Germany Commits €350 Million to eSAF Project

Germany has made the largest public funding award in Europe to date, awarding €350 million (more than $412 million) for a synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) project using the power-to-liquid production (PtL) pathway. The German federal government and the state of Brandenburg have committed this funding toward the more than €500 million Brandenburg eSAF project slated for development at the PCK Refinery in Schwedt.

To be built by Enertrag and Zaffra (a joint venture between Danish clean energy technology firm Topsoe and South Africa’s fuel conglomerate Sasol), the project is scheduled for completion in 2030, by which point it will represent one of the most advanced PtL facilities in Europe, and one capable of producing 30,000 tonnes of eSAF a year, approximately 25% of the country’s eSAF blending obligation under the EU’s ReFuelEU Aviation regulation.

The grant award was presented by Katherina Reiche, Germany’s federal minister for economic affairs and energy, and Brandenburg minister-president Dietmar Woidke.

“What matters now is to permanently stabilize the energy supply at PCK and in the region, to strengthen growth potential in a targeted way, and to stimulate new investment,” Reiche said. “The Brandenburg eSAF project we are funding is a central pillar of this effort: it combines industrial strength with innovation, opens up new value chains, and creates long-term prospects for employment, prosperity, and energy security.”