Together with the continued diversification of our Commercial & Industrial business and development of new energy opportunities in electric vehicle recharging, hydrogen, lower carbon fuels and recycled waste, we are establishing foundations to maintain growth and successfully manage the energy transition.
In this report we share our strategy for decarbonisation and building sustainable growth in both energy and non-energy parts of our businesses. Viva Energy has a critical role to play in meeting energy security while also supporting our customers to adopt new energies and reduce their emissions. We have initiatives underway to reduce our own emissions and are making important investments to introduce new energies and make these available to our customers.
At the same time, we see significant growth opportunities in convenience, mobility and specialty commercial products and services which provide long term sustainable growth beyond energy. This builds on our core capabilities and further diversifies our business to exciting new markets and customer segments. The recent investments in convenience retailing that we have made are good examples of this strategy, which provide considerable non-fuels growth and exciting opportunities for our people.
This year we will commence construction on our Hydrogen production and refuelling facility at Geelong. This will be the first hydrogen refuelling station which is open to the public, which in partnership with Barwon Water, CDC buses, Cleanaway, and Toll Transport will support the introduction of hydrogen for heavy vehicle transport (buses and trucks). Construction of new processing capacity to reduce the sulphur content of petrol has also commenced, and is expected to start in the second half of 2025.
This will help reduce noxious emissions and improve air quality and health outcomes.
Viva Energy will commence the introduction of electric vehicle recharging in 2024, initially focusing on NSW. We are undertaking rooftop solar and LED replacement programmes across our convenience stores to support our commitment to achieve net zero2 across our non-refining businesses by 2030. We are progressing projects at Geelong to process bio-genic and waste feedstocks to reduce the carbon content of the fuel that we make, and produce recycled plastics.
These early initiatives will help us assess longer-term opportunities to construct dedicated renewable fuels processing capacity alongside our strategically positioned refinery.
Viva Energy is growing, with the organisation expected to reach 14,000 employees by the end of this year, becoming one of the top non-government employers in the country. We have a strong track-record in supporting diversity and career opportunities for everyone, and look forward to having more impact on outcomes for people as we grow. In particular, we have initiatives in place to lift the representation of women in all parts of our business, and further closing the pay gap which currently sits at 10.8%.
This is an exciting time for our company, with a busy year ahead to execute on the various acquisitions and investments we are making to sustainably grow and transform the company. We remain focused on doing this safely and with respect for the communities in which we operate across Australia, and welcome any feedback from stakeholders on our strategy and sustainability agendas.
Read the 2023 Sustainability Report