Velocys plcm, the renewable fuels company, has announced £4.9m of funding has been secured to deliver the next development phase of the waste-to-sustainable jet fuel project that the company is developing in the UK.
As part of the funding package, a grant of £434,000 has been secured from the Department for Transport (DfT) under the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition (F4C).
The award of this grant, together with ongoing policy support provided by the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, will help this waste-to-fuels project bring jobs and clean growth to the UK, it says.
The project is being developed with the financial and technical support of Shell and British Airways.
Project highlights:
- Initial feasibility stage of project development successfully completed.
- Project awarded £434,000 under the F4C.
- Next stage to include detailed pre-FEED (Front End Engineering and Design) engineering study and site permitting activities, fully funded by a combination of the F4C grant and £4.5m committed by the industry partners including Velocys.
- Velocys will continue to lead the project and has committed £1.5m to this next development phase, a significant proportion of which is in the form of an in-kind contribution.
- The next stage of the project will be developed by Velocys, Shell and British Airways.
UK’s First Plant
The team is developing the engineering and business case for the construction of a first plant in the UK. Subject to a final investment decision, this plant will take hundreds of thousands of tonnes per year of post-recycled waste, destined for landfill or incineration, and convert it into “clean-burning, sustainable fuels”.
The jet fuel produced, to be used by British Airways, is expected to deliver over 70% greenhouse gas reduction and 90% reduction in particulate matter emissions compared with conventional jet fuel. This would contribute to both carbon emissions reductions and local air quality improvements around major airports. The project partners expect to reach a final investment decision in the first half of 2020.
Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport, said: “The waste-to-jet fuel project has the potential to help transform the aviation industry by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the air quality around our country’s airports.
Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport – “Supporting important developments like this is just part of our work to help ensure our aviation sector is greener than ever, and we will explore further measures as part of our Aviation Strategy.”
“That is why we are providing support to this important technology as part of our £22m of funding for alternative fuels, which will pave the way for clean growth in the UK.
“Supporting important developments like this is just part of our work to help ensure our aviation sector is greener than ever, and we will explore further measures as part of our Aviation Strategy.”
David Pummell, CEO of Velocys, said: “Today the UK has taken another step forward towards becoming a world leader in low carbon aviation. Government funding, recent policy changes and successful completion of the feasibility study have enabled Velocys and its partners to move forward to the next phase in developing the UK’s first waste-to-renewable jet fuel plant. With Shell and British Airways we have a terrific set of partners to complete the project.”
Alex Cruz, CEO of British Airways, said: “We are very pleased that the Government has recognised the importance of alternative fuels for aviation and has supported our joint project with Velocys which will help to reduce carbon emissions and create UK jobs and growth.”
