Jet Zero Australia has achieved key mile stones for Project Ulysses, its proposed commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel refinery in Townsville.
It has completed an AUD30m funding round, backed by Qantas and Airbus, got South Korea’s Posco International on board as a strategic investor, and state government approval for its refinery site.
QF aims to have 10% of its fuel from SAF by 2030 and 60% by 2050.
The proceeds of the funding round will go towards design and continued progress towards final investment decisions and construction. The project is expected to create about 1000 jobs during construction and 100 permanent operational roles, while helping establish a broader Australian biofuels industry capable of supporting more than 18,000 jobs by the year 2040.
It aims to produce 113 million litres a year of biofuel using an alcohol to jet fuel technology. SAF is currently two-to five-times the price of traditional jet fuel and has followed that price track up this year.
. . . Local Progress
In New Zealand, a consortium that includes QF, Air New Zealand and the ANZ bank is working on a proposal for a NZD1billion biorefinery at the Marsden Point site owned by Channel Infrastructure.
In an update last month, Channel says the consortium’s funding round is ‘taking a bit longer than originally anticipated’.
Chief executive Rob Buchanan says the final investment decision is likely next year.
The project would be capable of producing 400 million litres of biofuel a year.
