Neste picks Singapore for new biofuel plant

Finland’s Neste, the global leader in the renewable diesel market, has chosen Singapore over the United States as the site for its planned new biofuel plant. Neste said it had started a technical design for the new production line and aimed to make a final investment decision by the end of 2018.

Kaisa Hietala, head of Neste’s renewables business, told Reuters, that the firm had assessed locating the plant either in Singapore, where it has an existing plant, or the United States. In addition to Singapore, Neste has a renewable diesel plant in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Neste’s current total renewable diesel capacity is 2.6 million tonnes per annum. It also has two conventional oil refineries located in Finland.

“In the end, Singapore was the stronger of the two,” she said, without giving reasons, according to Reuters.

Should the project get the final go-ahead from the company’s board of directors, production would begin by 2022 and would extend capacity in the Singapore refinery by 1 million tonnes.

Neste said the additional capacity would be used for the production of diesel fuel, aviation fuel and raw materials for biochemical uses, using feedstocks from waste materials and animal fat.