By Kennedy Rose – Editorial Intern, Philadelphia Business Journal
Another hat was thrown in the ring for the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
Philip Rinaldi, the retired founder, chairman and CEO of the shuttered refinery’s owner, has formed a new company — Philadelphia Energy Industries — to try to acquire PES, he announced Wednesday.
Philadelphia Energy Industries and RNG Energy have entered into a mutual “cooperation agreement” to make renewable fuels and other green energy projects if Philadelphia Energy Industries acquires the 1,300-acre refinery.
PES announced the refinery’s closure earlier this summer following a catastrophic explosion and fire that left much of it damaged. PES had financial troubles in the past, including filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and again this year. The refinery produced more than one-third of the gasoline consumed on the East Coast, and more than 1,000 workers were laid off as a result of the closure.
Philadelphia-based biofuels producer SG Preston is also reportedly in talks to buy the refinery, according to Reuters. SG Preston would transform the refinery into a plant that would produce biodiesel, marine diesel and jet fuel. The company was reportedly in talks with local unions and city economic development officials about its plans for the refinery. SG Preston could not be reached for comment.
“We can reinvigorate the site as an economic juggernaut that generates billions of dollars of revenue and provides thousands of high-paying jobs for our skilled professional and labor workforce,” Rinaldi said in a release.
Rinaldi has also met with leaders of United Steelworkers Local 10-1, according to the release.
Rinaldi retired from PES In March 2017. He led PES when Carlyle Group, the equity firm that owns the company, purchased the Sunoco refineries in South Philadelphia.
“Where do you find that kind of property with all of this industrial infrastructure, so close to rail, so close to river, so close to deep water access to the ocean, so close to population centers? I said ‘holy cow, this is really, what a very special place. You’d never be allowed to build anything like that in a location like this today.’ So it’s irreplaceable,” Rinaldi said of the refineries’ locations in 2015.
New Hampshire-based RNG Energy and PES have worked together in the past, including an agreement to build a $120 million anaerobic digester facility at Point Breeze Renewable Energy on PES’ property in 2018, partner WHYY reported. RNG currently operates a similar plant in Colorado. The plant will convert food waste into energy.
RNG Energy specializes in producing renewable energy through its anaerobic digesters, according to its website. It is the successor company to AgEnergy USA, which also worked with renewable energy.
