Polish refiner Orlen has started selling pure hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO100) at two service stations in Germany.
Orlen plans to start HVO100 sales at other petrol stations in Germany and the Czech Republic. It will start selling the grade in the wholesale segment in the Czech Republic from the Paramo terminal in Pardubice in the first quarter of 2025. The Czech Republic has a lower excise duty on high-blend biofuels such as E85 and HVO30 as well as pure biofuels such as B100.
Germany allowed the sale of HVO100 at service stations from 13 April this year.
France recently approved the sale of transport fuels made from 100pc renewable raw materials such as pure hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO100, at fuel stations, according to Finnish biofuel producer Neste.
Orlen said its work on a 300,000t HVO plant in Plock, Poland is "at an advanced stage", although it previously told Argus that it was targeting start-up in late 2023 or early 2024 at the latest. The plant will be able to convert feedstocks such as rapeseed oil and used cooking oil into HVO. It may also have infrastructure to process esters and fatty acids into sustainable aviation fuel, Orlen said.
