Carbon Neutral Fuels (CNF) has revealed its FlexSAF plant design at Project Starling in Workington, UK, meaning both electro-sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) and bioSAF can be produced at a single facility.
CNF has combined dual feedstock pathways – biogenic CO2, water and renewable electricity for e-SAF, and biomethane for advanced bioSAF – which feed into a single Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and upgrading line, increasing output to around 42,000 tonnes per year.
Alasdair Lumsden, Co-Founder and Director of CNF, commented: “We’re so glad we can finally talk about FlexSAF! Making e-SAF and advanced bioSAF in one plant allows us to shift the balance as the market develops (within the limits of the equipment), a kind of agility which is rare in these large production facilities, and which matches our ethos of creating the right design for the location. Aviation in the UK needs every scalable route to low-carbon fuel it can get. FlexSAF gives us two, and the scaling means a lower cost for every tonne of homegrown SAF.”
Sophie Zienkiewicz, Co-Founder and Director of CNF, said: “The UK currently imports more than 70% of its aviation fuel. Deploying FlexSAF at Workington will transform an under used 40-acre brownfield site into a sovereign energy asset, creating more than 500 construction jobs and over 150 skilled operational roles while helping secure the UK’s clean fuel supply. Given West Cumbria’s rich history of energy innovation, we’re looking forward to discussing the design and answering questions from the community.”
Stephanie Ng, Project Director at CNF, concluded: “With FlexSAF, both routes feed into the same fuel-making and upgrading equipment, giving us two pathways without building two separate plants. It’s the type of project that’s really satisfying to work on as an engineer at heart, because it’s an elegant engineering solution to a market issue.”
