Neste’s Rotterdam renewables refinery begins producing SAF
Neste Corp. has completed upgrading works to enable production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its renewable-fuels refinery on the Port of Rotterdam in Rotterdam, the Netherlands (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2023).
As of Apr. 9, the Rotterdam refinery is equipped to produce up to 500,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of SAF following completion of unspecified modifications at the site, the operator said.
With the addition of SAF production at Rotterdam, Neste said its global SAF production capacity now stands at 1.5 million tpy, allowing the operator to increase its contribution to implementing the European Union’s (EU) the ReFuelEU aviation regulation (requiring that all fuel made available to aircraft operators at EU airports contains a minimum 2% share of SAF from 2025, 6% by 2030, 20% by 2035, up to a maximum of 70% by 2050) and similar SAF mandates (OGJ Online, Jan. 16, 2024).
Reiterating the company’s commitment to supporting customers’ emissions-reduction efforts as well as the ongoing importance of addressing aviation’s climate impact, Heikki Malinen—Neste’s president and chief executive officer—said policies like “ReFuelEU are crucial to ramping up SAF production and adoption…to accelerate the energy transition and related emission reductions.”
Alongside confirmation of completing the recent modifications to enable SAF production at the refinery, Neste also said it continues progressing on its previously announced €1.9-billion Rotterdam expansion project, which—now due for completion in 2027—aims to increase the refinery’s renewable product capacity by 1.3 million tpy to 2.7 million tpy, including 1.2 million tpy of SAF (OGJ Online, May 14, 2024).
Once completed and online, Neste said the Rotterdam expansion will increase its overall global renewable-fuels production capacity to 6.8 million tpy, of which SAF will account for 2.2 million tpy.
Neste currently produces renewable fuels at manufacturing sites in Porvoo, Finland, Rotterdam, Singapore, and the US (OGJ Online, Nov. 8, 2024).
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
