GoodFuels and Itochu Corporation have signed a strategic partnership agreement to scale sustainable marine biofuel across the Asia-Pacific region.

The long-term partnership, which was signed on May 12, will combine GoodFuels' expertise in sustainable biofuels and client and sourcing portfolio, with Itochu's trading and supply operations and customer base.

Itochu is actively engaged in the wholesale, distribution, and bunkering of petroleum products in both Singapore and Japan, while GoodFuels specialises in the sourcing, development, production and delivery of sustainable marine biofuels, with a presence in the Netherlands and Singapore.

Under the agreement, GoodFuels will be mainly responsible for sourcing, production, technical expertise and brand marketing, whilst Itochu will handle logistics, blending and distribution. Both parties are to share responsibilities in sales and marketing and work jointly towards scaling capabilities in production and sourcing.

The initial focus of the tie-up will be on the supply of sustainable marine biofuels via all Singaporean territorial waters, waterways, and harbours, as well as prospective customers transiting the Strait of Malacca. Then, in the second phase of the partnership, the companies plan to scale up deliveries to the wider Asia-Pacific region, including Japan.

GoodFuels' sustainable marine biofuels are claimed to deliver an 80 to 90 percent well-to-exhaust reduction of CO2 emissions for ocean-going vessels. According to the supplier, their biofuel products require no technical changes to the tanks or engines and are produced from independently certified renewable feedstocks.

Commenting on the news, Dirk Kronemeijer, CEO, GoodNRG Group, said: "As GoodFuels looks to further scale up its presence in Asia-Pacific and respond to growing demand for sustainable marine biofuels in the region, we knew that we had to find partners whose competencies and values match with our own mission to bring about a better world. This new, long-term partnership agreement with Itochu will help us to fulfil our joined ambitions and enable more shipowners in Singapore and Japan to immediately accelerate their decarbonisation efforts via our advanced marine biofuels.

"Moreover, Itochu's expertise in the marine fuel market and experience with other low-carbon marine fuel solutions will be invaluable as we look to enable two of the world's most important maritime nations to deploy our advanced biofuels and reduce carbon emissions from shipping."

Ted Tanaka, Managing Director, Itochu Petroleum Singapore, the flagship energy trading arm of Itochu, added: "Partnering with GoodFuels is a significant step forward to meet our customers’ needs for low carbon fuels. We will steadily respond to the changing environment from a customer-oriented perspective by working with GoodFuels to build an integrated supply chain for sustainable marine biofuels."

Jing Xieng JX Han, General Manager, GoodFuels Asia Pacific, and manager of the partnership, noted: "This partnership will give us the distribution and sourcing power we need to service both our loyal existing and new local client base in the best possible way across Asia."