Neste’s Newly Opened Innovation Center in Singapore Strengthens Company’s Research & Innovation Expertise

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

15 February 2023

Neste has established an Innovation Center in Singapore to strengthen its innovation and R&D capabilities globally. Asia has become an important market area for Neste and the new center provides good support to the company’s growth journey in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Innovation has enabled our transformation from a regional oil refiner towards global leadership in renewable and circular solutions. We are delighted to open the APAC Innovation Center, which creates a framework for world-class raw material research also in the Asia-Pacific and supports our growth in the region, driven by our expanding renewable products refinery in Singapore, start-up of which will take place by the end of the first quarter 2023. And equally important, the Innovation Center drives collaboration with our network in the Asia-Pacific region including academia, research institutions as well as industry players,” says Lars Peter Lindfors, Executive Vice President, Innovation at Neste.

“We congratulate Neste on the opening of its APAC Innovation Center. This will drive closer collaboration with its regional partners to unlock new possibilities for renewable fuels and chemicals. The project will also contribute to Singapore’s efforts to grow as a hub for sustainable products and innovation in decarbonization technologies,” says Dr. Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board. “We are delighted to support Neste’s continued efforts in developing and delivering sustainability solutions from Singapore for the world and welcome other like-minded players to do the same.”

The Innovation Center with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and advanced analytical and raw material research capabilities focuses on research around raw materials and the pretreatment processes. The Innovation Center is located in Science Park II in the western part of Singapore and has hired more than 20 researchers and professionals, so far.

The new center is an excellent complement to Neste’s global innovation work which is about exploring new business opportunities around scalable future raw materials and related technologies. Approximately 25% of the company’s personnel work with innovative research, product development and engineering. In 2022, Neste’s R&D expenditure was EUR 85 million, of which the majority is invested in innovation, research, development and testing of future raw materials and technologies enabling their use. Over the past decade, there have been more than 2,000 renewable raw material samples examined at Neste and by 2022, the company has been granted some 2,000 patents. The Technology Center in Porvoo, Finland carries out research, development and engineering work. This Innovation powerhouse employs more than 1,000 professionals, and it continues to serve as a vital cornerstone for Neste, focusing on the whole value chain from raw materials to end products.

Neste in brief

Neste creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. We refine waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials. We are the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. We aim at helping customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions with our renewable and circular solutions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030. Our ambition is to make the Porvoo oil refinery in Finland the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. We are introducing renewable and recycled raw materials such as liquefied waste plastic as refinery raw materials. We have committed to reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035, and we will reduce the carbon emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040. We also have set high standards for biodiversity, human rights and supply chain. We have consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2022, Neste’s revenue stood at EUR 25.7 billion.