Building a Business Case for SAF and Renewable Diesel Co-Processing

A European refinery was exploring opportunities to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel through co-processing as part of their strategy to expand into sustainable fuel production.

Objective

The refinery wanted to develop an investment business case by assessing the technical viability of existing assets, evaluating regional feedstock availability and product markets, and analyzing anticipated credits and overall project economics.

Approach

A multi-disciplinary team of experts in hydroprocessing, renewable pretreatment, and market analysis from Becht worked closely with the refinery on an accelerated schedule. The team analyzed the technical feasibility of adding a new pretreatment unit (PTU) as well as repurposing existing hydroprocessing assets. They also supported the refinery in identifying feedstock sources, determining pretreatment and hydrotreatment requirements, and defining the most economical unit capacity to support the business case.

Solution

The study confirmed the technical viability of the proposed approach, provided clarity on optimal feedstocks, and identified the unit capacity that would deliver the best economic outcome.

Value

The findings gave the refinery the confidence to move forward with the next phase of the project, including the selection of technology licensors.