North America to dominate global renewable refinery capacity additions through 2027

Globally, the consumption of renewable fuels is increasing amid growing environmental concerns about the usage of fossil fuels and government policies supporting renewable fuels. As a result, global renewable refinery capacity additions are growing rapidly, with North America set to witness the highest capacity additions among all the regions, forecasts GlobalData, the data and analytics company. 

GlobalData’s latest report, Renewable Refineries Capacity And Capital Expenditure (CapEx) Forecast By Region, Companies And Projects, 2023-2027, shows that North America is expected to witness a renewable refinery production capacity of 13,142 million gallons per year (mmgy) in 2027, followed by Europe and Asia with 3,882mmgy and 3,522mmgy, respectively.

Bhargavi Gandham, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Many countries are focusing on carbon emission reduction initiatives as part of their net-zero emission targets. Consequently, the global demand for renewable refinery fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel is on the rise. This escalating demand has prompted significant capacity expansions, particularly in regions such as North America, Asia, and Europe.”

The US is expected to witness the highest renewable refinery production capacity additions in North America as well as globally, with 8,987mmgy capacity expected to be added by 2027 from several planned and announced projects.

Panama, Canada, and the Netherlands are the other key countries where considerable renewable refinery production capacity additions are expected to take place through 2027 with 1,733mmgy, 1,347mmgy, and 872mmgy of capacity additions, respectively.

Bhargavi concludes: “Global renewable refinery capacity additions are mainly expected to occur through standalone renewable refineries (63%) during the 2023–27 outlook period. Capacity additions from refinery co-processing and refinery conversion will account for 24% and 13%, respectively during the forecast period.”