©Shutterstock / Port of Liepaja in Latvia
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) firm NorSAF has licensed technology from engineering firm KBR for a planned 100,000-tonne-per-year project in Latvia, which could be online by 2031.
NorSAF secured exclusivity to use KBR’s PureSAF technology, which is slated as a way to produce “100% drop-in” SAFs, including green hydrogen-based fuels.
The company intends to initially deploy the technology, originally developed by Swedish Biofuels, at the Port of Liepaja in Latvia.
Planned to produce up to 100,000 tonnes of fuel annually, the facility will generate both SAF from advanced bioethanol and e-SAF, from green hydrogen and biogenic carbon dioxide. Volumes from each pathway remain undisclosed.
While finalising development plans and beginning construction remain “subject to securing necessary support and commitments from strategic partners,” NorSAF said it “welcomes interest” from additional equity investors.
The firm is yet to confirm feedstock sources for the project, but said it intends to use European supplies to support “energy independence and industrial resilience.”
By using the PureSAF technology, NorSAF said fuels produced by the plant could already be used in 50/50 blends with fossil kerosene while it awaits regulatory approval for “full drop-in capacity.”
It comes as EU SAF mandates take effect across the bloc, which will eventually require the clean fuels to account for 70% of fuels supplied at EU airports by 2050.
