Neste Oil Oyj has selected Neste Jacobs Oy as its main partner for a pilot plant designed to produce waste-based microbial oil at its Porvoo, Finland, refinery. It will be the first pilot plant in Europe designed to produce microbial oil for use in manufacturing renewable fuel from waste-based raw materials. The facility is due to be completed in the second half of 2012 and represents an investment of approx. EUR 8 million.

The production of NExBTL renewable diesel from microbial oil at laboratory scale has already been succeeded. The new pilot plant is an important step on the way to scaling up the technology to commercial capability, which is likely to be possible by 2015.
The technology enables to produce microbial oil from waste and residues with the help of fungi for use as a raw material for producing NExBTL diesel.

• Neste Oil Oyj, Uusimaa, Finland
• Neste Jacobs Oy, Porvoo, Finland