Taiyo Oil launches study for renewable fuels project at site of idled Okinawa refinery

Taiyo Oil Co. Ltd. is considering producing renewable fuels at subsidiary Nansei Sekiyu KK’s oil and petroleum products storage and marine terminal—home to a now-idled 100,000-b/d refinery—on Japan’s southwestern island of Okinawa in Nishihara, Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture.

As part of initiatives aimed at achieving a carbon-neutral society in line with the global energy transition, Taiyo Oil and partner Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (MCL) have initiated a feasibility study for a project that could produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel, Taiyo Oil said on July 26.

The proposed renewables plant would use an alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) process technology to produce up to 220,000 kl/year of SAF and renewable diesel from a feedstock of cost-competitive ethanol supplies imported to the site’s marine terminal via large tankers.

In a separate release, MCL confirmed the plant would be equipped with LanzaJet Inc.’s ATJ technology.

Pending the outcome of the feasibility study, Taiyo Oil said the renewables plant would become operational and begin initial production of SAF and renewable diesel sometime in fiscal-year 2028.

Alongside supplying Japan’s domestic demand for renewable fuels, Taiyo Oil said it also expects the proposed plant’s location in the center of East Asia will enable exports to destinations elsewhere in the Asia Pacific.

Taiyo Oil did not disclose further details regarding a timeframe for completion of the study, or the degree of MCL’s participation in the project. 

According to its website, Nansei Sekiyu officially became part of Taiyo Oil in late-December 2016 following the latter’s $129.3-million acquisition of Nansei Sekiyu’s storage and marine terminal assets—including the idled Nishihara refinery, which shuttered in April 2015—from Brazil's state-owned Petroleo Brasileiro SA (OGJ Online, Oct. 20, 2016).