Johnson Matthey and bp Technology Chosen for the World’s Largest Fischer Tropsch SAF Production Plant
--Johnson Matthey press release--
- DG Fuels has chosen Johnson Matthey and bp’s co-developed Fischer Tropsch
(FT) CANS™ technology for its first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.
- Located in Louisiana, USA, it would be the largest announced FT SAF production
facility in the world, with a planned capacity of 13,000 barrels per day – capable,
after blending to 50%, of producing enough SAF for more than 30,000 transatlantic
flights annually.
- DG Fuels has already secured offtake agreements with Delta Air Lines and Air
France-KLM, and has a strategic partnership with Airbus to scale up the use of SAF
globally.
- Signed at the end of March, this is the tenth sustainable technologies project win
in Catalyst Technologies since April 2022, delivering on our strategic milestone for
large scale project wins.
Johnson Matthey (JM), a global leader in sustainable technologies, today announced that
DG Fuels has selected its award-winning Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS™ technology – codeveloped
with bp – for DG Fuels’ first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in St. James
Parish, Louisiana. The plant would be the largest deployment of FT CANS to date, seven
times larger than any previously announced project using this technology.
DG Fuels is an emerging leader in renewable hydrogen and biogenic based, synthetic SAF
and diesel fuel. The proposed $4 billion DG Fuels plant is planned to produce 600,000
metric tons (MT) of SAF per year when fully operational and would be the largest
announced SAF production plant using a non-HEFA1route. DG Fuels is planning 10 more
SAF production plants across the United States. These would be modelled on the Louisiana
plant with JM and bp as the partners of choice for these facilities.
The fuel at the Louisiana plant is expected to be produced from waste biomass. DG Fuels
is projected to purchase around $120 million of sugar cane waste annually, a third of which
is planned to be purchased from St. James Parish farmers. JM and bp’s FT CANS
technology converts the synthesis gas derived from this biomass to synthetic crude, which
is then further processed to produce the synthetic kerosene that is then blended with
conventional jet fuel to produce SAF.
Current international certification for this SAF requires a blend of up to 50% with fossil
kerosene to create “drop-in SAF”. Based on a typical widebody aircraft fuel consumption
rate travelling the distance from London to New York, the plant's planned SAF production
capacity, after blending, is equivalent to the fuel required for over 30,000 transatlantic
flights annually, equivalent to more than 3% of annual traffic flying on that route currently.
The plant is expected to start production by 2028. DG Fuels has already secured offtake
agreements with major airlines, including multi-year deals with both Air France-KLM and
Delta Air Lines. DG Fuels also has a strategic partnership with Airbus to help make SAF
available at scale around the world.
Maurits van Tol, Chief Executive for Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey,
said: “The size of this project is truly exciting and would help take the industry closer to
wide-scale use of SAF. DG Fuels has ambitious plans and the fact it has secured
agreements with major airlines demonstrates there is appetite in the market. Our FT CANS
technology enables cost-effective deployment across a wide range of project sizes. We
look forward to working with DG Fuels as a long-term partner for SAF production.”
Noemie Turner, VP Technology Development & Commercialisation at bp, said:
“The aviation industry is looking to greatly increase its use of SAF, and we’re proud that
DG Fuels has selected our technology to be at the heart of their ambitious plans for large
scale SAF production. Our FT CANS technology solution brings together decades of
science and engineering expertise from bp and JM, and this project shows its
competitiveness across the range of production scales and feedstock sources the industry
needs. We’re excited to see the relationship with DG Fuels grow, and we look forward to
seeing this project come to fruition.”
Christopher J. Chaput, President of DG Fuels, said: “We are extremely excited to be
moving forward with Johnson Matthey to execute our unique strategy of high carbon
conversion. With this technology, we will create a product that is responsibly made and
can be immediately substituted for conventional aviation fuel with no engine adaptations.
This partnership is a significant boost to help the aviation industry reach its climate goals.”
Michael Darcy, CEO of DG Fuels, said: “Using Johnson Matthey and bp’s co-developed
Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS™ technology allows DG Fuels to scale SAF at high volume
production and competitive prices for the first time ever. This innovation will take DG Fuels'
SAF from the sugar cane fields of Louisiana to cleaner skies all across the world.”
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