Ecopetrol to invest $500-700m to build SAF plant

Colombian state-owned Ecopetrol is planning to invest nearly $500-700m to build a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in the country, Reuters quoted the company’s president Ricardo Roa.

The new plant, to be built at the Barrancabermeja refinery, will start its development phase between this and next year, Roa told Reuters.

Production at the plant is expected to start by 2030, and by the time it would produce some 6,000 barrels of SAF per day, according to the director.

The company is eyeing to invest nearly $6bn for 2025 which will funded by its own reserves.

Earlier in January, Colombian government launched a SAF roadmap to build domestic production capabilities.

Earlier in October 2024, Ecopetrol announced that it began test production of 20,000 barrels of SAF at its Cartagena refinery in Colombia.

The SAF produced by Ecopetrol includes up to 5% of plant-based raw materials, such as palm oil and used cooking oil. This co-processing represents a significant step forward in the decarbonisation of the aviation industry.