Topsoe signed an agreement with HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie GmbH to provide its HydroFlex technology for the production of SAF and renewable diesel at its plant in Hamburg. HOLBORN is a successful oil refinery that supplies Hamburg and northern Germany with fuels and heating oil.

The production will serve to address the rapidly growing demand for SAF. As cited by the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero Scenario, more than 10% of fuel consumption in aviation needs to be SAF by 2030 to stay on course for net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. In 2022, the International Air Transport Association estimated global SAF production to make up only around 0.1% to 0.15% of total jet fuel demand.

HOLBORN is developing the renewable fuels complex for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) inside the existing refinery in Hamburg, Germany. The plant is expected to be operational in early 2027, including the interconnecting infrastructure with the existing facilities. Once completed, the plant will produce approximately 220,000 tons per year of renewable diesel and SAF using waste and residue feedstocks.

This agreement with HOLBORN follows a number of wins announced by Topsoe for the roll-out of its HydroFlex1 technology, including Braya Renewable Fuels’ Come By Chance plant in Canada, Cepsa Bioenergia San Roque’s Palos de la Frontera plant in Spain, and Guangxi Hongkun Biomass in China.

With HydroFlex, customers can convert various fats, oils and greases into drop-in renewable jet and diesel that meet all globally accepted specifications for these fuels. Topsoe’s HydroFlex can be deployed in both grassroots units and revamps for co-processing or fully renewable applications.

HOLBORN Europa Raffinerie GmbH annually processes up to five million tons of crude oil into gasoline, diesel, heating oil and feedstock for the chemical industry.