Petronas, Enilive, Euglena to Set Up JV for $1.3 Billion Malaysia Biofuel Project -- 2024 Update

by Kosaku Narioka Market Screener) Malaysia's state-owned oil company is teaming up with a unit of Italian energy giant Eni and a Japanese biotech startup to develop a $1.3 billion biofuel plant in the Southeast Asian country.

Petronas, Enilive and Euglena plan to form a joint venture in Malaysia and start operating the new plant by the second half of 2028, aiming to cater to growing demand for biofuel from the aviation and transportation industries, the companies said Friday.

The biorefinery will be built within a complex run by Petronas, formally known as Petroliam Nasional, in southern Malaysia with construction expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, they said.

Japanese startup Euglena, which specializes in microalgae technology, said it will hold a 5% stake in the joint venture, with an option to increase that to 15%. Petronas and Enilive, a unit of Eni that runs biorefineries in Italy and the U.S., will hold initial stakes of 47.5% each.

The joint venture's plant will be capable to produce up to 12,500 barrels a day of biofuel, Euglena said.

The biorefinery will be able process about 650,000 tons a year of raw materials such as used vegetable oils, animal fats and waste from the processing of vegetable oils, the companies said. The use of other biomass such as microalgae oils will be explored in the future, they added.

Euglena said it would consider additional financing to raise its stake in the project. Euglena President Mitsuru Izumo said the company will expedite its research and development efforts to supply algae oil as an alternative fuel to the global market. READ MORE

Excerpt from Euglena: Euglena Co., Ltd.(hereafter "Euglena") signs with Petronas Research Sdn. Bhd. a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (hereafter "Petronas Research") that have entered into a Joint Development Agreement on August 21st , 2024 to implement a joint research with a mission to materialize the future large-scale commercial production of microalgae oil for SAF and other biofuels.

Euglena and Petronas Research will form partnership to develop microalgae technology which includes cultivation, harvesting, extraction and by-product usage in enabling the delivery of techno-economical solution for large-scale commercial production of microalgae oil for biofuels. With the aim of supplying microalgae oil as feedstock to the biofuel production project by the three companies including Enilive S.p.A. in Italy, of which final investment decision was announced on July 26, 2024. ^*

Upon success of technology development, Euglena and Petronas Research will potentially further collaborate to scale up the microalgae cultivation technology targeting to start a large-scale commercial production and valorization of defatted algae by-products in the early 2030s.

This collaborative effort will make one-step closer for PETRONAS to meet its target of MFT 50.30.0 by 2050 and becoming a progressive energy company and solutions partner while enriching lives for a sustainable future. As for Euglena, will solidify its position as the leading biotechnology company and “sustainable first” solutions provider. Euglena and Petronas Research are determined to contribute to resolve the global climate issues through this joint research and development activity.

About Euglena Co., Ltd.
In 2005, they succeeded in establishing the world's first outdoor mass cultivation technology for edible microalgae Euglena (Japanese name: Midorimushi). They define Euglena philosophy as "Sustainability First" and are engaged in businesses such as the development and sale of food and cosmetics using microalgae such as Euglena and Chlorella, the production and development of biofuels, the provision of genetic analysis services, and the sustainable agritech field that utilizes unused resources. Since 2014, they have been continuously implementing the "Euglena GENKI Program" to deliver nutritious Euglena cookies to children in Bangladesh. https://euglena.jp

* Press release dated July 26, 2024: "Euglena, PETRONAS, and Enilive complete final investment decision for biofuel production plant construction and operation project in Malaysia" https://www.euglena.jp/news/20240726-2/ READ MORE