bp joins Prime Infrastructure in waste–to–fuel firm

MANILA, Philippines — Energy giant bp, through corporate venture capital arm bp ventures, is investing $10 million in a sustainable fuels company in which Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon is a shareholder.

Prime Infra welcomed the significant investment of bp in WasteFuel Global, a company which the Razon Group has been part of since 2021.

WasteFuel is planning to develop plants around the world that will convert municipal and agricultural waste into biomethanol.

“We are proud to be part of WasteFuel Global and to collaborate with industry leaders that tackle waste challenges and drive the decarbonization of the transport sector,” Prime Infra president and CEO Guillaume Lucci said.

“bp’s investment in alternative fuel technology is a significant step in decarbonizing the shipping industry and in shaping the future of a more sustainable maritime transportation,” he said.

Gareth Burns, vice president of bp ventures, said the company is looking forward to working together on WasteFuel’s next stage of growth and market development.

“WasteFuel projects will look to help with the growing volumes of global waste, while advancing the development of lower carbon solutions for hard-to-abate sectors. Achieving decarbonization in shipping will require a step-change, and biofuels have a key role to play in helping the industry to decarbonize,” Burns said.

Aside from being a shareholder of WasteFuel Global, Prime Infra earlier formed a 60-40 partnership with the company to establish a subsidiary, WasteFuel Philippines.

WasteFuel Philippines intends to develop biorefinery facilities in the country.

The company is eyeing its first operational sustainable fuels project by 2025.

Lucci said Prime Infra’s current waste management business is focused on resource recovery, with plans to convert waste to fuel products through WasteFuel Philippines.

“These form part of Prime Infra’s decarbonization goals and strategy to deploy innovative technologies to address the Philippines’ waste problem,” Lucci said.

“The objective remains to maximize resource recovery and minimize the amount of waste to be disposed onsite,” he said.

Prime Infra serves as Razon’s infrastructure arm that focuses on building assets that support the most urgent sustainability priorities such as energy, access to clean water, and waste management.