European energy company Varo Energy has announced plans to invest US$ 600 million. They plan to build a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility. This installation will be located at the Gunvor Energy Rotterdam site in the Netherlands.
The installation is entirely owned by VARO. Its raw material capacity is 350,000 tons/year. SAF production is 245,000 tons/year. Additionally, it includes bio-naphtha and bio-propane. The company disclosed this on September 7th.
The start of production was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Located in Rotterdam, in the center of one of the world's major aviation hubs, VARO said its new factory would help meet growing demand for SAF.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), European demand for jet fuel is expected to grow by more than 20% over the next five years.
“This new manufacturing unit alone will, after all, deliver up to 7% of the EU’s 2030 SAF target,” said VARO CEO Dev Sanyal. Furthermore, in addition to being close to key markets, the facility is also located adjacent to port infrastructure, wastewater treatment and existing roads, railways and pipelines. Therefore, this enables the production and distribution of SAF, the company said.
The company further said that investment in the facility was part of its ONE VARO Transformation strategy. Eventually, they aimed to produce more than 250,000 tons/year of biofuels by 2026 and more than 500,000 tons/year in the long term.
A private company based in Switzerland, VARO is owned by The Carlyle Group (66,66%) and Vitol (33,33%).
Source: Oils & Fats International
