Renewable Fuels producer Twelve broke ground today on the start of construction of its first sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility. Located in Moses Lake, Washington, it will be the first commercial plant to utilize an ASTM-approved power-to-liquid (e-fuel) pathway for the production of SAF. It will use CO2 and water as its feedstock, converted through the use of renewable electricity.
Scheduled to begin operations by mid-2024, the refinery—which will be built on a repurposed 14-acre site that formerly housed a sugar processing plant—will initially start off with a targeted production of 40,000 gallons of SAF a year, working up to an output of 1 million gallons of SAF annually.
This morning’s ceremony was attended by Governor Jay Inslee (D) who recently approved a tax incentive plan of up to $2 per gallon for the production of SAF in the state. He described the potential of the sustainable aviation fuel market as one of the greatest developments in aviation since the start of powered flight. “I think we are at the same level of innovation, a similar level of change in the world this can create, as the Wright brothers in Dayton, Ohio.”
Last year Alaska Airlines and Microsoft signed a joint memorandum of understanding with Twelve to further the production of e-fuels with an eye towards the first U.S. commercial demonstration power-to-liquid flight.