Sweden-headed Alfa Laval AB, a global leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation, and fluid handling has announced that it has been selected by Acelen Renewables to deliver pre-treatment technology in a transformational sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project in Brazil.
Alfa Laval has been selected to deliver pre-treatment technology in a transformational Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) project, produced by hydrotreating vegetable oil (HVO) in Brazil.
The project integrates agricultural production, industrial development, and precision technology to produce advanced renewable fuels from both traditional feedstocks such as soybean oil, tallow, and used cooking oil (UCO), and macaúba, a native Brazilian oilseed crop with high potential in biofuel production.
Based in the eastern state of Bahia, the Acelen Renewables project involves cultivating 144,000 hectares of degraded land, with 20 percent allocated to partnerships with family farming and small producers, incorporating productivity gains already achieved by the project.
This model seeks to combine productive regeneration, social inclusion, and decarbonization, aligned with global best practices in sustainability and low-carbon development.
Builds on previous collaboration
Alfa Laval has been collaborating with Acelen Renewables for more than two years on concept development and has now signed a €102 million contract to supply the HVO pre-treatment section of the ground-breaking new facility.
This has been a true partnership approach which has really paid dividends and promises to help deliver a uniquely transformational project. We have built a strong relationship with Acelen Renewables, and through our role as a trusted advisor, we have worked together to understand their challenges and requirements and devised a flexible modular pre-treatment solution using our tried and tested technology, said Fabio Muniz, Region President Latin America at Alfa Laval.
The partnership with Acelen Renewables is a defining milestone for Latin America’s energy transition.
By engineering and manufacturing these modular pre-treatment solutions locally in Brazil, Alfa Laval is actively driving industrial decarbonization and energy efficiency at scale.
Alfa Laval will be supplying its industry-leading heat exchangers and separators, and engineered components, to deliver all stages of the pre-treatment operations, from the clarification section that takes solids out of UCO, to degumming and absorption units, and onwards into a wastewater treatment unit to further boost the sustainability and profitability of the process.
The technology for processing macaúba oil has been tested in Alfa Laval’s laboratories in Denmark, and the equipment will be manufactured in Brazil in preassembled modules, before being transported to the Bahia facility to be constructed on-site. The contract includes the site assembly works.
Major positive socio-economic impact
Expected to begin operations in 2029, the biorefinery will have the capacity to produce 1 billion litres per year of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel.
The project will position Brazil among the world’s leading hubs for SAF and renewable diesel, strengthening the country’s energy security and contributing to a more resilient energy matrix amid global volatility and crises.
Our biorefinery has been designed to set a new benchmark for renewable fuel production by integrating agriculture, industrial technology, and sustainability. Alfa Laval brings world-class expertise and technology to a project with global ambitions that will help position Brazil among the world’s leading producers of low-carbon fuels, said Luiz de Mendonça, CEO of Acelen Renewables.
Acelen Renewables estimates that the project as a whole will create 85,000 direct and indirect jobs, and generate €35 billion for the economy.
It will also promote social inclusion through the Valoriza Program, which is allocating 20 percent of macaúba plantation land – around 28,800 hectares – for partnerships with family farmers and small producers, stimulating local income generation and regional development.
Macaúba is seen as a more sustainable option because it can produce seven times more oil per hectare than alternatives such as soybean; it is not competing with food demand, and it can be planted on degraded ground, where it can actually improve the quality of the land by making it more humid and reducing erosion.
