MOL Group has produced a diesel fuel containing hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at the refinery of Slovnaft in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The quality of the products has been verified by radioisotope analysis by the independent specialist laboratory of Isotoptech Zrt. The successful production test confirms that MOL Group is technologically ready for the production of alternative synthetic fuels, which is part of the company’s long-term SHAPE TOMORROW strategy.
Biodiesel HVO of vegetable origin was successfully produced at the Bratislava Refinery. HVO was produced using oil from cashew nut shells and the biocomponent produced this way was processed together with crude oil. MOL Group has been using the so-called co-processing at the Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta for years. The process reduces the emissions of traditional fuels by mixing plant residues, as the bio and fossil components are processed simultaneously directly during production. The production test was successful: the diesel product was analysed by the Hungarian Isotoptech Zrt laboratory which confirmed that it contains the required ratio of HVO.
At the same time, MOL Group’s Bratislava Refinery conducted another production test, which produced a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by co-processing as well. In this case, the company also created value from waste: it processed partially refined cooking oil with the traditional raw material. The test proved that the Bratislava Refinery’s production unit used for the production of standard aviation kerosene is also suitable for producing sustainable aviation fuel.
Csaba Zsótér, senior vice president, fuels at MOL Group says: ‘We are technologically ready to produce biodiesel of vegetable origin as well as sustainable aviation fuel. This could open a new chapter in the sustainable efforts of MOL Group: we offer our customers an increasing variety and quantity of fuels, thus contributing to the smart energy transition as well.’
