LG Chem and Enilive, a subsidiary of Italian energy firm Eni, have held a groundbreaking ceremony for South Korea‘s first hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and SAF plant at the Daesan Chemical Complex in Seosan, about 80 km southwest of Seoul.

The facility will be built and operated by LG-Eni BioRefining, a joint venture between the two firms, and is scheduled for completion in 2027, Eni said in a statement on its website on Monday.

Once operational, it will process approximately 400,000 mt/year of renewable bio-feedstocks annually, including used cooking oil and other waste residues.

It remains unclear whether the HVO produced could be supplied for marine fuels. HVO-based bunker blends tend to be more expensive than UCOME and are more commonly seen in Scandinavian markets. In Asia, UCOME continues to dominate, with limited supply and uptake of HVO-blended marine fuels so far.

“By advancing innovation in renewable fuels and bio-based feedstocks like HVO, we aim to strengthen our global competitiveness and meet our customers’ evolving needs efficiently,” Shin Hak-cheol, CEO of LG Chem, said.