PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI), a subsidiary of State energy company PT Pertamina is ready to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for environmentally friendly aviation after securing the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification European Union (ISCC-EU) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).
Hermansyah Y. Nasroen, Secretary of KPI, cited this certification signifies that the SAF produced by KPI from used cooking oil (UCO) has met global sustainability standards and later, this product can be accepted and traded according to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) CORSIA and EU regulations.
“The TDHT (Treated Distillate Hydrotreating-ed) unit located at the Cilacap Refinery has successfully secured ISCC CORSIA and EU certification for SAF in early December 2024,” Hermansyah said on Thursday, January 9, 2025.
Since 2022, the TDHT Unit at the Cilacap Refinery in Central Java has been producing 100 percent vegetable-based diesel fuel, known as Pertamina Renewable Diesel (RD) or HVO.
This product has also been ISCC certified. Through the UCO to SAF (USAF) project, KPI innovates to produce Pertamina SAF from more diverse raw materials, including palm kernel oil (RBDPKO) and now used cooking oil.
“KPI was previously able to produce Pertamina SAF with Refined Bleached Deodorized Palm Kernel Oil (RBDPKO) or palm kernel oil as raw material, and now KPI is taking measures to produce the first ISCC-certified Pertamina SAF in Indonesia/Regional with used cooking oil (UCO) as raw material which is planned for the first quarter of 2025,” Hermansyah said.
In the future, the SAF that will be produced from used cooking oil raw materials will have the advantage of lower carbon emissions of around >90 percent compared to fossil aviation turbine fuel (ATF/Avtur) and can support community development activities in collecting used cooking oil by the community.
In order to support the production of SAF from used cooking oil, KPI will replace the catalyst at the Cilacap Refinery in January 2025. The catalyst produced at this domestic facility is the result of Pertamina’s R&D development together with KPI experts and engineers.
“The catalyst that will be used is the result of Pertamina’s Technology and Innovation (R&D) development in collaboration with experts and engineers of PT Kilang Pertamina International. This catalyst is produced in a domestic catalyst factory facility. This demonstrates the mastery of advanced technology by Indonesian engineers,” he said.
