Neste begins SAF production in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Photo: The Neste biorefinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, can produce 165 mgy of sustainable aviation fuel. (Photo: Neste Corp.)

Renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producer Neste Corp. announced April 9 that it has started producing SAF at its biorefinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The refinery has been modified to enable Neste to produce up to 500,000 tons of SAF per year, or approximately 165 million gallons.

As a result, Neste’s global SAF production capability has increased to 1.5 million tons per year, or about 495 million gallons.

“It is clear that we need to continue making progress in mitigating climate change and addressing aviation’s climate impact,” said Heikki Malinen, the president and CEO of Neste.

“Neste is fully committed to supporting its customers in the aviation industry to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions, and this milestone underlines that commitment,” Malinen said.

“Our SAF production capability, now also in Rotterdam, enables us to significantly contribute to the implementation of the ReFuelEU aviation regulation and similar SAF mandates,” Malinen added. “Policies like these are crucial to ramping up SAF production and usage, and we need to keep our ambitions and targets high. At the same time, it requires support and close cooperation across the whole aviation ecosystem to accelerate the energy transition and related emission reductions.”

In addition to the recent modifications to the refinery, Neste continues its strategic growth-investment project in Rotterdam, which will more than double the company’s production capacity at the Rotterdam refinery to 2.7 million tons of renewable products annually.

This will make the Rotterdam refinery the world’s largest facility producing renewable diesel and SAF.

This expansion, scheduled to be completed in 2027, will increase Neste’s total global annual renewable fuels production capacity to 6.8 million tons with Neste’s total annual SAF production capability accounting for 2.2 million tons.

In addition to the Rotterdam refinery, Neste has SAF production capabilities at its refineries in Singapore and Porvoo, Finland.