Neste, the Finnish fuel producer, has announced it will supply its renewable diesel to power the Tara Polar Station, the drifting laboratory operated by the Tara Ocean Foundation, as the vessel embarks on its first 18-month expedition to the Central Arctic Ocean.

The Tara Polar Station departed its home port of Lorient, France, on 19 July and stopped in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, on 23 July to take on nearly 90,000 litres of Neste MY Renewable Diesel at a marine bunker fuel station operated by OK (Catom), one of Neste’s renewable diesel distributors in the Netherlands. The vessel is continuing its journey to Norway before heading into the Arctic to begin the Tara Polaris 1 expedition in mid-August.

According to Neste, around 90% of the renewable diesel supplied will be used to power generators and for heating aboard the polar station — which will be locked in sea ice approximately 90% of the time — with the remainder used for propulsion. The station will also draw on wind and solar energy.

The expedition, which is set to run through 2026–2027, marks the beginning of what the Tara Ocean Foundation describes as a 20-year monitoring programme, conducted in partnership with 30 research institutes.

The Tara Polar Station is equipped with six laboratories and a full range of scientific equipment aimed at assessing the state of the Central Arctic Ocean and its biodiversity. It will document changes in the Arctic Ocean across seasons and from year to year, generating scientific evidence on the effects of climate change. According to WWF Arctic, the Arctic Ocean is warming three to four times faster than the rest of the planet.

Given that the vessel will have no possibility to refuel for the duration of the expedition and will be operating in extreme cold, fuel reliability was a key consideration in the choice of product. Neste claims that its renewable diesel performs at temperatures down to -32°C and, owing to its similar chemical composition to fossil diesel, can be used as a direct replacement in existing diesel engines and fuelling infrastructure.

Neste MY Renewable Diesel sold in the EU is an HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) fuel verified against the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) sustainability criteria, which include a requirement to deliver a minimum 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over its life cycle compared with fossil diesel.

Romain Troublé, Managing Director of the Tara Ocean Foundation, commented: “We have designed the vessel energy systems to operate on renewable diesel since the very beginning for both its efficient combustion and its low carbon footprint. Neste is one of the leading producers of renewable diesel and I am very glad that they decided to become a partner of this fantastic and important scientific endeavour to the Arctic Ocean.”

Carl Nyberg, Senior Vice President Commercial, Renewable Products business at Neste, remarked: “Neste has a long history of helping organisations which wish to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and related greenhouse gas emissions with renewable fuels, but this is the first time our fuel is contributing to a scientific expedition to the Arctic Ocean. We are proud to collaborate with the Tara Ocean Foundation and to support its important scientific work by supplying our renewable diesel, which delivers reliable performance even in the harshest conditions in the Arctic.”

Neste, listed on Nasdaq Helsinki, says it expects its renewable production capacity to reach 6.8 million tonnes annually in 2027. The company reported revenue of €19.0 billion in 2025.