost billions, the former workforce had moved on, and the idea was not feasible.
But he said that did not rule out fuel production all together.
"We've got a memorandum of understanding with [Australian based] Fortescue for a potential sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) manufacturing plant on our site .. that would be for 50 million litres of fuel a year and that would be a real opportunity to bring back manufacturing on the site."
Strong appetite for green fuel
He said airlines around the world looked to have a "strong appetite" for sustainable aviation fuel as a way to reduce carbon emissions, and Marsden Point was a "unique" site.
Last month Air New Zealand signed a deal with a Finnish firm for 9 million litres of SAF to be stored in Los Angeles for use on the airline's services.
Buchanan said the company was also looking at other options for fuel manufacturing at the old refinery site.
"Our future is in energy infrastructure, and that's where we're focussed as a company."
He said Channel Infrastructure was open to developing storage facilities elsewhere around the country, but no opportunities had emerged so far, and previous plans for a solar farm nearby have been sidelined.
Buchanan said the company had capacity for 280m litres of fuel at present, but could bring a further 400m capacity into operation if needed.
Mandatory fuel reserve requirements coming into force next January require fuel importers to have at least 28 days' supply of petrol, 24 days of jet fuel and 21 days of diesel.