Topsoe has signed an agreement with Refinaria de Petróleo Riograndense SA (Riograndense), to provide its HydroFlex and H2bridge technologies for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel production at Riograndense’s Rio Grande renewable fuels plant in Brazil.

The production addresses 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 20301 to stay on course for net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. In 2023, the International Air Transport Association estimated global SAF production to make up only around 0.2% of total jet fuel demand.

The agreement with Riograndense follows a number of wins announced by Topsoe for the roll-out of its HydroFlex technology, including HOLBORN’s Hamburg renewable fuels refinery, 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.

The H2bridge technology replaces external fossil feedstocks for production of hydrogen by processing the waste propane and off gases from the HydroFlex process and converting it into green hydrogen that is then consumed in the same process (i.e. HydroFlex). This patented process integration provides the customers with improved carbon intensity score.

The history of oil refining in Brazil began in the city of Rio Grande. The Riograndense Oil Refinery, which began working in 1937, is now owned by Petrobras, Braskem and Ultrapar.

The company’s main operations are currently the processing and sale of petroleum derivatives, particularly gasoline, diesel oil, petrochemical naphtha, fuel oil, LPG (domestic gas) and other products. Its market is concentrated in the south of Brazil, particularly the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The refinery has an installed processing capacity of 17 thousand barrels a day.