Shell suspends biofuels project in Singapore

Global oil giant Shell has announced it will not be going ahead with a biofuel project it had proposed setting up in Singapore, Reuters reported on 30 March.

“We can confirm that we are stopping the exploration of two projects – a biofuels unit and a Group II base oil plant in Singapore,” the company said in an e-mailed statement.

“We will continue supplying base oil and lubricants, as well as biofuels, to our customers in Singapore and the region.”

Shell announced in late 2021 that it was studying a 550,000 tonnes/year project at Singapore’s Bukom Island to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to supply major Asian hubs such as Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore’s Changi, the report said.

The company had planned to make a final investment decision in early 2023 for the project, which would have the flexibility to produce renewable diesel and bio-naphtha feedstock for petrochemicals, Reuters wrote.

Unlike Europe and the USA, there was no mandate for airlines to use SAF in Asia, and customers were not willing to accept higher costs for the fuel, an industry source said.

Shell is building a 820,000 tonnes/year biofuels plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and has set a target to produce about 2M tonnes/year of SAF by 2025, according to Reuters.

Cepsa to invest in 2G biofuel plant in Huelva

Spanish multinational oil and gas company Cepsa will invest up to US$1.07bn (€1bn) in a new second generation (2G) biofuel plant at its La Rábida Energy Park facility in Palos de la Frontera, Huelva.

The new plant would secure the majority of its feedstock (organic waste such as agricultural residues or used cooking oils) through a global, long-term agreement with Apical, Bio-Oils’ parent company, Cepsa said on 14 April.

The plant – scheduled to begin operating in the first half of 2026 – would include two pre-treatment units and the capacity for flexible annual production of 500,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.

Cepsa is aiming to produce 2.5M tonnes/year of biofuels by 2030 duce 2.5M tonnes/year of biofuels – including 800,000 tonnes of SAF – by 2030. It aimed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Cepsa said it aimed to pro-

ISCC probes waste-based biodiesel imports

Leading certifying organisation the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is investigating reports of a surge of advanced biodiesel imports from China produced from waste oil at least partly supplied from Indonesia and Malaysia.

“This sharp increase began late last year and peaked in January and February, with serious implications for the European biofuels market and indications pointing to potentially dubious or fraudulent origins,” the 20 April report said.

In response, the ISCC said it had intensified its mitigation measures, with its integrity programme focusing on Asia since last year, additional assessments conducted at points of origin, and an increase in the number of integrity auditors in Asia.

In addition, ISCC requirements had been increased, including a designated self-declaration for palm oil mill effluent (POME), a mandatory 100% audit for respective points of origin and guidelines for plausible yields.

Since March – following reports of suspected fraudulent activity – the ISCC said it had immediately conducted unannounced integrity audits at the companies concerned. The ISCC said it was also conducting a further 70 unannounced audits at processing units in China and Singapore.

Implausible quantities of material provided by the point of origin and false declarations of materials would be considered as critical non-conformity and would result in the withdrawal of sustainability certificates, the ISCC added.