Versatile Exolum Flies High
PRODUCTION: David Hill
World leading bulk liquid fuel transportation and storage business, Exolum, is embracing its position at the market’s forefront, bringing consistently quality service while paving the way for energy transition products. Gorka Penalva, Northwest Europe Commercial Lead, tells Energy Focus more about ongoing innovation and expansion.
INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS
//Moving and storing liquid fuel products, at scale, with efficiency is the task for Exolum. With almost a century of experience, the Madrid headquartered multi-national is an industry leader, recognised as Europe’s leading logistics company in refined products, chemicals, biofuels, aviation fuel and more.
Today, the company is one of the world’s foremost organisations across pipeline transportation of liquid fuels, and its status was bolstered in 2020 when it acquired Inter Terminals, bringing 15 terminals in four countries into the CLH Group before dropping its CLH identity for Exolum in 2021.
But the landscape continues to change for this provider of energy
solutions. Demands from governments are changing as the public demand cleaner, more sustainable liquid fuel options. Companies have embraced ESG strategies and are looking to embed green power in portfolios where possible.
Gorka Penalva, Commercial Director Northwest Europe (NWE) at Exolum, tells Energy Focus that the company is working hard to develop new systems that can help deliver modern products for customers.
“Right now, we are busy with two products,” he opens. “Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is something we have seen a lot of clients asking us more about and where we have seen more tanks being turned. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is also key as we have the
pipeline and a big network. We want to be a leader in that product and we want to blend and transport as much as clients need while giving them support that they require from new mandates.”
NEW BUSINESS
In February, the company was awarded a tender for work at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Exolum will operate and maintain the fuel terminal while investing more than €200 million to develop facilities that will cater to future demands for SAF and kerosene. Expansion of this nature is part of the Exolum strategy, and Penalva – a former trader who worked all over the world for a major energy business – says that management is keen on widespread, sustainable expansion.
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“Our growth has been exponential in the last seven years, especially through our aviation department where we have gained traction at significant airports. We are expanding and our goal is always to expand. We know how to do what we do very well, and geographic expansion is always important.”
Exolum is ISO14001 certified and is committed to changing with its customers. Central in this transition is the ambition to continue to move and store products in the same way as before, utilising a lot of the same infrastructure, while ultimately resulting in smaller carbon emissions.
In May 2024, evidence of its commitment was displayed when the company announced that it would spend €20 million at the Port of Bilbao to store biofuels alongside other bulk liquid products. Set for full operation
by 2027, the new facility will be safe and secure, and will connect into other company terminals. Built across multiple phases, the first will see five tanks built, able to store 29,000 m3. Further phases will expand the site, with biofuel being a key consideration.
Jorge Guillén, Exolum Lead in Spain said that the investment in Bilbao was “an important step towards Exolum’s strategy of investing in Spain to develop and operate the logistics infrastructures required by new sustainable fuels, making further progress on energy transition objectives.”
Also in May, the company announced it would spend €12 million
Gorka Penalva Commercial Director Northwest Europe
building a new fuel supply terminal at the main airport on the island of Lanzarote. With a capacity of 6000 m3, the new energy efficient facility will receive a complete overhaul adding new infrastructure and new efficiency.
INDUSTRY FOCUS: LOGISTICS
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VERSATILITY IS KEY
Penalva says that remaining agile in front of a quickly changing market is what helps Exolum to take important decisions that protect the future of the industry for clients.
“Our versatility is key, and we like to go into meetings and talk to clients with sufficient confidence so that they will tell us what they need. We can then adapt and deliver. Obviously, we are talking about significant infrastructure and it’s not something you can do from one day to the next, but we do try and be quick on our feet for our clients.
“We offer a holistic provision within the realm of logistics and storage – our expertise,” he adds. “We don’t limit ourselves to a list of services; we pride ourselves on versatility and an ability to adjust to the client’s
needs. We are trying to get into new sectors and therefore we sometimes go beyond our regular work. We have done that in hydrogen, but our core business remains logistics which we have been doing for 100 years. The market is difficult, and conditions are tough for our clients. We have to be efficient, versatile, and able to deliver on all the requirements of clients.”
Exolum was also busy recently at the Port of Gijon, committing €3 million to bulk liquid product storage terminal modernisation. The company gained the management contract of the 67,000 m3 capacity terminal on Spain’s northern coast, and will over a 15-year concession create capacity for tanks to transport and store modern products such as biofuel, eco-fuel, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, carbon, and more.
Following the Inter Terminals acquisition, Exolum now operates in 11 countries (Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, the United States, Panama, Ecuador and Peru) with a pipeline network of over 6,000 kilometres, 69 storage terminals and 48 airport facilities, and a total storage capacity of more than 11 million m3
CLEAN FUELS
Going forward, the energy transition is firmly on the agenda for Exolum and while the company remains committed to diligently fulfilling the needs of its clients, it is also innovating to ensure all options for low carbon products to be stored and moved are on the table.
In April, Exolum CEO Jorge Lanza confirmed that SAF was critical
in the future of the industry.
“We are adapting our infrastructure to the demand for clean fuels,” he said. “For example, at the Madrid and Barcelona airports we can store and transport SAF by hydrant, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 80%.”
He also discussed the inevitable growth of the hydrogen economy and how the company will look to adapt existing infrastructure to accommodate the element in the future.
“Last year we began operating the first and, for the moment, only hydrogen station in the Madrid region. We aim to provide hydrogen transport and storage services. For this reason, we have also entered the hydrogen market in the US, the world leader in adapting those supply chains,” he said Penalva agrees, and he explains
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that part of the new Exolum identity was embracing the New Energies division which forms a key part of the NWE structure.
“We must keep our eyes on the energy transition as it is where banks and others are investing. We know there will be a lot of money in the transition in the future, but to have a future you must have a present and that is where are working now,” he says.
“After the acquisition of Inter Terminals in 2020, we grew substantially, restructuring the business to create three business units. Firstly, the Spanish unit which has the traditional CLH pipeline and oil and storage terminals. Then we have Northwest Europe, headed from London, comprising all of the businesses that we have in the UK, Netherlands, and Germany.
The third unit is New Energies which focuses on energy transition products and although it is new and different, we all work very closely together.”
This lean and focused structure has allowed Exolum to boom, opening up discussions with more clients, and allowing for innovation across multiple new product lines.
In February 2024, the company joined Forética, a leading benchmark organisation across sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Forética calls on its more than 200 members (large global companies), typically across Spain and Latin America, to increase business ambition in sustainability, accelerate action around ESG matters, and to promote alliances that enable a sustainable, green and inclusive recovery.
“You have to look deeper than just revenues and become more efficient and better prepared for the energy transition,” says Penalva. “You have to look at costs. Clients don’t want to pay lots of money so we have to make sure we are the most efficient company we can be. We see ourselves as a top-quality service provider and we pride ourselves on the service we deliver. Where we might be slightly more expensive than others, we do offer a lot more value for money.”
In an uncertain world, with quicklychanging markets – many of which are interconnected – value for money and world-class quality standards are a must. That is why, when looking for confidence and assurance, Exolum continues to stand as an industry leader, driving its own growth but also
pushing boundaries across the sector.
“Our goal is to grow,” Penalva concludes. “We have demonstrated our willingness to invest, and we have units working including the HS units in Madrid and the ammonia plant in Houston. We are all about walking the walk. We understand that what we do is well done. We don’t lose focus on what needs to be done now or on what needs to be done three and five years down the line. We are not about big headlines or presentations; we want the business to grow on a yearly basis while making sure we are ready for the energy transition.”
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