Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. (GCEH) have signed a Master Services Agreement under which PG&E will identify, design, and implement renewable generation and energy management projects at GCEH’s Bakersfield Renewable Diesel Refinery to help reduce the refinery’s operating costs and carbon footprint. A Contract Opportunity Announcement will be issued by PG&E for a 10 MW solar facility to be built at the refinery site in Bakersfield. GCEH has also purchased two electric railcar movers for use at the refinery, which should qualify for significant cost reductions under PG&E’s “EV Fleet” programme.
The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for each approved project will be PG&E’s Sustainable Solutions Turnkey team. An onsite solar plant, heat recovery from the hydrotreating process for both electricity and process steam production, lighting, variable frequency drives, energy storage, HVAC upgrades, building controls, boiler plant enhancements, and other projects are all being considered. These projects are projected to reduce the refinery’s total carbon intensity, boosting the value of the LCFS credits generated by the sale of the plant’s renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable propane, and renewable naphtha.
GCEH is a vertically integrated renewable fuels firm. GCEH’s farm-to-fuel strategy has been in place since the company’s foundation, allowing it to fully manage the whole biofuels supply chain, from feedstock development, production, processing, and transportation through the refining and distribution of renewable fuels. GCEH is retooling and building its renewable diesel refinery in Bakersfield, California, which will be the largest renewable fuels facility in the western US, as well as the largest in the country that produces renewable fuels from non-food-based feedstocks when it is completed in early 2022.
