Renewable diesel, SAF project developers in Portugal, Malaysia and Pakistan select Axens’ Vegan® technology

Photo: Axens

Axens announced Jan. 8 that leading energy players Galp, a major Portuguese multinational energy corporation, LOKEN, a Malaysian energy company developing one of the first renewables complexes in Southeast Asia, and SAFCO Venture Holdings Ltd. have selected Axens’ Vegan® technology for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) processing.

These three companies will implement Axens’ Vegan® solution for their respective renewable diesel and SAF production facilities located in Portugal, Malaysia and Pakistan, in order to accelerate the reduction of their global carbon footprint and the shift from conventional to renewable fuel technologies.

Axens will supply technology license, catalysts, proprietary equipment, trainings and technical services for these new projects.

Axens developed its Esterfip™ first-generation biodiesel technology in the 1990s, earning the Kirkpatrick award for chemical-engineering achievement based on the transesterification process in 2007.

The Vegan® technology was then developed by IFP Energies nouvelles in the mid-2000s based upon an extensive research and development program. 

Eight years after the successful start-up of its first reference, Axens’ Vegan® is today a globally marketed technology dedicated to the production of renewable diesel and SAF through the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway. 

In addition, Axens noted that three other new Vegan® units are expected to be started up in the coming months.

“We are honored to provide our Vegan® technology to these three leading energy players with ambitious energy-transition objectives,” said Jean-Luc Nocca, Axens’ executive vice president of commercial.

“With our highly proven proprietary solution already adopted by a wide range of customers all over the world, we are pleased to contribute to the industry’s effort and trajectory to decarbonize the energy sector,” Nocca added.

“First of their kind in these countries, these projects integrating Axens’ Vegan® technology are significant milestones for both Axens and our partners,” he said.