Neste, a leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel made from waste and residue raw materials, recently agreed to acquire Bunge Loders Croklaan’s refinery plant in Rotterdam, Netherlands for 258 million euros ($303 million).
The refinery plant is located next to Neste’s existing biorefinery and consists of a pretreatment facility, tank farm, jetties and a pipeline connection to Neste’s site. The closing of the transaction is subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. The transition will be implemented in phases, with the refinery plant’s full pretreatment capacity available for processing Neste’s feedstock by the end of 2024.
“The acquisition of the refinery plant supports our global growth strategy in renewables,” said Peter Vanacker, Neste’s president and CEO. “It allows us to accelerate the scaling up of our renewable raw material pretreatment capacity, which is an important driver for expanding the use of waste and residue feedstocks and increasing our feedstock flexibility. We are committed to increasing the share of waste and residues in our renewables feedstock mix to 100% by 2025 and to grow our production platform to enable over 20 million tons of greenhouse gas reductions for our customers by 2030.”
To meet the growing demand of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and feedstock for chemicals, Neste focuses on building a global feedstock and production platform for renewables. Neste says it will expand its renewables annual production capacity from 3.2 to 4.5 million tons by the first quarter of 2023, of which the Singapore facility expansion will provide 1.3 million tons. The now acquired refinery offers further pretreatment capacity and terminal infrastructure to handle the increasingly complex waste and residue feedstocks, and supports further growth in production capacity beyond 2023.
Neste has been active in the Netherlands since 2011, when the Rotterdam facility for renewable products started its operations. The Rotterdam facility, and the company’s Singapore refinery, are the world’s biggest and most advanced renewable fuels refineries, according to the company. Neste’s Sluiskil plant is responsible for the storage and pretreatment of renewable raw materials, and Neste Demeter B.V. delivers raw materials to the company's renewable products facility. Earlier in 2020, Neste also acquired a terminal in Rotterdam for storing, refining and blending renewable waste and residue-based raw materials.
In 2019, Neste opened a new office in Hoofddorp, in greater Amsterdam that serves as the global hub for the growing Renewable Aviation business. Neste MY Renewable Diesel, produced from renewable raw materials, is currently available at more than 100 sales points throughout the country.