Site

Raffinerie Heide is what is known as a middle-distillates plant, chiefly producing diesel, heating oil and aviation turbine fuel at our site in Hemmingstedt. This targeted production is made possible by our ultra-modern hydrocracker. With the aid of this highly complex installation we are able to significantly improve the diversity of products yielded by the crude oil.

Key data and facts & figures for the refinery 

(As of 21^st Jan 2025) 

• Size of Heide Refinery site: 134 hectares
• Middle distillates refinery with a major petrochemicals focus
• Part of the Klesch Group since 2010
• Total capacity 4.5 million tonnes per year
• Processor of crude oil from global and domestic sources
• Own power station outputs 46.5 MW of electricity

Crude oil supply

• Crude oil from the Mittelplate platform and the rest of the world. Delivery via the Brunsbüttel–Hemmingstedt pipeline (32 kilometres).
• Tank farm capacity at Heide Refinery in Hemmingstedt and Brunsbüttel:
  • Heide: 450,000 m³

  • Brunsbüttel: 550,000 m³

  • Total: 1,000,000 m³

  • Total number of tanks: 182

History

• 1940: Raffinerie Heide operations begin. Two crude oil distillation plants are built with an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes.
• 1944: the refinery is destroyed by repeated bombing raids.
• 1947: installation which are still aable to be used are rebuilt.
• 1949: mining operations and oil chalk extraction come to an end in Heide. Conversion to refinery-only operation.
• 1952: Germany's first thermal catalytic cracking plant is commissioned.
• 1956: the first petrochemical plant (aromatics) is commissioned.
• 1973: a further crude oil and vacuum distillation plant with sulphur recovery unit are commissioned, bringing the refinery's capacity to 5.6 million tonnes of crude oil a year. However, due to the impending oil crisis, this output is never again reached.
• 1976: two pipelines supply Hemmingstedts municipal swimming pool with free water heatead to 45°C.
• 1980: a plant built to produce high-octane petrol means that lead no longer has to be added to inhibit knocking.
• 1987: a thermal pre-treatment plant reduces the amount of non-reusable heavy heating oil burnt at the plant.
• 1989 additional desulphurisation plants improve air quality.
• 1998: the plant is completely modernised. A newly built hydrocracker permits previously unseen levels of product yield. Meanwhile, further construction work leads to a major improvement in Raffinerie Heide’s. petrochemical range.
• 2004: major investment in safety and production make the refinery one of the most modern installations in Europe.
• 2009: the refinery begins using its superfluous exhaust heat to supply Gewerbepark WestkUste, the neighbouring business park, with heating.
• 2010: wide-ranging restruturing of the refinery production is performed.
• 2015: the refinery makes considerable progress in terms of crude oil selection and yield.

Renewable projects

• 2018: As part of the KEROSyN100 research project, synthetic kerosene based on electricity from renewable energies is brought closer to market launch.
• 2020: As one of the partners in the WESTKUSTEI00 project, the planning phase for the construction of a 30 MW electrolysis plant for the production of green hydrogen on the refinery site has begun.
• 2021: replacement of heat exchangers enabled reduction of CO₂ emissions of almost 7,000 tonnes.
• 2021: Another milestone in the WESTKÜSTE100 project: the BMWi grants funding for the upgrading of a cavern for storing green hydrogen.