Repsol Cartagena Refinery

Repsol Cartagena Refinery is a refinery in Spain. Its listed capacity is 220,000 BBL per day. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery. It is operated by Repsol. By capacity it ranks #3 among 9 oil refineries in Spain. It emits about 2,566,756 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 598k passenger cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 36% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3144122.

In context: how this facility compares

At 220,000 BBL per day, Repsol Cartagena Refinery is around the median refinery in Spain (186,000 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations — heat that must be supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion, and losses through uninsulated vessels and piping represent wasted fuel. Removable modular insulation can cut those losses by 80–96%, surface-cooling equipment to ≤45°C, with payback often under 2 years. Refineries heat, fractionate and chemically transform crude oil into fuels and petrochemical feedstocks through energy-intensive distillation and cracking — extremely demanding on steam generation and heat recovery.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 2,566,756 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest oil refineries in Spain

Listed capacity (BBL per day), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Repsol. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Repsol Cartagena Refinery sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate zone (Köppen BSk), at 37.6°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

The local climate sets how fast unprotected steel, protective coatings and the insulation on hot process equipment degrade at this site. It sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1324 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.02× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1258 W/m² of that. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #3 largest of 9 oil refineries in Spain by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Bunge Ibérica, S.A.U. · Food & Beverage
• Nanta, S.A.U. Las Palas · Food & Beverage · 1,761,933 t CO₂
• El Pozo Alimentación · Food & Beverage · 52,958 t CO₂
• Alcurnia Alimentación, S. L. U. - Fábrica De Alguazas · Food & Beverage · 67,672 t CO₂
• Alicante Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 344,009 t CO₂
• Carboneras Cement Plant · Cement Plant · 337,057 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 37.57214, -0.91859. View on OpenStreetMap.

Heat loss & insulation profile

For a refinery, the main modular-insulation targets are crude & vacuum distillation columns, fired heaters, heat exchangers, steam lines, valves & flanges. Typical hot-surface ranges used for screening: 150–550 °C.

Indicative recoverable energy

A first-pass insulation screen suggests about 64,000 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 13,000 t CO₂e/year of avoided emissions. Screening estimate scaled from installed process-heat projects and surface-temperature reduction data.

See Inzonex Modular Insulation → Run the calculator →

Screening calculation from facility class, capacity and open emissions/energy context. Engineering survey required before procurement.

Safety & the no-regret first step

Start with a thermal survey of valves, flanges, doors and bends. Removable modular insulation keeps maintenance access open while lowering exposed-surface temperature and wasted heat.

EU policy pressure on this sector

Obligation

This facility is inside the EU. For thermal equipment, insulation upgrades can support ETS exposure reduction and energy-efficiency compliance.

Sources: EU ETS, CBAM and national energy-efficiency schemes.

Frequently asked questions