Petroliam Nasional Berhad’s (Petronas) Petronas Mobility Lestari Sdn. Bhd. alongside Eni SPA’s Enilive SPA and Euglena Co. Ltd. of Japan have broken ground on the partners’ previously announced project involving construction of a grassroots biorefinery in the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) at Johor in southern Peninsular Malaysia.
Pengerang Biorefinery Sdn. Bhd.—the official joint venture of the partnership—held a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off construction of the new biorefinery on Nov. 10, Eni confirmed via a release.
Designed with a 100% renewable-feedstock processing capacity of up to 650,000 tonnes/year—including wastes such as used vegetable oils, animal fats, and residues from the processing of vegetable oils—the biorefinery will be equipped to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO, or renewable diesel), and bio-naphtha.
Located strategically within the PIC, the partners anticipate the biorefinery will benefit from a geographical advantage that enables access to major international shipping lanes and an enhanced ability to meet growing global demand for cleaner biofuels, especially in the Asia Pacific.
The partner companies said the project comes as part of their shared commitment to further drive decarbonization and advance the operators’ individual targets along their respective journeys to support the regional and global energy transition to a lower-carbon future.
Start of construction on the new plant follows the partners’ January 2025 award to Maire SPA subsidiary NextChem SPA’s KT-Kinetics Technology SPA (KT Tech) to deliver engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) services, as well as licensing of NextChem’s proprietary NX Reform technology, for a hydrogen production unit equipped to produce 38,000 cu m/hr of hydrogen for the biorefinery’s conversion processes.
In December 2024, the partnership enlisted Samsung E&A Co. Ltd. to serve as main contractor on the project with a contract under which Samsung E&A will provide all main EPCC services for the new plant.
Approved for final investment decision in July 2024, the biorefinery will use the Eni-Honeywell UOP LLC codeveloped proprietary Ecofining technology to maximize production of SAF and HVO, the partners previously confirmed.
With construction now under way, the biorefinery is on schedule for targeted completion and start of commercial operations by the second-half 2028, according to Eni.
