PETRONAS, Enilive, and Euglena break ground on Malaysia’s new biorefinery

The biorefinery is targeted to commence operations by the second half of 2028

PETRONAS, Enilive, and Euglena officially broke ground on the Pengerang Biorefinery. The facility will process up to 650,000 tonnes of renewable feedstock annually to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO), and bio-naphtha, marking a critical step in the region’s drive toward decarbonisation and sustainable mobility.

The biorefinery is targeted to commence operations by the second half of 2028 in line with the schedule, according to PETRONAS.

Pengerang Biorefinery is a demonstration of a shared commitment by PETRONAS, Enilive and Euglena to meet the growing needs for more competitive and accessible cleaner energy solutions, officials said.

PETRONAS Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Downstream, Datuk Sazali Hamzah said, “The groundbreaking of the Pengerang Biorefinery reflects the collective efforts to drive decarbonisation and advance energy transition in the region."

"Leveraging the synergy and strength of our partnership, the new biorefinery is one of PETRONAS’ key initiatives to deliver on our energy transition strategy through a holistic bio-based value chain and an expanded suite of cleaner energy solutions. This is in lockstep with PETRONAS’ larger aspiration to become an integrated energy leader in the next decade, serving the world’s energy needs, safely, reliably and sustainably.”

Enilive’s Chief Executive Officer, Stefano Ballista added, “The Pengerang biorefinery, made possible by the strategic partnership with PETRONAS and Euglena, will enable acceleration of the decarbonisation of transportation, and reaffirms Enilive’s commitment towards sustainable products."

"With Enilive’s biorefineries that are already operational in Italy and in the United States of America, and with new plants under construction in Italy and South Korea, the new biorefinery in Pengerang is a further and relevant step forward towards the achievement of a production capacity over 5 million tons per year and over 2 million tons of SAF by 2030, supporting the growing need for more sustainable mobility.”

Euglena’s Founder and President, Mitsuru Izumo, on his part, commented: “Since the inception of this project, we have continued to evolve in response to the rapidly changing energy landscape, and now we are stepping into the next stage toward the planned commencement of operations in 2028."

"This project represents a global endeavor and a powerful step toward decarbonisation and a more sustainable future, through enhanced clean energy supply capacity, particularly across the ASEAN region and beyond. In our continued efforts to expand decarbonization solutions in response to climate change, we will continue to invest in research and development of microalgae, and advance our efforts toward the commercialisation of algal biofuel. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all our partners and stakeholders who have supported this project. “