Hyundai Engineering Wins Basic Design Contract for US 'UrbanX Regeneration Diesel Refinery'

Processing 5,300 Barrels of Waste Oil Daily to Produce Eco-Friendly Renewable Diesel, Naphtha, and LPG
Established U.S. Branch with Specialized Sales Team, Leading Orders through Localization Strategy
Achieving Market Leadership by Participating in Renewable Energy Business Amid Carbon Neutrality and Eco-Friendly Era

UrbanX Recycled Diesel Refinery Location Map.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Hyundai Engineering has begun a full-scale move to expand its renewable energy business by winning a FEED (Front End Engineering Design) contract for a renewable fuel production facility using waste oil in the United States.

On the 10th, Hyundai Engineering announced that it had signed the main contract for the FEED service of the ‘UrbanX Renewable Diesel Refinery’ commissioned by UrbanX, a U.S.-based eco-friendly renewable fuel startup. This FEED contract was signed in connection with the EPC construction contract, and Hyundai Engineering is expected to undertake the main construction project worth approximately 400 billion KRW to be ordered later.

This project involves constructing a refinery that produces eco-friendly renewable diesel using waste cooking oil and waste animal fats as raw materials in Bakersfield, located about 150 km north of Los Angeles, California, USA.

Hyundai Engineering will carry out this FEED service using the OBCE (Open Book Cost Estimation) method over approximately nine months. The OBCE method involves transparently sharing detailed estimates of the EPC construction costs with the client during the basic design phase, enabling stable profit securing.

The successful acquisition of the ‘UrbanX Renewable Diesel Refinery’ FEED contract was largely due to the role of Hyundai Engineering’s Houston office in the U.S., established in 2019 to diversify its global market and focus on the U.S. chemical plant market. By deploying sales personnel specialized in the U.S. region, Hyundai Engineering significantly expanded its local cooperation network and actively pursued sales activities based on proactively obtained project information, leading to the successful contract award.

In particular, the client UrbanX plans to additionally build renewable diesel and aviation fuel production facilities on the U.S. West Coast in the future, so Hyundai Engineering and UrbanX are expected to continue working together as exclusive partners on future projects.

It is also very encouraging that Hyundai Engineering has succeeded in securing a market lead by participating in renewable energy businesses in the era of carbon neutrality and eco-friendliness. The UrbanX Renewable Diesel Refinery can produce renewable diesel, gasoline, naphtha, LPG, and jet fuel by pyrolyzing 5,300 barrels per day of waste cooking oil and waste animal fats, followed by hydrogen reaction. This technology is gaining attention as an eco-friendly renewable energy technology because it produces fuel by recycling waste cooking oil. Especially, the main product, ‘Renewable Diesel,’ is a significantly advanced form of renewable fuel compared to ‘Biodiesel,’ which was previously used as a fuel additive. Renewable Diesel can be used directly as fuel without additives and emits far less carbon, making it a sustainable eco-friendly fuel.

A Hyundai Engineering official said, "The UrbanX Renewable Diesel Refinery FEED contract is a result of an aggressive new market development strategy," adding, "We will demonstrate our global top-tier design capabilities externally through high-quality design and actively participate in various renewable energy projects ordered worldwide in the future based on this foundation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.