This historic milestone was achieved in conjunction with a global leader in the cruise industry – Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, in collaboration with World Fuel Services. PRIO, one of the largest producers of sustainable biofuels from residual raw materials in Europe, reinforces its position now also at the forefront of the energy transition in the maritime sector in Portugal.
Launched by PRIO at its Biofuel Factory in Aveiro, the ECO Bunkers B15 was, at the time, the first highly innovative solution, developed from waste raw material recycling processes, which allowed for a reduction of up to 18% in emissions of CO 2 and reductions in consumption, as evidenced by projects carried out with port communities in the Aveiro region. In order to increase the contribution to the decarbonization of the sector, new partnerships with mixtures richer in Biofuels have been celebrated, such as the ECO Bunkers B20, which supplies the fleet of the Port of Leixões.
As part of this new partnership with the cruise line Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, PRIO is now announcing the first supply in Portugal with ECO Bunkers B30, a fuel with a higher percentage of Biofuel incorporation, which thus allows for a greater reduction in emissions of CO 2 , which means that PRIO is able to control the entire production process of its Biodiesel solutions, namely the final specifications, in order to fully comply with all standards for high quality marine diesel.
This new fuel, ECO Bunkers B30, is a 30% blend of advanced biofuel from waste feedstocks, produced at PRIO's biodiesel plant and blended at PRIO's tank terminal in Aveiro. The flexibility of this blending process makes it possible to scale production according to demand and adjust the percentage of Biodiesel mixtures (up to a 100% renewable product, which allows up to 86% GHG reduction), according to the needs of customers and objectives. of sustainability.
With the support of World Fuel Services, on November 27 and December 7, 2022, two Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings cruises were supplied with a total of 400 tons of B30 (blend of 70% ULSD Diesel and 30% Biofuel) supplied and produced by PRIO. The first cruise, the “Norwegian Star”, took advantage of a stopover in Lisbon, to supply 200 tons of ECO Bunkers B30 and the following week, another ship in the fleet, the Norwegian Epic, followed with another 200 tons of ECO Bunkers B30.
In total, the PRIO ECO Bunkers B30 fuel enabled the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fleet to reduce CO 2 emissions by around 30% , i.e. 440 tons of CO 2 avoided, after these stopovers at the Cruise Terminal from Lisbon.
Luis Nunes, member of the Executive Committee of PRIO, comments on this partnership that “Advanced biofuels, produced from residual raw materials, that is, the result of the circular economy, are the solution of the present and that allow us to immediately face to the growing needs of our customers. They are “drop-in” solutions, that is, they did not require any modifications to the engine or tank of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' cruise ships and thus allowed an immediate impact without any need for additional investment in these ships.
“We are going through a crucial moment in the world’s response to climate and biodiversity emergencies, so PRIO believes that we can already accelerate the energy transition if we increase the contribution of advanced biofuels in the maritime sector .”
