Singapore's Apeiron signs loan deal to buy UCO for SAF

Singapore biodiesel producer Apeiron Bioenergy has signed a green trade loan agreement with Taiwan-based Cathay United Bank's Singapore branch, to support the former's procurement of used cooking oil (UCO) for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.

The total value of the loan is US$15mn, according to Apeiron.

This comes on the back of Singapore announcing on 19 February through a sustainable air hub blueprint its new requirement for 1pc of SAF usage for flights departing the city-state from 2026, with an SAF levy to be imposed from that year as well.

Apeiron had raised S$50mn ($37mn) last June from a five-year green bond guaranteed by a trust fund of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), primarily used for the expansion and improvement of Apeiron's UCO collection points and pre-treatment facilities.

Apeiron also secured investments of undisclosed sums from private equity firm Proterra Investment Partners Asia and from Japanese petrochemical company Mitsui Chemicals in 2022, for the purpose of expanding its waste-based feedstock collection capacity, including UCO and palm oil mill effluent, and upgrading existing plants to produce higher-specification feedstock.

Apeiron has a footprint across 10 countries and has supplied over 600mn litres of UCO to produce biofuels since 2017. It also operates a biodiesel plant in China's Henan with around 72,000 t/yr of production capacity.

By Sarah Giam