On April 3, 2013, His Royal Highness Prince Felipe of Asturias inaugurated new facilities/units at the Petronor Refinery in Múskiz,Vizcaya, Spain.

Per a press release:

“Prince Felipe officially opened the refinery’s new Coker unit, whose construction, including associated environmental programs, totaled 1.006 billion euros.

The expansion of the refinery involves the creation of 100 jobs and guarantees the future of one of Spain’s largest refineries, employing 928 people and generating 6,200 indirect jobs.

The new facilities increase the refinery’s conversion capacity and, together with the overhaul of the Cartagena unit, have helped to improve Spain’s balance of trade.

Following the expansion, Petronor now has a processing capacity of 12 million tonnes a year, one of Spain’s largest. The refinery has eliminated the production of fuel oil and has increased the output of higher-demand products.

Prince Felipe said during his speech that the project ‘would not have been possible without the technological, financial and human commitment ‘s the partners, demonstrating Spain’s ‘strong bet on energy security and development.’

‘The Petronor refinery is amongst the best in Europe, not only in distillation and conversion capacity, but because of the use of the latest technology in sustainability, safety and energy efficiency,’ said Repsol Chairman, Antonio Brufau.

After revealing a commemorative plaque, the Prince of Asturias visited the refinery’s new units. In addition to the Coker unit, another important feature is the highly efficient cogeneration unit, which will reduce CO2 emissions and help achieve the aims of the Kyoto protocol. The cogeneration unit also enables Petronor to increase electricity production to 100 megawatts per hour, equivalent to 3.9% of the Basque Country’s output. As a result the refinery is now self-sufficient in electricity and will be able to distribute 15% of its power output to the electricity network.

During his speech, the Prince of Asturias said that ‘the Múskiz project would not have been possible without the technological, financial and human commitment of important organizations and many people. I want to congratulate Repsol and Kutxabank for their unwavering support for Petronor. There is no doubt of our country’s strong bet on energy security and development.’”