ECB Group signs contract for the supply of sustainable raw material from Pongamia with Investancia for the biorefinery Omega Green

Agreement with Dutch Group includes the planting of 50 million trees in
Paraguay

• The objective is to meet the future demand of the production of renewable diesel HVO (HydrotreatedVegetableOil) and renewable aviation fuel (SyntheticParaffinicKerosene – SPK) of theOmega Green biorefinery, which is scheduled to start operations in 2024.
• The conservation and reforestation model is based on the principles of the Silvipastoral System (SSP), an intentional combination of trees, pasture and cattle in the same area, at the same time, and managed in an integrated manner.
• The trees are highly sustainable and adaptable, require no fertilizers and are very efficient in carbon removal. Each tree sequesters an average of 44 kg of CO2 per year – the highest value of any oil production crop.

February 23, 2021 – ECB Group today signed a 30-year contract to purchase 300,000 tonnes per year of ‘reforestation oil’ sourced from Pongamia trees from leading Dutch agroforestry and research Group, Investancia. The deal is valid until 2055 and represents a significant advance in the global transition to green transport.

Investancia’s seedling breeding, research and development (R&D) centre, located near Carmelo Peralta in the Paraguayan Chaco, is the largest dedicated site for the production of elite Pongamia trees in the world. Its current annual production capacity of 1 million trees will increase over the next 10 years to a total of 50 million trees, planted on 125,000 hectares.

A report by MEO CarbonSolutions (part of ISCC – InternationalSustainability Et
CarbonCertification) indicated that Pongamia oil has one of the lowest Carbon Intensity (CI) levels of all available feedstocks and is three times less carbon intensive than other feedstocks.

“We are extremely proud to partner with ECB Group’s strategic investment to establish the first major HVO/SPK refinery in the southern hemisphere.” said Marcel van Heesewijk, CEO and founder of Investancia. “Over the past year, we have been able to jointly develop plans to put South America, and more specifically Paraguay, on the map as the leading region for next generation green fuels, using feedstock generated by our certified reforestation activities in the Paraguayan Chaco. Our combined efforts have immediate and multiple impacts on climate change,” he added.

For Erasmo Carlos Battistella, CEO of ECBGroup, “with this agreement to supply Pongamia oil, we seek to diversify the portfolio of raw materials for the operation of theOmega Green biorefinery with lower Carbon Intensity solutions between vegetable oil production crops”.
According to him, “this is a concrete and innovative decision in that direction, which in the medium term may reach a third of what we will consume as raw material for the production of Omega Green. The decision also already represents a direct positive impact for Paraguay’s economy by fostering agricultural production within a reforestation system that helps carbon sequestration”.

Pongamia oil will be used by ECB Group in its new biorefineryOmega Green, located in Villeta, Paraguay, near Asuncion. The group has already signed contracts with Shell Trading (US) and bp on a multi-year contract that will supply approximately 1 billion litres of renewable diesel and renewable aviation fuel per year. The contracts are scheduled to run from 2024-2029, totalling more than 4 billion litres of the products already on the market.

Investancia began developing its feedstock from reforestation in 2014, with early genetic development support from US partner TERVIVA. Investancia’s Pongamia oil used in HVO production is low carbon, low indirect land use change (ILUC) and compliant with Europe’s Renewable Energy Directive and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards. The company’s first large-scale reforestation programmes began on 2,000 hectares of leased land.

Investancia has import and environmental permits with the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, MADES and SENAVE in Paraguay, where the trees are being planted.

The impact of the Pongamia tree goes beyond the production of vegetable oil. The trees are highly sustainable and adaptable, require no fertilizers and are highly efficient in carbon removal. Each tree sequesters an average of 44kg of CO2 per year – the highest value of any oil production crop. The Pongamia meal from the oil extraction process is also high in protein and is destined as a raw material for animal feed production.

About Investancia

Investancia was founded in 2013 and is backed by a group of European shareholders. The company has its corporate headquarters in the Netherlands, while its local forestry operations are based in Paraguay. From its tree propagation site in Upper Paraguay, Investancia produces Pongamia oil, an advanced oil and highly scalable renewable feedstock with low ILUC, making it one of the best feedstock options for HVO and sustainable aviation biofuel (SAF) production also due to its extremely low IC levels. Pongamia oil has a positive climate impact resulting from the unique agroforestry practices applied by Investancia based on the principles of Silvipastoral System reforestation (SSP – intentional combination of trees, pasture and cattle in the same area at the same time and managed in an Integrated manner).

To learn more, visit: www.investancia.com