LG Chem, Enilive break ground on S. Korea’s first HVO/SAF site

South Korean chaebol LG Chem and Italian energy major Enilive said that they have broken ground on the Korea’s first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant at LG Chem’s Daesan Chemical Complex.

The plant is going to be constructed by the LG Chem and Enilive joint venture, called LG-Eni BioRefining, and it is scheduled for completion in 2027 and will annually process approximately 400,000 tons of renewable bio-feedstock.

The biofuels, including SAF and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) will be made by hydrogenating more sustainable vegetable oils such as used cooking oil (UCO) and other waste and residues through Ecofining technology jointly developed by Eni and Honeywell UOP.

“LG Chem is transforming its portfolio to build a low-carbon foundation that ensures both a progressively more sustainable growth and profitability,” said Shin Hak-cheol, CEO of LG Chem. “By advancing innovation in renewable fuels and bio-based feedstocks like HVO, we aim to strengthen our global competitiveness and meet our customers’ evolving needs efficiently.”

The site is located in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do, 80 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The two companies announced their plans to develop the biorefinery in January 2024.

“The Seosan biorefinery breaking ground reaffirms Enilive’s strategy in offering increasingly sustainable products and our company’s position as a leader in biofuels production” said Stefano Ballista, Enilive’s CEO. “Together with the plants that are already operational in Italy and in the United States of America, and with new biorefining plants under construction in Italy and Malaysia, the upcoming biorefining plant in Daesan will contribute to reach our 2030 target to increase our biorefining capacity to over 5m tons per year, with the potential to produce more than 2m tons per year of SAF”.