SGP BioEnergy to use green hydrogen in planned biofuel plant

SGP BioEnergy announced the addition of green hydrogen production to the largest planned advanced biorefinery in the world, allowing the facility to operate with near net-zero emissions.

Facility construction is scheduled for Phase 1 production to begin in 2025, with all land rights secured to allow for the groundbreaking of physical construction in 2023. Once fully operational, the biorefinery will produce 180,000 barrels per day (2.6 billion gallons per year) of biofuel and 405,000 metric tons of green hydrogen annually.

In addition to establishing these foundational elements, SGP BioEnergy has worked with Topsoe to incorporate its HydroFlex™ and H2 Bridge™ technologies to produce green hydrogen from the waste carbon and renewable fuels by-products produced during the refining process.

The HydroFlex™ technology is Topsoe’s proprietary technology for taking a wide range of biofuel feedstocks, including soy, camelina, canola/rapeseed, and hazelnut and refining them into advanced biofuels. The H2 Bridge™ technology captures waste propane, and carbon off gas from the refining process, converts them into green hydrogen and provides that back to the refining facility to power facility operations.

The country of Panama was an ideal partner to support the financial potential of the project, given its free zones, commitment to clean energy innovation, and global platform to transport the fuels all over the world.

Randy Delbert Letang, CEO of SGP BioEnergy, said, “It is the first time both advanced biofuels and green hydrogen will be produced together at this scale, and we are excited to be bringing this innovation to Panama.”

Minister of Commerce and Industries of Panama Federico Alfaro, said, “It is exciting to see the progress on this facility that will bring more than 1,000 jobs to Panama.

Henrik Rasmussen, MD at Topsoe, said, “We have seen great success with the HydroFlex™ and H2 Bridge™ technologies in renewable fuels applications for other plants.”