Malaysia can roll out B15 biodiesel in 1 month, says economy minister

Akmal Nasrullah Nasir says the transition from the current B10 mandate requires no major infrastructure overhaul.

Akmal said the planned transition from the current B10 mandate to B15, starting with B12, does not require major infrastructure upgrades and is largely an operational adjustment.

“The earliest estimate is one month to one and a half months. Within that timeframe, both B10 and B15 biodiesel could already be available at the pump,” he said on Agenda Awani’s programme titled Global Energy Crisis: Accelerating the Biodiesel Transition.

He said even a small adjustment, such as moving from B10 to B12, would represent a 20% increase in palm oil usage.

As the Iran War and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to drive up crude oil prices, Malaysia has pledged to raise the biodiesel blend from 10% to 15%.

All retail diesel in Malaysia is already pre-blended upstream under the national B10 mandate for the transport sector.

Higher blends of B20 have already been implemented in Labuan, Langkawi and Sarawak, excluding Bintulu town, as well as pilot projects at KLIA and selected ports, including Northport, Johor Port, Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Kuching Port.

On supply capacity, Akmal said Malaysia produces about 18 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) annually.

“If we want to increase to B15, the requirement would be around 800,000 tonnes, meaning only about an additional 400,000 tonnes of crude palm oil is needed.”

He added that biodiesel production capacity is not a constraint, with plants capable of producing around 23 to 24 million tonnes.

“However, because Malaysia has set B10 as the standard, this capacity is currently underutilised.”

Instead, Akmal said the main bottleneck lies in blending infrastructure, which is currently only designed to handle up to B10 levels.

“This is the bottleneck. To mix biodiesel with diesel, we need blending centres, and right now they are only capable of supporting B10,” he said.