Communicator

EcoCeres manufactures green and renewable HVO using patented technology at a facility located in Jiangsu Province / Ecoceres

Under China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the government has set a target of consuming 50,000 tonnes of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) annually by 2025. Additionally, policymakers are exploring the implementation of a blending mandate for the aviation industry, which could require blending SAF at rates of 2% to 5%.

According to several sources, China's SAF industry is on track for significant growth, with total announced production capacity projected to reach 3.63 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by the end of the decade. This expansion aligns with broader regional trends, as the Asia-Pacific region's SAF production capacity is expected to hit 3.5 million metric tons annually by the end of 2025.

Review of SAF Key Players and Capacities

Below is a list of some SAF operating production plants and projects in China:

OPERATING 

Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company

• Plant Location: Zhenhai District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province
• Capacity: Currently produces 100,000 tpy HEFA-based SAF and renewable diesel at its Zhenhai refinery. Plans for expansion are underway.
• Technology: Uses Sinopec's proprietary SRJET biofuel production technology. The plant is Asia's first RSB-certified SAF production unit.
• Details: The biofuel plant been operational since May 2022; most of its output is exported internationally. It has also received airworthiness certification to supply biojet fuel to China's aviation market.

Junheng Industry Group Biotech 

• Plant Location: Puyang Industrial Park, Henan Province
• Capacity:  the company started producing SAF in December 2023 at a new 400,000 tpy plant, costing 1.3 billion yuan ($180 million). 
• Production: the company expects to produce 150,000 tonnes of SAF in 2024. 
• Feedstock: UCO and waste oils from municipal, agricultural, and forestry sources
• Achievements: First private enterprise in China to receive SAF airworthiness approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Conducted successful engine tests using 100% SAF. SAF product obtained the EU ISCC bioenergy certification and is sold to European countries.

EcoCeres 

• Plant Location: Zhangjiagang , Jiangsu Province
• Technology: Proprietary technology. 
• Capacity: 100,000 tpy SAF / 200,000 tonnes renewable disel 
• Details: Operational since 2022; primarily exports its production to international markets. 

PROJECTS

Sinopec and TotalEnergies Joint Venture

• Plant Location: Sinopec refinery in China (specific location not disclosed)
• Capacity: Planned capacity of 230,000 tpy SAF
• Feedstock: Local waste or residues from the circular economy (e.g., UCO and animal fats)
• Technology & Partners: Will utilize Sinopec's SRJET technology combined with TotalEnergies' expertise in technical operations and distribution.
• Timeline & Details: This collaboration aligns with Sinopec's strategy for low-carbon solutions and TotalEnergies' goal of producing 1.5 million tons of SAF annually by 2030.

Tianzhou New Energy

• Plant Location: Weiyuan, Sichuan Province
• Capacity: 200,000 tonnes per year (tpy) SAF facility, with plans to expand to 500,000 tpy
• Feedstock: Used cooking oil (UCO)
• Timeline: Initially targeted late 2024 for start-up, now delayed to late 2025
• The facility will process 200,000 tpy of UCO into SAF, equivalent to about 4,300 barrels per day.

Zhejiang Jiaao Enprotech

• Plant Location: Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province
• Capacity: 500,000 tpy SAF facility under construction
• BP acquired a 15% stake in the project for $49.56 million (354 million yuan)
• Feedstock: Waste cooking oil and other renewable resources processed using HEFA technology
• Details: One of the largest SAF plants in the region; expected to play a significant role in China's green aviation sector. 

Sichuan Jinshang Environmental Protection Tech

• Plant Location: Suining, Jintang County, Sichuan Province
• Planned capacity of 400,000 tpy SAF
• Timeline: Construction expected to begin by July 2025 and complete by the end of 2025
• Details: Partnering with Honeywell UOP to use Ecofining technology. 
• Feedstock: The plant will process renewable feedstocks like UCO and animal fats into SAF.

Shandong Haike Chemical

• Plant Location: Dongying City, Shandong Province
• Capacity: Retrofitting an existing refining unit to produce 500,000 tpy SAF using Axens’ Vegan technology
• Timeline: Expected completion by late 2025
• Details: The first application of Axens’ Vegan technology in Asia. The retrofit aims to produce high-quality SAF for domestic and international markets.

We will continue to update this list of SAF production plants in China and globally.

#biofuels #saf  #sustainability  #renewablefuels  #renewablediesel  #hefa  #sustainableaviationfuel  #hydrotreating  #usedcookingoil  #uco 

SAF plant at the Gela biorefienry

Gela (CL, Italy), 23rd Jan 2024, eni press release

Enilive announces the commissioning of its first plant to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at the Gela biorefinery, in Sicily.

Production has started at the plant, which has a capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year, representing almost a third of the expected European SAF demand in 2025, following the implementation of the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation. Regulation (EU) 2023/2405 requires aviation fuel providers to ensure that jet fuel supplied to aircraft operators at each airport in the European Union contains a proportion of SAF. The required proportion of SAF will increase over five year increments from a minimum 2% from 1 January 2025 to 6% from 2030, 20% from 2035, 34% from 2040, 42 % from 2045, until reaching 70% from 2050.

Since September 2022, Enilive has signed agreements with several airlines for the supply of SAF, thanks to the initial production achieved through synergies between the Gela Enilive biorefinery and other Eni facilities, using waste-based feedstocks. Enilive aims to increase its biorefining capacity to over 5 million tonnes per year by 2030 and enhance its optionality for SAF production to 1 million tonnes per year by 2026, with further potential to double production by 2030. These targets will be supported by ongoing projects at the Venice biorefinery and the construction of new biorefineries in Malaysia and South Korea.

The Gela biorefinery has the capacity to process 736,000 tonnes of biomass per year, which is primarily derived from waste and residual feedstocks such as used cooking oils, animal fat and by-products from vegetable oil processing. The innovative SAF production in Gela has been made possible by plant modifications, in particular to the isomerisation unit, which has been equipped with a reactor and a product separation section, as well as upgrades to the tank farm and logistics infrastructure. Investments to improve the feedstock pretreatment section, including the construction of a third degumming line, are nearing completion. These improvements will further enable the diversification of waste and residues feedstocks that can be converted into HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) biofuels.
 

#saf  #sustainableaviationfuel  #biofuel  #biorefinery  #hefa  #hydrotreatedvegetableoils  #biodiesel  #italy  #gela  #eni  #enilive #sustainability 

SAF or Sustainable Aviation Fuel is also called HEFA-SPK.

#SAF  #aviationfuel  #sustainableaviationfuel  #hefa

Shell announced that it will book an impairment charge of as much as $1.0bn on account of pausing the construction of Rotterdam biofuel plant as well as an additional $0.8bn from divestment of its chemical plant in 🇸🇬 Singapore, the company announced in its second quarter update note.

“Non-cash post tax impairments of $1.5-$2bn are expected, and mainly include the Singapore Chemicals & Products assets ($0.6-$0.8bn) as well as Rotterdam's HEFA ($0.6-$1.0bn), which is reported in the marketing segment,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Shell announced that it is pausing work on the development of Rotterdam  biofuel plant in 🇳🇱 The Netherlands owing to weak market conditions. The site was planned to have a production capacity of 820,000 tonnes a year to produce SAF/HVO using waste feedstocks.

“Temporarily pausing on-site construction now will allow us to assess the most commercial way forward for the project,” said Huibert Vigeveno, renewable and energy solutions director. Shell.

“We are committed to our target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with low-carbon fuels as a key part of Shell’s strategy to help us and our customers profitably decarbonise. And we will continue to use shareholder capital in a measured and disciplined way, delivering more value with less emissions.”

To note, according to Shell’s 2023 annual filing the company had revised the capex requirement for the conversion of Rotterdam site to $2.1bn from $0.58bn in 2022 driven by business acquisition and construction.

Source: Fayaz Hussain, 5^th July 2024, SAF Investor

#shell #hefa  #hvo  #biofuel  #aviationfuel  #SAF#SAF