By
38 min ago 2 min read
Essar Energy Transition (EET), the UK subsidiary of Essar Group, has completed early-stage engineering for its proposed methanol-to-jet (MtJ) sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility at the Stanlow refinery in northwest England.
Once operational, the facility is expected to produce more than 200,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of SAF from around 550,000 tpa of renewable green methanol feedstock.
The project will use both e-methanol, produced from hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide, and biomethanol derived from biogenic sources.
Feedstock is expected from domestic and international suppliers, including Essar Future Energies’ planned e-methanol project in Gujarat, India.
With pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) complete, EET will advance to FEED later this year and is targeting a final investment decision (FID) by early 2028.
This represents a delay from earlier guidance, when FEED was targeted for Q2 2026 and FID for end-2027.
The project is designed to integrate MtJ technology within the Stanlow refinery, supporting on‑site blending of SAF and access to the Manchester Jet, Midlands, and UKOP pipeline systems in addition to existing road and marine supply routes.
Ruth Herbert, Managing Director and Chief Business Development Officer at EET, said the integration of SAF production within the existing refinery system both derisks and reduces the cost of project development.
EET will also participate in the UK’s SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism (RCM), which is designed to support early-stage projects and accelerate decarbonisation of the aviation sector.
The requires supplied to the aviation market to be sustainable by 2030.
In July 2025, EET received a £2.5m grant ($3.4m) from the UK government’s . The AFF has provided funding totalling £198m ($265m).
