Technip Energies gets FEED contract for SAF project in UK
Technip Energies has been awarded a contract for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase of LanzaTech’s DRAGON Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Project, which is on track to be one of the first commercial SAF facilities in the UK. DRAGON stands for Decarbonizing and Reimagining Aviation for the Goal Of Netzero. Under a UK Government mandate, SAF must comprise the equivalent of at least 10% of jet fuel by 2030.
“We are delighted to be participating in this next FEED phase towards developing the Project DRAGON ATJ Unit, to service the UK aviation industry. As a sustainable chemical process, one of the four pillars of the Energy Transition framework of Technip Energies, this first commercial application of the Hummingbird® technology with LanzaTech and LanzaJet, provides a great opportunity to demonstrate the many advantages that it brings,” said Bhaskar Patel, SVP Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Circularity of Technip Energies.
LanzaTech UK’s DRAGON SAF Project has been awarded supplemental funding through the UK Department for Transport’s Advanced Fuel Fund to help decarbonise aviation fuel in the UK. The flagship facility, to be located in Port Talbot, Wales, will uniquely use feedstock (ethanol) derived from local waste sources, bringing circularity to the project’s green credentials.
The development, which is expected to produce 79,000 tonnes per annum (about 100 million litres per year) of SAF will be based on LanzaJet’s Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) technology.
T.EN’s proprietary Hummingbird® technology has been selected for the ethanol to ethylene conversion, which is the first step in the LanzaJet ATJ Process™.
Once in production, the plant will produce substantial quantities of low carbon intensity SAF to help the UK realize their net zero ambitions at an accelerated pace. The technology also will produce 10 million litres per year of low-carbon intensity, sulfur free renewable diesel, as a valuable co-product.
This project follows a similar ATJ project being constructed in the U.S. LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels ATJ unit, which is expected to come on stream at the end of 2023, will have a capacity of 10 million gallons per year or 38 million litres per year. This project also includes T.EN’s proprietary Hummingbird® technology on the front end, and will be its first commercial plant, and the world’s first ATJ unit.
In April 2022, T.EN’s UK Operating Centre successfully completed the ISBL (Inside Battery Limits) FEED assessment for the project, and has now been tasked with executing the consolidated FEED Package for the full facility. T.EN’s main aim is to develop an ‘Execution Ready’ FEED package in order to move the project forward efficiently into the next phase of development.
