Queensland’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry is set to take flight, with two new projects to share in a $10.4 million investment from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
ARENA is providing $8 million in funding to Licella and $2.4 million to Viva Energy from its SAF Funding Initiative, enabling separate studies to develop renewable fuel alternatives for Australia’s airline industry.
ARENA CEO, Darren Miller, said the projects represent an important step towards developing a pipeline of projects that could support the reduction of aviation sector emissions.
“Aviation is a challenging industry from an emissions reduction perspective, with domestic flights currently accounting for approximately two per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions,” Mr Miller said.
“With Australians being among the most prolific flyers in the world, decarbonising this high emissions industry will be vital for us to achieve our net zero targets.”
Mr Miller said the two projects are an important step towards developing opportunities to cut emissions from Australian skies, and ARENA will be working to ensure the lessons from these projects help inform the broader development of a SAF industry in Australia.
Australian technology and project developer Licella will receive $8 million for its $26.1 million ‘Project Swift – SAF from Sugarcane Residues Feasibility Study’, to complete feasibility and front-end engineering design (FEED) studies assessing the viability of establishing a biorefinery facility in Bundaberg, Queensland, utilising Licella’s patented Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR™) hydrothermal liquefaction technology to convert sugar mill residues to renewable fuels.
The proposed facility would be capable of producing approximately 60ML per annum of low carbon liquid fuels (LCLFs), of which around 40ML per annum will be SAF.
Viva Energy will receive $2.4 million for the $4.9 million ‘SAF infrastructure Solutions for the Future’ project to recondition an existing tank at its Pinkenba Terminal to enable blended SAF supply into Brisbane Airport for commercial use.
Viva will also work with industry partners to develop a book and claim system so that customers can recognise the carbon reduction benefits of the SAF supplied.
The project will conclude with Viva Energy supplying SAF into the Brisbane Joint User Hydrant Installation and demonstrate the storage and use of SAF within the existing airport. Following the project, the system will be able to supply volumes of SAF to meet customer demand.
Viva Energy Chief Strategy Officer, Lachlan Pfeiffer, said the funding from ARENA is a crucial milestone in the company’s journey to supply sustainable fuel to Australia’s aviation industry.
“By enhancing our SAF infrastructure, we are not only supporting the aviation industry’s transition to lower carbon emissions but also positioning Viva Energy as a leader in renewable energy solutions,” he said.
“Viva Energy is well placed to import and supply SAF. Viva Energy is a trusted partner to many aviation customers and our strength lies in deep relationships and a nationwide supply chain backed by the international capability of Vitol.”
Licella CEO, Alan Nicholl, said that ARENA’s funding will support the roll out in Australia of its commercial-ready Cat-HTR™ platform through the development of a SAF-focused biorefinery targeting agricultural residues in regional Queensland.
“We are delighted to receive ARENA’s support as we move forward with the feasibility studies for our Queensland project”, Mr Nicholl said.
Licella Executive Chairman, Len Humphreys, highlighted the opportunity to scale this new SAF pathway.
“Through our global partnership with Shell, we are advancing an integrated biomass-to-advanced biofuels commercial solution, one of which is targeting high volumes of low-cost, low-carbon SAF.”
ARENA has announced total funding of $33.5 million across five projects under the SAF Funding Initiative. Launched in 2023, it aims to support the development of domestic SAF production and support aviation decarbonisation, with more investments to be announced beyond the previously allocated $30 million.
The SAF Funding Initiative builds on the findings of ARENA’s 2021 Bioenergy Roadmap, which identified SAF produced from biomass as one of the few opportunities to reduce emissions in the aviation sector in the short to medium term.
The CSIRO SAF Roadmap identified that Australia has sufficient biomass feedstocks to supply more than half of domestic jet fuel demand, demonstrating the potential impact of supporting these early projects investigating domestic SAF production capability.
Low Carbon Liquid Fuels has been identified as a priority sector as part of the Federal Government’s Future Made in Australia Plan and ARENA has been nominated as the delivery agency for the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund.
Federal Minister for Energy, Chris Bowen, said, “This ARENA funding is another demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment for a Future Made in Australia – using our natural resources to build industry, cut emissions from planes, and create real jobs right now.
“By making more fuel on Australian shores, from Australian renewable energy and feedstock, we can make our fuel supply stronger, cleaner and more secure.”
