Honeywell to equip Brazil biofuels complex for SAF and renewable diesel
Honeywell will equip Acelen's Bahia complex for 20,000 barrels per day of SAF and renewable diesel, using Ecofining and macaúba oil.
Honeywell on June 17 said it will equip Acelen Renewables' Bahia biofuels complex, a project targeting 20,000 barrels per day of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. The package includes modular Ecofining process technology, specialized pumps and compressors, and integrated control and safety systems for the greenfield site in Brazil.
Honeywell said the system was developed with Eni SpA and is designed to convert fats, oils and greases into renewable diesel and SAF. The company said SAF made with Ecofining can cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% when blended with conventional jet fuel. Honeywell first said in January 2024 that Acelen Renewables had selected Ecofining for the Bahia plant, making Acelen the 50th site to license Honeywell's renewable fuels technology. Honeywell said those licensed sites have combined peak capacity of more than 500,000 barrels per day, and that Ecofining has been used commercially to produce SAF since 2016.
The financing stack has also moved forward. The International Finance Corporation is considering a loan of up to $250 million to partially finance the 20,000 barrels-per-day greenfield biorefinery in Mataripe, São Francisco do Conde, Bahia, while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said it will lend $58 million to support the project. Acelen secured about $1.5 billion in financing in 2026 to begin construction, and several project summaries say production is expected to start in 2029. The IFC disclosure describes the facility as a HEFA plant making SAF and renewable diesel for domestic and international markets.
Acelen has positioned the plant as the center of a broader macaúba supply chain. The company has described more than $2.5 billion in total investments, including upstream agricultural development, while one Brazilian report put the macaúba-related agroindustrial plan at $3 billion over 10 years and said cultivation would cover 144,000 hectares of degraded land in Bahia. Marcelo Cordaro, Acelen's chief operating officer, said the Bahia facility will help Brazil become a leading producer of renewable fuels while supporting economic, social and environmental sustainability goals, underscoring why technology vendors are becoming central to SAF and renewable diesel buildouts.
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