Refines crude oil into fuels, petrochemical base materials and green hydrogen at two plants near Cologne.
Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland (Shell Deutschland GmbH)
Cologne-Godorf (Plant North) · Wesseling (Plant South)New on Amplifa
About the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland
The Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland (formerly Rheinland Refinery) is operated by Shell Deutschland GmbH and is Germany's largest refinery site group. It comprises the two plant sections North in Cologne-Godorf and South in Wesseling on a total area of around 4.4 km². Products include fuels such as petrol, diesel and kerosene, heating oils, bitumen and sulphur as well as petrochemical base materials such as ethylene, propylene, methanol, aromatics and naphtha. Crude oil processing is carried out via distillation, conversion and hydrogenation units; capacity in 2017 was 17 million tonnes of crude oil per year, of which 9 million tonnes in Godorf and 7 million tonnes in Wesseling. Since 2021, a 10 MW electrolysis plant has been producing up to 1,300 tonnes of green hydrogen per year; fuel production in Wesseling ended in 2025. The sites are located directly on the Rhine and are logistically connected via pipelines, inland waterway, rail and road.
- Site
- Cologne-Godorf
- Processes
- Production of fuels, heating oils, bitumen, sulphur, Petrochemical base materials (ethylene, propylene, methanol, aromatics etc.), Green hydrogen via electrolysis (10 MW, up to 1,300 t/year), Logistics via pipeline, inland waterway, rail, road
- Materials
- Crude oil processing, Petrochemical base materials, Green hydrogen
- Employees
- 1400
- Industries
- Mineral oil refining, Petrochemicals, Fuel supply, Hydrogen
- 01
Crude oil supply via the Rotterdam-Rhine Pipeline or the North-West Oil Line
- 02
Distillation
- 03
Conversion (including hydrocrackers)
- 04
Further processing and desulphurisation
- 05
Petrochemical upgrading or electrolysis (hydrogen)
- 06
Dispatch via pipeline, inland waterway, rail, road
Products and Processes
Crude oil processing
Distillation and conversion into fuels, heating oils and bitumen.
Petrochemical base materials
Ethylene, propylene, butenes, aromatics, methanol, naphtha and hydrowax for the chemical industry.
Green hydrogen
10 MW electrolysis plant with up to 1,300 t annual production.
Sites
Cologne-Godorf
DEPlant North – Refinery (Energy and Chemicals Park North)
- Part weight / size
- 9 million tonnes of crude oil/year
- Materials
- Fuels, heating oils, bitumen, petrochemical base materials
- Distillation and further processing units
- Hydrocrackers (six since 2005)
- Isomerisation plant
Wesseling
DEPlant South – Refinery (Shell Energy and Chemicals Park South)
- Part weight / size
- 7 million tonnes of crude oil/year (production ended 2025)
- Materials
- Methanol, ammonia, petrochemical base materials, green hydrogen
- Hydrogen electrolyser (10 MW)
- Methanol plants
- Connect pipeline connection
Industries
Additional services
History
- 1937
Founding of the Wesseling plant by Union Rheinische Braunkohlen Kraftstoff AG as a hydrogenation plant for the production of synthetic fuels from lignite.
- 1945
Reconstruction after war damage; production of methanol and ammonia for the fertiliser industry.
- 1949
Resumption of fuel production based on crude oil.
- 1960
Opening of the Godorf plant as the largest refinery of Deutsche Shell AG with an initial annual throughput of 4 million tonnes.
- 1967
Commissioning of a second complex of distillation and further processing units in Godorf.
- 1989
Transfer of the UK's processing and sales activities into DEA Mineralöl AG.
- 2002
Merger of the predecessor plants into the Rheinland Refinery.
- 2004
Acquisition of the Wesseling refinery by Shell Deutschland Oil.
- 2005
Expansion of hydrocracker capacity in Godorf by two crackers from the decommissioned Shell Haven refinery.
- 2013
Commissioning of the 3.8 km long Connect pipeline between the plant sections.
- 2021
Renaming to Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland; commissioning of Europe's largest hydrogen electrolyser (10 MW).
- 2025
End of crude oil processing into fuels in Wesseling.
- 2028
Planned commissioning of a plant for the production of base oils.