New Sustainable Aviation Fuel Project for Rotterdam

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Dutch companies Power2X (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Advario (Rotterdam, Netherlands) are investing 1.5 billion euro (US$1.6 billion) to build Europe's largest sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production facility in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The plant will be located on a 26-hectare waterfront industrial site at the Port of Rotterdam and will have the capacity to produce more than 250,000 tonnes per year of e-SAF, a non-fossil, synthetic fuel made from green hydrogen. The output will be capable of powering approximately 7,000 flights between Amsterdam and New York annually. It will use imported green methanol produced from green hydrogen and biogenic carbon as feedstock as well as locally produced green hydrogen. Advario will develop an advanced storage and logistics facility with a capacity of roughly 230,000 cubic meters, supported by marine and rail facilities, to ensure a stable supply chain.

The partners claimed that SAF is "critical to reducing CO2 emissions, cutting lifecycle carbon emissions by 90% compared to conventional jet fuel." Europe's ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation mandates the increased use of SAF, including e-SAF from 2030 onward. The hub will be capable of supplying 40% of the required e-SAF volume for Europe when it is commissioned toward the end of the decade. Occo Roelofsen, founder and chief executive officer of Power2X, said: "This strategically positioned site and innovative business-model aims to make competitive production of e-SAF at global scale in the heart of Europe possible."

Boudewijn Siemons, chief executive officer of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, said: "SAF production facilities in Rotterdam currently supply 24% of Europe's aviation-fuel need. According to the European Union's target, 20% of all aviation fuel is to be produced from renewable sources. The production of e-SAF in Rotterdam is therefore important to meet future SAF demand. This project by Advario and Power2X is an example of the successful conversion of land in the Port of Rotterdam from fossil fuel to green, sustainable production."

Earlier this summer, Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) announced that it was pausing construction of its major SAF project at its Pernis refinery at the Port of Rotterdam--now called Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam--in order to "assess the most commercial way forward for the project." The biofuels plant will have a capacity of 820,000 tonnes a year on completion. In related news, Uniper (Dusseldorf, Germany) and Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL) (Sandton, South Africa) canceled the 200-megawatt SkyFuelH2 green hydrogen project at Långsele, in Sollefteå, Sweden. The goal had been to start construction in 2026, to supply the aviation industry with SAF by 2029 using Sasol's Fischer-Tropsch technology and using forestry residues and green hydrogen as feedstock. In a statement, Uniper said: "Uniper has decided to discontinue the development of SkyFuelH2. The decision is based on a combination of challenging market conditions and increased costs, which means that the project is not currently considered commercially viable. The basic idea behind SkyFuelH2 is still important. The aviation industry must change, and the demand for more advanced sustainable aviation fuel will grow in the future. However, climate and business sustainability must go hand in hand, and each project must stand on its own two feet."

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