Valero accelerates start-up of renewable diesel DGD Port Arthur project

Valero Energy has moved the anticipated start-up date for its Diamond Green Diesel joint venture renewable diesel project at its Port Arthur, Texas, to Q1 2023, from its earlier timeline of the middle of 2023, the company said in a Jan. 27 statement.

This is the second time that Valero and joint-venture partner, Darling Ingredients, have moved up the timeline for completing the 470 million gallon/year renewable diesel project. Initially, the plant was expected to start-up at the end of 2023.

"While competitor projects are getting delayed, [Valero's] projects are coming ahead of schedule," Credit-Suisse analyst Manav Gupta said in a research note.

With the start up of the Port Arthur DGD plant, DGD will have the renewable diesel production capacity of 1.2 billion gal/year of renewable diesel and renewable naphtha production of about 50 million gal/year.

Diamond Green Diesel's expansion of the Geismar, Louisiana, facility was completed in Q3 2021, which increased the facility's total capacity to 690 million gal/year of renewable diesel and 30 million gal/year of renewable naphtha. The facility was also online ahead of the scheduled start-up date of Q4 2021.