On 23 November 2006, the Darwin Biodiesel project was officially opened by Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Clare Martin. Both Vopak and Natural Fuels Ltd contributed to this project.

Natural Fuels Ltd built the plant on Vopak’s oil terminal site, while Vopak itself constructed the dedicated biodiesel tank farm (37,000 cbm capacity), dock line and loading gantry. The plant utilises the infrastructure of the Vopak Terminal Darwin and is the largest (130,000 tons per year) and technically most sophisticated constructed in Australia to date. The biodiesel and pharmaceutical grade glycerine produced here will be supplied to local and export markets.

The Vopak biodiesel project was completed three months ahead of schedule and on budget. The first cargo of palm oil and methanol was received a month ahead of the plant start-up. The plant is already producing on specification product.

At the opening Ron Dickinson of Vopak Australia and Chris Badenhorst of Vopak Asia present Dick Selwood, CEO of Natural Fuels, a framed panoramic photo of the finished site taken from a nearby elevated structure