Brazilian company ECB Group, owned by businessman Erasmo Carlos Battistella, signed a contract with Shell to supply "green" diesel and kerosene. The agreement provides for the supply of more than 500 million liters per year from 2024, the year in which the plant responsible for production - Omega Green, in Paraguay - Omega Green should start operating.

This is the second agreement that ECB closed this year for the sale of renewable fuels, and already represents the largest supply agreement signed by the company. The first, with British oil company BP, involved the negotiation of 1 billion liters for five years.

The plant that will supply renewable diesel (HVO) and renewable aviation kerosene (SPK) from soybean processing will have the capacity to produce 20,000 barrels per day. The unit will also produce aviation biofuel SAF and green naphtha.

"We are delighted to have Shell as our largest individual offtaker," said Battistella, founder and CEO of ECB Group, in a note. According to the businessman, the agreement "positions the state-of-the-art Omega Green biorefinery as a major producer to meet a growing demand for low-carbon fuels".

Also in a note, executive Odeh Khoury, Shell's vice president for Product Trade and Supply in the Americas, said that "by combining ECB's production capabilities and regional presence with Shell's global biofuels trading experience, we are able to bring a significant volume of renewable fuels to the global market ".

The ECB Group's expectation is that the signing of HVO and SPK supply commitments will not only make the investment financially viable, but will also attract partners to the venture, a pioneer in the Southern Hemisphere.

According to the group, for the Omega Green biorefinery project, the company Honeywell UOP, owner of a renewable fuel refining technology, was contracted; the American Crown Iron Works, which provides raw material processing and pre-treatment systems and technologies; and the Acciona group, engineering and construction.