TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s biggest refiner, Eneos Corp, and trading house Mitsubishi Corp said on Friday they would move forward with front-end engineering design (FEED) for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production at the Wakayama plant.
The plant is expected to produce about 300,000 metric tons (400,000 kilolitres) of SAF annually, along with some naphtha and light oil fractions, from fiscal 2028. The feedstock will mainly consist of waste products and by-products, such as used cooking oil and tallow.
The two companies will accelerate discussions to establish a system for mass producing and supplying domestically produced SAF, they said in a joint statement.
They will combine Eneos’ expertise in manufacturing technology, raw material procurement and sales network with Mitsubishi’s expertise in SAF raw-material sourcing both in Japan and overseas, they added.
Eneos, a unit of Eneos Holdings, also said the industry ministry selected the Wakayama project for a publicly solicited initiative to support the expansion of the production and supply of SAF. Eneos declined to disclose the size of the subsidy.
SAF projects by Idemitsu Kosan and Cosmo Energy Holdings were also selected for the initiative, the two companies said on Friday.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
