Hawaii Renewables commissions plant at Par Pacific’s Kapolei refinery

Hawaii Renewables LLC, a joint venture of Par Pacific Holdings Inc. (63.5%) and Alohi Renewable Energy LLC (36.5%)—a venture of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and ENEOS Corp.—has commissioned its previously announced renewable fuels plant at Par Hawaii Refining LLC’s 94,000-b/d refinery in Kapolei, Oahu.

“During April [2026], the Hawaii renewable fuels facility successfully achieved commercial operations, a major milestone for the project,” Will Monteleone, Par Pacific’s president and chief executive officer, said in early May upon release of the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings.

Commissioning of the new plant follows startup of its pretreatment unit earlier in the year, as well as achieving on-specification product using a mix of feedstocks and additional inbound waste oils to further test production capabilities,” added Richard Creamer, Par Pacific’s executive vice-president of refining and logistics, during the operator’s May 6 earnings call.

“We are now operating the pretreatment in tandem with the renewable hydrotreater and achieved on-specification renewable diesel in late April [and] are beginning to transition operations to validate the sustainable aviation fuel mode,” Creamer said.

Once fully operational, Hawaii Renewables’ plant will be able to produce about 61 million gal/year (3,950 b/d) of renewable fuels, including renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable naphtha, and low-carbon LPG.

Integrated into the existing Kapolei refinery, Par Pacific previously said the renewables project would operate using utilities, logistics, and distribution systems for a hybrid configuration to reduce capital intensity compared with similar standalone plants of its kind.

The plant’s design also allows for flexible adjustment of  product yields between renewable diesel and SAF depending on market conditions, with potential SAF output of up to 60% of total capacity.

Hawaii turnaround plans

Alongside startup of the site’s renewables plant, the company also revealed during the earnings call the Par Hawaii refinery will soon be entering planned maintenance.

“[The refinery] will begin a planned turnaround in late-June, which is expected to last between 30 and 45 days,” Creamer said.

The site’s newly commissioned renewable fuels unit will be offline during the turnaround event, according to Creamer.

While the operator did not disclose the full scope of works planned for the routine maintenance event, Monteleone confirmed the turnaround will involve a catalyst changeout.

“[W]e really tie our decision on turnaround timing towards hydrocracker catalyst life. That is one of the key drivers in Hawaii. It has been roughly six years since we changed that catalyst out. And we have the objective of completing this over the summer period, just given the scheduling, the timing of the contractors, and the work that we have done,” said Monteleone.

With all “the moving pieces” for the maintenance event now in place, Monteleone said he expects the turnaround to be completed on time and on budget.