Calumet: Montana Renewables reaches new operational milestone

Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. on April 18 announce that its Montana Renewables subsidiary has achieved design throughput capacity at its renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) biorefinery in Great Falls, Montana.

"We are excited to reach this operational milestone," said Todd Bormann, CEO of Calumet. "Montana Renewables started initial renewable fuels production in late 2022 and successfully commissioned its renewable hydrogen plant in March 2023. It's a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team to see our renewable hydrogen plant de-risked, demonstrating our unique ability to reduce the carbon intensity of our products at increased rates." 

The Montana Renewables project has been under development for several years. Calumet in February 2021 announced plans to produce renewable diesel at its petroleum refinery in Great Falls by reconfiguring its oversized hydrocracker to process up to 15,000 barrels per day of renewable feedstocks, producing renewable diesel and SAF. In November 2022, the company said it was considering plans to boost SAF production at the plant to as high as 230 MMgy.

Calumet late December 2022 reported the biorefinery had generated a full month of on-spec renewable diesel and had commenced rail shipments of the product. At that time, the facility the capacity to produce 6,000 barrels per day, with capacity scheduled to increase to 12,000 barrels per day following the commissioning of renewable hydrogen, SAF and feedstock pretreatment systems in early 2023. With those systems operational, the company has achieved design throughput capacity. According to statements made by company officials during a fourth quarter earnings call in March, current SAF capacity is in the range of 2,000 to 4,000 barrels per day. Calumet is currently considering a plan that would boost total capacity to 18,000 barrels per day, including 15,000 barrels per day of SAF.