South Korean oil refiner SK Energy has announced it will start commercial production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) next month to meet increasing demand.
The plan would involve the production of SAF and other low-carbon products by adding feedstocks such as used cooking oil (UCO) and animal fat, as well as petroleum ingredients, into the existing production line via a co-processing method, the company said on 11 September.
As part of its plans, SK Energy – a business unit of Korean energy company SK Innovation – installed a 5km pipeline to a bio-material storage tank to supply the renewable feedstock for continuous SAF production.
SK Energy’s move followed an announcement by the Korean government that SAF blending would be mandatory on all international flights departing the country from 2027.
“We can immediately supply SAF to airlines when they need to comply with mandatory SAF blending policies,” Hong Kwang-pyo, head of SK Energy’s strategy operation division, was quoted as saying.
The company has announced plans to supply SAF to Korean Air Lines from early next year.
Global SAF demand is forecast to surge from 240,000 tonnes in 2022 to 18.4M tonnes by 2030, according to The International Air Transport Association (IATA).
SK Energy said it was looking into setting up a dedicated SAF facility if there was sufficient demand.
