Shell Proposes to Build Biofuels Plant in Singapore to Meet Asia’s Demand for SAF

Global oil and gas multinational Royal Dutch Shell proposes to build a biofuels plant in Singapore to meet the region’s rising demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), according to a Reuters report last month.  The project which will have a capacity of 550,000 tons/year will be located at Singapore’s Bukom Island.  

The SAF output could supply major Asian hubs such as Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport, Shell downstream director Huibert Vigenovo was quoted as saying.  Following discussions with Asian airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Nippon Airlines, Vigenovo said that rising SAF demand was not limited to Europe or the USA. 

As part of its bid to move away from fossil fuels, Shell was also building an 820,000 tons/year biofuels plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands, according to the report, and was working with European airline KLM to test the blending of synthetic fuels. Globally, Shell aimed to produce about 2M tons/year of SAF by 2025, Reuters wrote. Presently, however, SAF accounts for less than 0.1% of today’s global jet fuel demand, the report said.