Neste Oil has signed a contingent commercial off-take agreement with Cellana. The agreement will enable Neste Oil to purchase Cellana’s algae oil for use as a feedstock in the future for producing renewable fuel. The agreement is contingent on Cellana’s future production capacity and on compliance with future biofuel legislation in the EU and U.S., among other factors.
Cellana is an algae biomass developer based in the United States and Neste Oil is the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel.
Cellana expects to be able to produce algae oil on a commercial scale from late 2015 onwards. Based in Hawaii and California, Cellana has almost a decade of experience in growing oil-rich algae in its pilot- and demonstration-scale facilities in Hawaii using sea water in its photo-bioreactors and open ponds. Samples have shown that Cellana is able to produce algae oil suitable for renewable fuel production by Neste Oil.
Cellana expects to be able to produce algae oil on a commercial scale from late 2015 onwards. Based in Hawaii and California, Cellana has almost a decade of experience in growing oil-rich algae in its pilot- and demonstration-scale facilities in Hawaii using sea water in its photo-bioreactors and open ponds. Samples have shown that Cellana is able to produce algae oil suitable for renewable fuel production by Neste Oil.
“We want to support R&D efforts on new, sustainably produced raw materials and increased production of algae oil, which is one of the most interesting future alternatives in this area. Studies have already shown that algae oil can be used successfully in our NExBTL process,” said Neste Oil’s Senior Vice President, Technology, Lars Peter Lindfors. “The off-take agreement with Cellana allows us access to commercial-scale volumes of cost-competitive algae oil in the future. This new agreement fits very well with our strategy aimed at extending the range of feedstocks we use for NExBTL renewable fuel.”