Alfanar’s £1.5bn green aviation fuel plan has been hit by price developments

Alfanar Group’s Lighthouse Green Fuels Project, which will be based at the former Air Products site in Port Clarence, will be the first company in the UK to produce sustainable aviation fuel from waste on a large scale.

The Saudi company received more than £11m from the government as part of the Department for Transport’s £165m Advanced Fuels Fund to advance its plan.

The Alfanar site

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But yesterday’s news that DfT plans to support the industry may not be implemented until 2025 was met with dismay by alfanar.

Noaman Aladhami, alfanar’s UK country head, said: “The announcement is a step in the right direction, but investors like Alfanar need more certainty about price stability now, not two years from now.”

“We are committed to building a £1.5 billion sustainable aviation fuel facility in Teesside, which will create more than 1,100 jobs in the region while making a major contribution to the decarbonisation of UK aviation.

“Alfanar can help create much-needed jobs and growth in the North East, but we cannot do it if there is no price stability mechanism alongside the SAF mandate.”

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “Teesside has the expertise, the people, the airport and now investors are lining up there ready to help create jobs and decarbonise air travel – and we must support them. “

“SAF is a fantastic project that we must support and implement as quickly as possible to secure the future of our airport, tomorrow’s jobs and millions of pounds of investment.”

In May, alfanar and N+P Group announced that they would work together to source and process up to one million tons of non-recyclable waste per year to produce raw material pellets that can then be used to produce SAF.

At the time, Mr Al Adhami said: “Lighthouse Green Fuels will not only be the largest SAF production facility in the UK when operational, but also the first negative emissions SAF project in the UK and therefore a vital contribution to the SAF -The UK Government’s 2030 targets.”

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The DfT had announced it would launch a consultation on a program to support the development of SAF and drive further investment. It said the “revenue assurance system” will provide the aviation sector with the starting point for confident investment in SAF.

A statement said: “This program, together with the introduction of a SAF mandate in 2025, will ensure fuel security, boost the economy and help create over 10,000 jobs by 2030, rising to 60,000 by 2050.”

Chairman of the Jet Zero Council’s SAF Delivery Group, Jonathon Counsell, said: “We will work with the government to implement measures at the earliest opportunity so that we can reach the target of five UK SAF facilities under construction by 2025.”