Finnish Firm's $800 Million Biodiesel Plant Boosts Singapore's Renewables Profile

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Neste Oil (Finland) will begin construction in the first half of 2008 in Singapore on an $800 million renewable biodiesel plant, which will be one of the world's largest renewable diesel production facilities after its completion by the end of 2010. The plant will be in the Tuas industrial zone southwest of the island state and will be integrated into the area's existing industrial infrastructure. It will use local site utilities and port and storage services. It will employ 100 people.

The plant will have a designed production capacity of 800,000 tons per annum (approximately 17,000 barrels per day) and will be based on Neste's NExBTL technology. The first NExBTL plant came on stream at the company's refinery in Porvoo, Finland, in the middle of 2007, and a second biodiesel plant will start operations at the same location in 2009. The main feed material for the Singapore plant will be palm oil. Neste has committed to only using oil which has been certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which should become available from early 2008. The certification process was only approved in November.

The company claims that NExBTL technology is the first commercial new-generation renewable diesel production process. The process can use any vegetable oil or animal fat as a feed. The renewable diesel produced is a premium quality fuel that Neste claims outperforms conventional fossil-diesel fuel and can be used in vehicles and be distributed through logistics systems and fuel supply chains. For more information, view related March 30, 2006, article - Finland's Neste Oil's New Biodiesel Technology Selected for Austrian Plant.

Singapore's Economic Development Board is providing Neste with research and development support and assistance with recruiting and training. Singapore aims to be a top world center for renewable fuel and sustainable energy sources and is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol. Singapore is the world's third-largest oil-refining center and is positioned to become a center for Asian biofuel production. For more information, view related November 15, 2007, article - Renewable Energy Selects Singapore for $4.3 Billion Solar Plant.

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