Factbox: Asia's sustainable aviation fuel projects and agreements
20/02/2024 02:45
(Updates factbox with details for Singapore, Malaysia, India,
China, Japan, New Zealand)
SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Singapore plans to require
all flights departing the country to use sustainable aviation
fuel (SAF) starting in 2026, its transport minister said on
Monday, as the city-state joins the global aviation industry's
efforts to switch to greener fuel.
SAF, or alternative fuel made from renewable sources that
are used to power aircraft, is crucial for the aviation sector
to reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but its
adoption remains in a nascent phase.
Following is a look at other SAF projects and agreements in
the Asia-Pacific region.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia has established an SAF blending mandate starting
with 1%, according to the National Energy Transition Roadmap
published by the government in 2023. It is targetting a 47% SAF
blending mandate by 2050.
Malaysian state oil company Petronas and Japan's
second-biggest oil refiner, Idemitsu Kosan Co 5019.T , signed a
preliminary agreement
to collaborate on development and distribution of SAF in
October 2023.
Petronas and Malaysia's palm oil board have also signed an
agreement
to study the use of cooking oil and palm oil waste as SAF
in August 2023.
Malaysian Aviation Group (MAG) has signed an SAF offtake
agreement with Petronas Dagangan PETR.KL , as part of efforts
to develop the green fuel on a commercial scale in Malaysia in
May 2023.
INDIA
India aims to have 1% SAF in aircraft turbine fuel
by 2027
, doubling to 2% in 2028, the government said in November.
The SAF targets will initially apply to international flights.
Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS will set up an 80,000-metric-ton
per year
SAF plant
with LanzaJet in Haryana, the refiner's chairman said last
year. The company has a tie-up with LanzaTech for converting
waste gas to ethanol and into jet fuel.
SINGAPORE
Singapore announced on Feb. 19 it would aim for a 1% SAF
target starting in 2026 and plans to raise it to 3-5% by 2030,
subject to global developments and the wider availability and
adoption of SAF.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) plans to
introduce a SAF levy for the purchase of the fuel to be set at a
fixed quantum, based on the SAF target and projected SAF price
at that time.
Singapore Airlines, The Civil Authority of Singapore, and
Genzero completed a
20-month SAF pilot
in November, and found that although Singapore is
operationally ready to supply SAF, more is needed to support its
adoption.
Keppel Corporation Limited KPLM.SI and AM Green have
signed
a memorandum of understanding in December to explore
opportunities to produce biogenic carbon-based sustainable
fuels, including SAF.
Singapore Airlines began a one-year SAF pilot programme in
July 2022, working with ExxonMobil XOM.N and Neste NESTE.HE .
The companies blended 1,000 tonnes of neat SAF with jet fuel and
supplied the oil to Singapore Airlines and Scoot flights at
Changi Airport.
Finnish refiner Neste NESTE.HE operates the city state's only
SAF plant.
CHINA
There is no set SAF mandate in China as of February 2024,
although its civil aviation administration said in its 2022
roadmap that carbon emissions in the sector will peak by 2035.
China's National Energy Administration announced in
November 2023 that it would launch pilot projects to spur
domestic production and consumption of
biofuels
, including SAF and biodiesel. It did not provide details on
funding and timing.
In December 2023, China's State Power Investment
Corp announced a
plan
to produce 400,000 tons per year of SAF in northern
Heilongjiang province. The plant will start as a pilot project
of 10,000 tons per year, the company said. It is slated to
produce its first batch of fuel in late 2025 and will expand to
400,000 by 2030, according to an executive familiar with the
plans.
In April 2023, Airbus AIR.PA and the China National
Aviation Fuel Group (CNAF) signed a memorandum of understanding
to increase production and use of SAF. U.S. industrial
conglomerate Honeywell HON has signed agreements to jointly
produce SAF with northern China's Tianjian Free Trade Zone in
2023 and with southern Guangdong-based Oriental Energy Company
Ltd. SZ:002221 in 2022, according to Honeywell and state-run
CGTN. The Guangdong facility will produce 1 million tons per
year of SAF, Honeywell said, without mentioning a timeline.
Hong Kong-based
Cathay Pacific Airways
0293.HK set a target in March 2023 to use SAF for 10% of
its fuel by 2030.
In October 2022, an A320neo Airbus aircraft departed from
Tianjin and landed in Xian using a 5% SAF blend, with SAF
produced locally by Sinopec subsidiary Zhenhai Refining &
Chemical Co (Zhenhai Refining), China Daily reported. In July
2023, an Air China 0753.HK flight from Hangzhou to Beijing
marked China's first use of SAF in a commercial flight, using a
10% SAF blend, according to CGTN.
JAPAN
Japan is mandating that 10% of aviation fuel for
international flights using Japanese airports be sustainable
starting in 2030, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
said in May 2023.
Nippon Paper Industries Corp 3863.T , Sumitomo Corp
8053.T and Green Earth Institute Corp 9212.T agreed in
February 2023 to
jointly study
bioethanol production made from woody biomass. The project,
if it succeeds, aims to produce bioethanol from Nippon Paper's
mills in the 2027 fiscal year to be used as feedstock for SAF
production.
Fuji Oil Co Ltd 5017.T began
planning production
of bio-SAF at Sodegaura Refinery with Itochu Corp 8001.T
in May 2023.
Eneos Holdings Inc 5020.T agreed to study production of up
to 500 million litres (3.1 million barrels) of SAF and renewable
diesel per year jointly with Australian refiner Ampol ALD.AX .
Japan's top airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA) 9202.T and
Japan Airlines (JAL) 9201.T , have expanded their SAF purchases
by adding supplies from trading house Itochu Corp and U.S.
producer Raven SR.
Other companies exploring SAF production in Japan include
Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T , Boeing BA.N , and TotalEnergies SE
TTEF.PA .
SAF is set to replace 10%, or 1.34 million kilolitres, of
fuel used by Japanese airline companies by 2030, according to
the Japan Transport and Tourism Research Institute (JTTRI).
PHILIPPINES
There is no set SAF mandate in the Philippines as of
February 2024.
Cebu Pacific CEB.PS flew a plane from Singapore to Manila
powered by a 35% SAF blend from Neste in September 2022.
The airline signed a long-term strategic partnership with
Shell Eastern Petroleum to make SAF more widely available for
its fleet via the supply and purchase of SAF in Asia Pacific and
the Middle East, with an initial volume of at least 25,000
metric tons per year.
AUSTRALIA
There is no set SAF mandate in Australia as of February
2024.
Qantas Group QAN.AX launched the Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Coalition (SAF Coalition) in collaboration with Australia Post,
KPMG Australia, Macquarie Group, the local arm of Boston
Consulting Group and Woodside Energy on Nov. 11, 2022.
Qantas and Airbus SE AIR.PA will jointly invest A$2 million
($1.34 million) in a biofuel refinery being set up in
Australia's Queensland state that would convert agricultural
by-products into SAF.
The refinery is expected to produce up to 100 million litres
of SAF a year, with construction due to start in 2024.
This is the first investment from a $200 million fund Qantas and
Airbus set up last June to kick off the SAF industry in
Australia.
The airline expects about 10% of its fuel to come from SAF
by 2030, and 60% by 2050.
Last November, Climate Leaders Coalition members Ampol
ALD.AX , Brisbane Airport, Deloitte, Qantas and Viva Energy
VEA.AX proposed the establishment of an East Coast SAF
corridor in their Scope 3 Roadmap.
Australia's first Jet Zero-style council, modelled on the
eponymous government-industry partnership for SAF production in
Britain, is expected to hold its first meeting this financial
year ending in June 2023, said a spokesperson from the
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development,
Communications and the Arts.
The council will complement the Aviation White Paper, which
is expected to wrap up early 2024.
NEW ZEALAND
There is no set SAF mandate in New Zealand as of February
2024.
Channel Infrastructure NZ Ltd's CHI.NZ scoping study for
green hydrogen and synthetic sustainable aviation fuel
production at Marsden Point is moving to the
pre-feasibility
phase, supported by the government's Energy Efficiency and
Conservation Authority.
Air New Zealand AIR.NZ and the New Zealand government
plan to invest more than 2 million New Zealand Dollars ($1.23
million) in SAF studies, with the second stage of SAF
feasibility work continuing through to early 2024.
(Reporting by Cassandra Yap，Trixie Yap and Colleen Howe. Editing
by Gerry Doyle)
((mailto:cassandra.yap@thomsonreuters.com;
mailto:trixie.yap@thomsonreuters.com;))