ExxonMobil to Supply Sustainable Aviation Fuel to CAAS, Singapore Airlines, Temasek under Pilot Project

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), Singapore Airlines (SIA), and Singapore-headquartered global investment company Temasek have selected ExxonMobil as the vendor to supply sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as part of a pilot on the use of SAF in Singapore.

ExxonMobil has been selected under a Request for Proposal (RfP) floated in November last year for inviting producers and fuel suppliers to develop and execute plans to deliver blended SAF to Singapore Changi Airport.

The move came after a study conducted by the Singapore Government and industry players on the operational and commercial viability of using SAF at Changi Airport.

Under the pilot project, the three organisations will purchase blended SAF, comprising 1.25 million litres of neat SAF (sustainable fuels that are unmixed or undiluted) supplied by Neste and produced from used cooking oil and waste animal fats, and blended with refined jet fuel at ExxonMobil’s facilities in Singapore.

Further, this blended fuel will be delivered to Changi Airport via the airport’s existing fuel hydrant system by the end of July this year.

Also, from Q3 this year, all Singapore Airlines and Scoot flights will use this blended fuel. The use of the SAF over the one-year pilot is expected to reduce about 2,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Commenting on the development, Han Kok Juan, Director-General of CAAS, said “Sustainability will be a key CAAS priority in the coming years as we revive air travel and rebuild the Singapore air hub. The CAAS-SIA-Temasek SAF pilot is an important building block in our effort to develop a sustainable air hub. It will operationally validate SAF integration options in Singapore and provide insights on end-to-end cost components, potential pricing structures for cost recovery and support future policy considerations for SAF deployment.”

“Sustainable aviation fuels are a key decarbonisation lever, and a critical pathway for the success of the SIA Group’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” commented Lee Wen Fen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning, Singapore Airlines.

Frederick Teo, Temasek’s Managing Director, Sustainable Solutions, said “We look forward to learning useful operational lessons from the pilot, and working closely with our partners to advance the frontiers of sustainable aviation through impactful industry-wide decarbonisation strategies.”

“Our well-established infrastructure and logistics capabilities allow us to supply jet fuel blended with Neste’s sustainable aviation fuel at Changi Airport. We are leveraging our resources, technology and capabilities to deliver more renewable fuels to help customers reduce their emissions,” said Geraldine Chin, Chairman and Managing Director, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd.

Thorsten Lange, Executive Vice President Renewable Aviation of Neste, said “With our Singapore refinery expansion coming on stream in early 2023, we are able to produce up to 1 million tonnes of SAF per annum to serve aviation markets in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.”