Clean fuels company Axens is working in partnership with financial firm Green Sky Capital (GSC) to develop a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Egypt.
The 200,000 tonnes/year facility was set to become the first SAF production plant in Egypt and across Africa, Axens said on 3 June.
Developed on a fast-track basis with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2027, the project would produce SAF from lipid-based feedstocks using Axens’ Vegan hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) technology, the Paris-headquartered company said.
Axens said its Vegan process could process a wide range of feedstocks such as vegetable oils, animal fats, tall oil and used cooking oil (UCO) to produce SAF or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and could be applied in both standalone and integrated refineries.
“The joint … work under the MoU is already delivering … SAF yield improvements, enabling higher SAF production per tonne of feedstock,” said Ali Shaikh, CEO of Green Sky Capital.
The facility would support Egypt’s energy transition ambitions through local sourcing of UCO and contribute to the decarbonisation of the aviation sector while positioning Egypt as a strategic renewable fuels hub for the Mediterranean and African markets, Axens said.
In addition to providing its Vegan HEFA technology, Axens would supply integrated catalyst and adsorbent solutions, along with operational support and training services.
Alongside the project development, Axens and GSC had entered into a wider Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on further enhancement and optimisation, Axens said.
According to its website, Axens Group provides a range of solutions for the conversion of oil and biomass to cleaner fuels, the production and purification of major petrochemical intermediates, the chemical recycling of plastics, treatment and conversion options for natural gas and water treatment and carbon capture.
An IFP Group company, its range includes technologies, equipment, furnaces, modular units, catalysts, adsorbents and related services.
