VARO Energy to build USD 600m SAF plant in Rotterdam

Switzerland-based oil refiner and supplier VARO Energy Group will spend USD 600 million (EUR 560.5m) to build a production facility for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the Netherlands as part of efforts to support the aviation sector’s decarbonisation.

The large-scale plant, to be built in Rotterdam, will have a fuel production capacity of 245,000 tonnes a year and is expected to contribute up to 7% of the EU’s 2030 SAF target. The facility is planned to be able to process about 350,000 tonnes of renewable feedstock annually.

The plant is scheduled to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2026. It is expected to help meet the growing SAF demand in Europe, which is estimated to reach 3.5 million tonnes annually.

SAF is part of VARO’s biofuels business, one of the company’s five strategic growth pillars under its transformation strategy. The other pillars include biomethane and bio-liquid natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, e-mobility as well as carbon removals.

In June, TotalEnergies SE said that it plans to significantly increase the production of SAF at its Grandpuits site in northern France after the European Parliament backed a year earlier higher SAF targets to speed up decarbonisation.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.934)

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