Repsol

Recovery of flare gas at the La Plata refinery in Argentina

The project to recover and use flare gases at the La Plata Refinery (Ensenada, Province of Buenos Aires) reduces greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels used for process heat generation, replacing them with waste gases that are normally flared off.

The 33rd Meeting of the CDM Executive Board approved the new NM0192 methodology proposed by YPF S.A. as AM0055 "Baseline and Monitoring Methodology for the recovery and utilization of waste gas in refinery facilities". This is the first methodology applicable to project activities carried out at existing refineries and aims to develop alternative uses for the energy content of the waste gases flared off.

It is also important to note that the CDM Executive Board used some elements of the AM0055 methodology to develop the ACM0012 methodology "Consolidated baseline for methodology for GHG emission reductions for waste gas or waste heat or waste pressure based energy system", widely used in project development.

Also indicative of the importance of the AM0055 methodology is that, after its approval, the CDM Executive Board approved AMS-III-P "Recovery and utilization of waste gas in refinery facilities", based entirely on the methodology presented by YPF S.A. There are currently four projects being developed world-wide by applying this methodology.

The project carried out in La Plata was approved by the Designated Operational Entity in the validation process and has obtained a Letter of Approval issued by the Spanish Office of Climate Change. The project applied for registration by the United Nations in December 2009 and was approved as a CDM in 2010, becoming the first project of its type approved in the world. The project will enable a substantial reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions (approximately 200,000 metric tons of CO₂/year) from the use of process waste gases, which were previously flared off. The use of this gas in refinery equipment partly displaces the use of natural gas or fuel oil.