PKN ORLEN invests in biofuels of the future

PKN ORLEN is launching an operational programme for biofuels to be based on three pillars – building biofuel production facilities, research and development work and operational adaptation of the logistics function.

With its biofuels programme, the Company is preparing for the new renewable energy directive (RED II), which gives more prominence to second-generation biofuels made from algae, straw and other waste materials.

“We expect the role of renewable energy in the transport sector to rise, and we consider RED II a key driver of the fuels market in the future. We are intent on preparing our business for these changes as best we can,” says Armen Artwich, Member of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN for Corporate Affairs.

PKN ORLEN intends to use its existing refinery units in Płock and Litvínov to take the co-hydrotreatment process to an industrial scale. The process consists of co-feeding vegetable oils or used fats with petroleum distillates into refinery units. The output diesel oil contains a bio-component – hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).

The decision to take the co-hydrotreatment process to an industrial scale was prompted by the successful completion of a test run carried out in September 2018 under the CO-BIO project, partly financed with a grant under the Inno-Chem programme.