Montana Renewables celebrates first production of SAF

Montana Renewables, LLC (MRL), a subsidiary of Specialty Products Partners, L.P. located in Great Falls, Montana, U.S.A., yesterday hosted key aviation stakeholders, including Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, to celebrate the first production and initial shipments of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) under a multi-year agreement with Shell Trading (US) Company. 

Montana Renewables is permitted for 15,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) of renewable feedstocks which are converted into low-emission sustainable alternatives that directly replace fossil fuel products. 

The start of production makes Montana Renewables the largest producer of sustainable aviation fuels today in North America.

Shell and its affiliates are expanding and building supply chain capabilities to blend and distribute SAF throughout the U.S. to enable more customers with access to the fuel, helping to accelerate the pace of decarbonizing the aviation sector. 

“We’re excited to be working with Montana Renewables to bring together the right mix of technical expertise and operational capabilities to help increase access to SAF production in the U.S. for our customers, including Delta, Alaska and JetBlue, to power progress in aviation,” said Christine Bassitt, general manager of Shell Aviation Americas.

In April 2023, Delta Air Lines announced an agreement to purchase 10 million gallons of neat SAF from Shell. 

“This is a great example of the kind of action and investment needed in states across our country that we need to meet our aggressive SAF goals as an industry,” 

“There’s not enough SAF being produced today to power the world’s commercial airlines for a single day, so we’re grateful to everyone at the State of Montana, Montana Renewables and Shell for providing the incentives and taking meaningful steps toward scaling production of this largest known lever we have for decarbonizing aviation,” said Pam Fletcher, chief sustainability officer, Delta Air Lines. 

“We’re proud to collaborate with Shell to improve aviation sustainability,” said Bruce Fleming, CEO, Montana Renewables. “Strong support from the State of Montana, Cascade County, and the City of Great Falls made possible the unique speed of Montana Renewables, and Shell is the logical offtake partner for us to reach multiple airlines and airports from our geographically advantaged site. We are now producing more SAF than any other North American company on top of our renewable diesel and renewable hydrogen.”