Ampol to coprocess renewable diesel with AUD$25 million from Queensland government

The government of Queensland in Australia announced April 22 that it is strengthening fuel security with an AUD $25 million (USD$17.8 million) investment and streamlined approvals to develop renewable diesel at Ampol’s Lytton refinery.

The funding partnership will support the modification of Ampol’s existing diesel hydrotreater to coprocess conventional diesel with biogenic feedstocks such as waste and plant oils and animal fats, to produce renewable fuel that can be used in any existing diesel engine.

Once complete, the government said the project will enable the first sustainable domestic production of second-generation low-carbon liquid fuels in Australia.

The investment is one of the ways the state government is restoring Queensland’s ability to drill, refine and store fuel locally.

Together with progressing oil production from the Taroom Trough, unlocking more refinery capability and boosting fuel storage, the state government said it is delivering short-, medium- and long-term measures to lock in fuel security for Queensland.

The project will initially be capable of producing up to 20 million liters (5.28 million gallons) of renewable diesel a year from 2028, processing 15,000 tons to 20,000 tons of feedstock annually.

This investment presents a pathway to unlock future project stages that could produce up to 750 million liters (198 million gallons) of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel by the early 2030s.

The project also includes construction of a truck-handling gantry, heated and insulated storage tanks with mixing/blending capability, a secondary tank-containment system and system upgrades to process the feedstock.

The deputy premier has declared the initiative a “prescribed project,” which allows the coordinator-general to streamline approvals.

Construction is expected to begin by mid-2027 and will create 46 new jobs, including 40 construction and six operational.

The project is the first to be funded under the state government’s flagship $180.6 million Sovereign Industry Development Fund.

Premier David Crisafulli said the investment formed part of the government’s fuel-security plan.

“Fuel security means restoring Queensland’s ability to drill, refine and store—and this projects means more fuel produced locally for Queenslanders,” Crisafulli said. “These projects are important to ensure we are never again left at the mercy of foreign nations, at the end of a global supply chain. Across the short-, medium- and long-term, we’re getting projects moving to produce oil, refine it and store fuel locally.”

Jarrod Bleijie, Queensland’s deputy premier and minister for state development, said the Sovereign Industry Development Fund was attracting investment and securing long-term jobs and economic growth, with biofuels, biomedical and defense as priority sectors.

“Long before this national fuel crisis, the Crisafulli government had already identified the biofuels sector as a credible, viable and important industry to invest in and secure our fuel future,” Bleijie said. “Within a few short years, Queensland will be producing hundreds of millions of liters of liquid gold because the right investments were made, and the right partnerships were forged. Unlike Labor’s inaction on fuel security and scattergun approach to industry development, we are driving investment, jobs and building the state’s sovereign capability by taking a disciplined, evidence-based approach to open Queensland back up for business.”