EcoCeres has announced a partnership to supply hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to AstraZeneca for use at its medicines manufacturing facility in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. The fuel, produced from used cooking oil and verified under International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), will support backup power generation at the site, replacing conventional fossil diesel in AstraZeneca's backup generator system. EcoCeres states the fuel can cut lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% compared with conventional diesel.
Why Backup Power, Specifically, at a Pharmaceutical Site
Both companies frame the collaboration around maintaining operational reliability alongside decarbonisation, rather than treating the two as a trade-off. AstraZeneca's Vice President for the Wuxi Manufacturing Site, Ewa Maqdosi, described the initiative as reducing greenhouse gas emissions "while maintaining the operational resilience that is essential to our manufacturing activities," language that reflects the specific requirement backup power serves at a pharmaceutical facility: uninterrupted supply during grid outages is a precondition for the site's core function, not a secondary concern, which is why a drop-in fuel requiring no changes to existing generator equipment is the specific feature both companies highlight.
Where This Sits Against AstraZeneca's Own Stated Target
AstraZeneca has framed this project explicitly within its "Ambition Zero Carbon" strategy, which includes a company-wide goal of reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 98% by the end of 2026, a near-term target rather than a longer-range 2030 or 2040 goal. The Wuxi site's HVO switch is one contribution toward that target rather than something AstraZeneca frames as sufficient on its own to reach it.
What EcoCeres Says This Represents
EcoCeres CEO Matti Lievonen described the partnership as demonstrating "the versatility and scalability of HVO as a drop-in renewable fuel solution," and both companies' statements describe this as the first HVO application specifically within China's pharmaceutical sector, positioning it as a template EcoCeres intends to extend to other industrial operations in China rather than a one-off arrangement limited to this single AstraZeneca site.
What Remains Undisclosed
Neither company disclosed the volume of HVO involved, pricing, contract duration, or a timeline for whether or how this arrangement might extend to other AstraZeneca facilities beyond Wuxi.
Source: EcoCeres, 24 September 2026.
