Progress on sustainable aviation fuel production at Marsden Point

Channel Infrastructure (CHI) and Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) have announced that they will progress further investigation into the development of a green hydrogen manufacturing facility at Marsden Point in the North Island of New Zealand.

The aim is to produce synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) that could supply around 60 million litres of eSAF per year — equivalent to more than 3% of the pre-COVID annual jet fuel requirements for the aviation sector in New Zealand.

eSAF is a synthetic aviation fuel that can be produced by combining green hydrogen and carbon dioxide to produce a hydrocarbon from which sustainable aviation fuel can then be produced. It is a drop-in fuel that can be easily stored, transported and distributed using existing infrastructure. eSAF overcomes the constraint of sourcing sufficient quantities of feedstock and does not compete with food production.

The eSAF project, if feasible, would be one of the first at-scale projects in the world to produce eSAF — an alternate to biomass feedstock-based fuels. FFI will now progress its study to the pre-feasibility phase, which will include more detailed engineering and design studies and developing further detail on the economic viability of the project, following a successful scoping study that assessed the overall viability of producing eSAF for the domestic market at Marsden Point.

The pre-feasibility study will include further analysis of the project’s benefits to New Zealand, including the potential provision of large-scale demand response, enabling power to be released to the grid when most needed. This can support grid reliability and benefit consumers with lower market power prices.

FFI has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Air New Zealand to further their mutual interest in investigating eSAF production and eventual use in New Zealand, with the initial focus being on Air New Zealand becoming the foundation customer for eSAF produced through the Marsden Point project once it becomes commercially available and economically viable.

The pre-feasibility phase of the project is being supported by the government through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). Underpinning government support is the potential demand response benefits that the facility could provide to the electricity market and ultimately New Zealand businesses and households. Demand response, at this scale, could accelerate the uptake of renewable energy and will play an important role in the transition to a low-emissions economy, according to the company. EECA is also supportive of developing a greater understanding of the opportunity to domestically produce eSAF, made from renewable sources of energy, and the decarbonisation opportunity eSAF could provide to the aviation sector in NZ.

“Aviation is one of the few sectors in the world to have an industry and UN-backed goal of net-zero carbon by 2050,” said FFI CEO Mark Hutchinson. “Airlines are relying on sustainable aviation fuel as the most critical component of the industry’s roadmap. This project would position FFI as a first mover in the eSAF market, which we believe is a valuable global market for FFI. For New Zealand, domestic eSAF production would provide a greater degree of fuel security and support development of the local green hydrogen industry.”

“This is exactly the kind of world-leading innovation that could make a big difference in low-emission transport and travel,” said New Zealand Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods. “Our government is pleased to support the investigation of technologies that will help shift us away from the use of fossil fuels, and toward a highly renewable energy system.”

Confirming details of the next stage, FFI and CHI said the pre-feasibility study will investigate a 300 MW, 60 million L/year eSAF production facility at Marsden Point, with the eSAF to be distributed via the existing Marsden Point–Auckland Airport supply chain.

The proposed production facility would use electrolysers to produce 35,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen, and utilise a Fischer-Tropsch process to produce eSAF. New renewable electricity generation projects would be developed with a range of partners to provide the power required. FFI has entered into MOUs with renewable energy generators including Mercury, Manawa Energy, Top Energy and Yinson Renewables to support the provision of renewable electricity.

The eSAF would be blended onsite at Marsden Point with imported Jet-A1 for integration into the Marsden Point–Auckland Airport supply chain.

Image credit: iStock.com/Chalabala