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Sonangol Luanda Refinery

Refinery in Angola. Approximate location -8.77984, 13.29806.

RefineryAngolaCO₂ estimate (modelled)

Sonangol Luanda Refinery is a refinery in Angola. Its listed capacity is 65,000 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 Sonangol. It emits about 463,707 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE, roughly comparable to the annual emissions of 108k passenger cars. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 17% below the national median for this sector.

65,000BBL per day
463,707t CO₂e / yr (Climate TRACE)
#5CO₂ rank in Angola
7.13t CO₂ per capacity unit

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1753404.

Data status

Known source data

FacilitySonangol Luanda Refinery Climate TRACE
CountryAngola Climate TRACE
Coordinates-8.77984, 13.29806 Climate TRACE
Sector / subsectoroil-and-gas-refining Climate TRACE
Reported capacity65,000 BBL per day Climate TRACE
Owner / operatorSonangol Climate TRACE
Modelled CO₂e463,707 t/yr Climate TRACE

Calculated from the dataset

Angola rank#5 of 5 · top 100.0% calculated
Global oil-and-gas-refining rank#436 of 630 · top 69.2% calculated
Climate contextderived from coordinates calculated

Not available

Fuel typeNot available not in dataset
Thermal capacity (MW)Not available not in dataset

Source data, measured cross-checks and calculated values are kept separate. No confidence percentage is invented.

Similar facilities by modelled emissions

Same Climate TRACE subsector; closest non-placeholder modelled CO₂e values. Russia and Belarus excluded.

Operating power plants within 50 km

PowerAtlas operating assets, ordered by great-circle distance from published coordinates.

In context: how this facility compares

At 65,000 BBL per day, Sonangol Luanda Refinery is around the median refinery in Angola (65,000 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 463,707 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:

108kcars driven for a year
60khomes' annual energy use
7.7 milliontree seedlings grown 10 years

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

Carbon cost, Scope 1 & decarbonization potential

At its reported 464k t CO₂e/yr (Scope 1), Sonangol Luanda Refinery carries no domestic carbon price; refinerys are not a CBAM-covered good, so there is no border-carbon liability. At the EU ETS reference price (€75/t) the emissions carry an indicative carbon value of €34.9M/yr. The fastest decarbonization lever is energy efficiency: eliminating heat loss on hot equipment (removable insulation, steam & waste-heat recovery) typically cuts 2–5% of fuel-related CO₂ — here ≈9k t–23k t/yr, worth €699k€1.7M, with payback up to 2 years. No domestic carbon price — but cement, steel, aluminium, fertilizer and hydrogen exported to the EU face CBAM at €75/t (rising to 100% by 2034).

464k t CO₂e / yrScope 1 emissions
€34.9M/yrindicative carbon value (not a CBAM liability)
9k t–23k t/yr ≈ €699k€1.7MDecarbonization potential

Carbon price: EU CBAM €75/t · EU ETS €79/t, July 2, 2026, refreshed live via Carbon Hub. CO₂: Climate TRACE. Efficiency range: US DOE / ASTM C680 (method). Indicative carbon value, not the cash bill — free allocation applies; not compliance advice. Estimate the saving for this site →

Operator

Operated by Sonangol. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Sonangol Luanda Refinery sits in a hot semi-arid steppe climate zone (Köppen BSh), at 8.8°S in the southern hemisphere.

~23°Ctypical annual mean
~31°Ctypical warm-season
Hot semi-arid steppe: hot and humid year-round with little seasonal variation

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 an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.

C5ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
65/100environmental-severity index
6.6°Cseasonal temperature swing
6 kmdistance to coast
Very highCUI risk tier

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1245 W/m² to ambient — roughly 0.96× the loss at a 20 °C reference; removable insulation recovers about 1183 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

Nearby industrial sites

Location

Coordinates -8.77984, 13.29806. 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 36,000 MWh/year of recoverable heat-loss reduction and about 7,200 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.

External climate finance your country can access

For energy-efficiency projects around process heat, likely external funding channels include:

Sources: country climate-finance facilities and public development-bank programmes.

Frequently asked questions

What type of facility is Sonangol Luanda Refinery?

Sonangol Luanda Refinery is a refinery in Angola. 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.

What capacity is listed for Sonangol Luanda Refinery?

The open dataset lists 65,000 BBL per day of capacity for Sonangol Luanda Refinery.

How much CO₂ does Sonangol Luanda Refinery emit?

The page uses about 463,707 t CO₂e/year from the open dataset It ranks #5 among facilities in Angola by estimated CO₂.

Where is Sonangol Luanda Refinery located?

Sonangol Luanda Refinery is in Angola at approximately -8.77984, 13.29806.

Who operates Sonangol Luanda Refinery?

The operator recorded in the open dataset is Sonangol.

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