The proposed facility will have a planned production capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes of the fuel a year
[SINGAPORE] Keppel , through its infrastructure division, has entered into an agreement with refining and chemicals player Aster to assess the development of a sustainable aviation fuel plant on Jurong Island.
The proposed plant will convert low-carbon ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel, to support Singapore’s national target for the green fuel and the “growing needs” of regional airlines, said Keppel and Aster in a joint statement on Wednesday (Jan 28).
This comes as demand is “growing rapidly” among airlines and passengers, noted Cindy Lim, chief executive officer of Keppel’s infrastructure division.
“Sustainable aviation fuel is one of the most practical and impactful levers available today to decarbonise air travel,” she said.
With a planned production capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes of the fuel per year, the plant will support efforts to decarbonise Singapore’s aviation ecosystem, said Keppel and Aster.
The companies noted that the use of ethanol-to-jet fuel will enable the plant to draw on a range of bioethanol feedstocks, while retaining flexibility to adapt as regional bioethanol markets evolve.
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With the plant set to be one of Asia’s first commercial-scale, ethanol-to-jet sustainable aviation fuel facilities, it is also aligned with the Republic’s goal of becoming a sustainable aviation fuel hub in the region, Keppel and Aster said.
Lim noted that the project will combine Aster’s refining and chemical expertise with Keppel’s capabilities in developing, integrating and operating complex energy and environmental assets to deliver a “bankable, scalable end-to-end solution” that produces sustainable aviation fuel “close to where airlines need it”.
Keppel and Aster said the plant’s location on Jurong Island will enable it to leverage existing industrial infrastructure and logistics, and create new opportunities for sustainable fuels in the region.
News of the proposed Jurong Island plant follows Aster’s move to develop another sustainable aviation fuel plant at a Pulau Bukom refining hub formerly owned by Shell.
In the last year or so, Aster – a joint venture between Indonesia’s Chandra Asri and commodities trader Glencore – has been scooping up energy-related assets of oil majors.
In 2025, the company bought Shell’s Singapore refining and refinery assets on Pulau Bukom and Jurong Island, and reportedly paid US$1 billion for ExxonMobil’s Esso-branded chain of petrol kiosks.
With US$2 billion earmarked for Singapore investments, Aster is eyeing further deals and has several more in the pipeline, The Business Times reported previously.
Keppel and Aster will conduct front-end engineering design studies to assess the technical configuration, capital expenditure, as well as potential financing and offtake structures required by the project before reaching a final investment decision.
The companies noted that a separate feasibility study was completed earlier to validate the technical and commercial viability of the plant’s sustainable aviation fuel production.
The developments are not expected to have a material impact on Keppel’s net tangible assets per share or earnings per share in the current financial year.
Keppel shares closed 0.3 per cent or S$0.03 higher at S$11.05 on Wednesday, after the news.
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