Wilhelmshaven Refinery — Germany

Wilhelmshaven Refinery is a refinery in Germany. Its listed capacity is 260,000 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 HES International BV. By capacity it ranks #4 among 12 oil refineries in Germany. It emits about 802,097 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 0.71% of the CO₂e from the 118 facilities in Germany that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 64% below the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-3143895.

In context: how this facility compares

At 260,000 BBL per day, Wilhelmshaven Refinery is around the median refinery in Germany (227,000 BBL per day). Subsector: oil-and-gas-refining. As refinery, it requires high process heat (typically 200–600°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. 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 802,097 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 Germany

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

Operator

Operated by HES International BV.

Local climate

Wilhelmshaven Refinery sits in a temperate oceanic climate zone (Köppen Cfb), at 53.5°N in the northern hemisphere.

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

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1411 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.08× the loss at a 20 °C reference. 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).

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 #4 largest of 12 oil refineries in Germany by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Wichmann Enten Gmbh · Food & Beverage
• ArcelorMittal Bremen steel plant · Steel Plant · 4,945,642 t CO₂
• Kellogg (Deutschland) Gmbh · Food & Beverage
• Brunsbüttel · Chemical Plant · 3,524,921 t CO₂
• DAMCO Aluminium Delfzijl Coöperatie U.A. · Metals Plant · 115,000 t CO₂
• Delfzijl aluminium plant · Aluminium Smelter · 336,036 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 53.54677, 8.15151. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions