PETALING JAYA: A Malaysia-US venture that will utilise vegetable oil production technology to produce sustainable aviation fuel is expected to come online at the end of November.
The facility, located in Sapangar Bay, Kota Kinabalu, will produce 250,000 metric tonnes of aviation fuel annually at full capacity.
The production facility is located in the Sabah Maju Jaya renewable energy industrial complex owned by Vandelay Ventures Sdn Bhd (VVSB).
Under the licensing as well as the basic engineering and technical services agreements for the project, which was signed on Feb 14 by VVSB and its partner Sulzer GTC Technology US Inc, VVSB will use the Sulzer GTC BioFlux licensed solution in the production process.
The production facility, which is located on a 25-acre plot at Sapangar Port has been developed in two phases.
Under the first phase is the refurbishment and management of a 30,000 to 50,000 metric tonne bulking facility that will be completed by the end of November.
The second phase involves the development of a hydrogenated vegetable oil facility that will be used for the production of sustainable aviation fuel, VVSB said in a statement.
“Sustainable aviation fuel significantly reduces CO2 emissions from air transportation and can be used as a drop-in fuel without the need to modify existing supply chain infrastructure, aircraft or engines,” the company explained.
CEO Mohar Onn of VVSB said the goal is to help drive Malaysia’s decarbonisation effort and economic development needs, backed by state-of-the-art technology.
“Sulzer’s technology provides up to 30% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions compared with other readily available technologies,” he said.
Sander van Donk, senior vice-president and business unit head at Sulzer GTC, expressed hope that the manufacturing facility for sustainable aviation fuel, a first in Malaysia, would pave the way for others to follow.