Taiyo Oil Co. Ltd. has enlisted Chiyoda Corp. to provide engineering services for a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) production plant currently under development at the site of the operator’s former 100,000-b/d conventional refining complex at Nishihara in the Nakagami district of Japan’s southwestern island of Okinawa.
As part of a contract announced on Oct. 28, Chiyoda will deliver the front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the proposed project that, if approved, would be configured with an ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) process technology to produce and supply 200,000 kl/year combined of SAF and renewable diesel, the latter of which will be a by-product of plant’s priority SAF production.
Without disclosing a value of the contract, Chiyoda said SAF produced by the project would contribute to supporting Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s (METI) aim of achieving by the country’s fiscal year (FY)2030 at least a 5% reduction in aviation greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) stemming directly from domestic jet fuel production and supply compared with a FY2019 baseline.
Per METI’s requirements for SAF-related GHG emissions reductions targets under the more stringent regulations, Chiba confirmed SAF produced at the proposed Okinawa plant would comply with ASTM International’s globally accepted standard ASTM D7566 Annex A5, which establishes specifications for alcohol-to-jet synthetic paraffinic kerosene (ATJ-SPK) SAF produced from alcohols like ethanol, isobutanol—and most recently, methanol—derived from sources including biomass or industrial off gases.
Project background, timeline
Chiyoda’s confirmation of the FEED contract award follows Taiyo’s announcement earlier in the year that planning for the Okinawa SAF plant was already under way following its selection as a subsidized project under METI’s Subsidy for Promotion of Transition to a Decarbonized, Growth-Oriented Economic Structure as an “SAF Manufacturing and Supply Chain Development Support Project.”
With the project now accelerated, Taiyo said it aims to complete construction on the Okinawa SAF plant by the end of FY2028 with SAF and renewable diesel supplies set to begin in FY2029.
Technology selection, feedstock
As part of a technology licensing agreement Taiyo confirmed signing in December 2024, the Okinawa SAF plant will use Honeywell UOP LLC’s proprietary ethanol-to-jet technology, marking the technology’s first implementation in Japan and the greater Asia-Pacific region, according to the operator.
Following award of the technology licensing contract, UOP also participated in beginning basic design work on the project, Taiyo said.
While Taiyo will primarily source cost-competitive ethanol feedstock for the plant from overseas, the operator also plans to explore procuring domestic feedstock volumes, including ethanol derived from Okinawan sugarcane, ethanol produced using abandoned farmland across Japan, as well as second-generation ethanol, all of which would support regional revitalization and economic circularity, the company said.
SAF produced at the plant will be supplied to Japan’s domestic airports for passenger and cargo aircraft, supporting GHG reductions across the country’s aviation sector, according to Taiyo.
Alongside developing unused land at the company’s existing Okinawa site that—following the former conventional refinery’s shuttering in early 2016—has since served as an oil and petroleum products storage and marine terminal, the proposed SAF project at the site will add new jobs to the local economy related directly to furthering Japan’s goal of progressing decarbonization of the country’s natural resources and energy industries along its journey to achieve net zero targets by 2050, the company said.
Taiyo previously undertook a feasibility study with partner Mitsui & Co. Ltd. in 2023 to potentially transform the former Okinawa refining site into a renewables plant capable of producing 220,000 kl/year of combined SAF and renewable diesel using ATJ technology from LanzaJet Inc.
