Orbit Origo AS subsidiary Biojet AS has let a contract to KBR Inc. to deliver a concept study for the operator’s proposed project to build a renewable fuels production plant in Ringerike, Norway.
As part of the early works contract, KBR will provide technology evaluations, early engineering, and project development for the plant, which will be designed to convert a feedstock of forestry residues into renewable and sustainable green fuels, the service provider said on Jan. 24.
While it disclosed no further details regarding the new contract, KBR did confirm Biojet’s proposed Ringerike plant comes as part of the operator’s aim to supply the European market with renewable fuels by 2026.
The Biojet contract award follows the Jan. 11 announcement from ExxonMobil Corp. that it has acquired a 49.9% ownership interest in the Norwegian biofuels producer as part of the global company’s broader effort to deliver lower-emission fuels and products to the transportation sector in line with a commitment to driving emission reductions in support of a net-zero future, including its intention to achieve net-zero emissions from ExxonMobil-operated assets by 2050.
Acquisition of the Biojet stake additionally supports ExxonMobil’s plans to deliver the global market more than 40,000 b/d of lower-emission fuels by 2025 and 200,000 b/d by 2030 to help reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the transportation sector by more than 25 million tonnes/year as announced in its Advancing Climate Solutions 2022 Progress Report (ACS) published on Jan. 18.
ExxonMobil-Biojet venture
Alongside purchasing a 49.9% stake in the Norwegian renewables company, ExxonMobil said it also signed offtake agreements allowing it to purchase up to 3 million bbl/year of products from Biojet’s five proposed manufacturing plants, all of which will convert forestry and wood-based construction waste into lower-emissions biofuels and biofuel components that meet requirements for advanced fuels under Norwegian, European Union, and United Kingdom regulations.
Upon announcing acquisition of Biojet shares, Ian Carr—president of ExxonMobil Fuels and Lubricants Co.—said ExxonMobil will be able to use its access at the site of subsidiary Esso Norge AS’ recently shuttered 116,000-b/d refinery at the port of Slagen—now a fuel import terminal—to efficiently distribute biofuels throughout Norway, as well as to countries across northwest Europe.
While Biojet has yet to reveal precise details of the five plants now presumably under development, ExxonMobil said the Norwegian operator anticipates commercial production to begin in 2025 at a manufacturing site to be built in Follum, Norway.
Slagen refinery closure
Esso Norge quietly announced its decision to halt refining operations at Slagen and convert the site into a fuel import terminal in a release posted to the ExxonMobil subsidiary’s website on Apr. 27, 2021.
The operator said the refinery’s closure resulted from the operation’s inability to remain economically viable over the long term amid increasingly challenging market conditions, including strong competition, evolving regulatory measures, and falling demand, the latter of which has led to an oversupplied market.
