Neste to start Singapore sustainable aviation fuel plant by Q1 2023 - executive

Finland’s Neste plans to produce its first batch of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Singapore by the end of first quarter next year after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its expansion project, a senior executive said on Wednesday. “It’s been delayed due to the pandemic as we were already hoping to be on stream in 2022,” Neste’s Executive Vice President for Renewable Aviation, Thorsten Lange, told Reuters. “But the revised plan is now fully on track.” Neste produces renewable fuels, mainly from waste and residues such as used cooking oil, animal fat from food industry waste, fish fat from fish processing waste and residues from vegetable oil processing. Neste plans to start SAF production at the end of first quarter 2023 and then onwards ramp up output to an annual capacity of 1m tonnes, Lange said in an interview on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow. The Singapore Airshow has opened to a limited crowd of trade visitors on Tuesday with the organizers expecting the biennial event to attract more than 13,000 trade attendees, much less than nearly 30,000 in 2020 and around 54,000 in 2018. Aviation, which accounts for 3% of the world’s carbon emissions, is considered one of the toughest sectors to tackle due to a lack of alternative technologies to jet fueled-engines.<br/>