20 August 2020: In a massive step towards sustainable aviation in future, Neste and Air bp have signed an agreement to offer five times increased volume of sustainable aviation fuel to airport customers in Europe over the next two years. Some airports like Stockholm (ARN) and Oslo (OSL) are expected to receive the SAF as early as this week. In 2018, Air bp and Neste had made an announcement to explore and develop supply chain solutions for delivering SAF to airports and airlines. Then in 2019, they jointly developed a viable supply chain solution for sustainable aviation fuel to the Swedish market.
The main demand for SAF is from Norway as there is a mandate requiring 0.5 per cent of all jet fuel sold to be SAF. Neste’s SAF is produced from 100 per cent renewable waste and residue raw materials. In its neat form and over the lifecycle, it can reduce up to 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional jet fuel. SAF undergoes the same quality tests as regular fossil jet fuel and can be blended at up to 50 per cent to fuel aircraft. Currently, SAF offers the only viable drop-in alternative to fossil liquid fuels for powering commercial aircraft.
“Air bp’s ambition is to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner and to help the world get to net zero. Air bp aims to support our customers and the wider aviation industry on their path to meet their low carbon goals. We believe sustainable aviation fuel will play an important role as the industry recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through our successful on-going collaboration with Neste, we are pleased to be able to offer our customers a substantially increased volume of SAF as they work towards reducing their emissions”, said Martin Thomsen, Air bp’s chief executive officer.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and its economic implications have not changed our ambition. We remain fully committed to combating climate change by providing tangible, immediately available solutions for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of flying in cooperation with our partners. The use of sustainable aviation fuel will play a significant role in the industry’s ongoing efforts in making air transportation fit for the climate and environmental challenges it is facing. We are looking forward to continuing our close collaboration with Air bp and jointly contributing to a more sustainable aviation”, said Thorsten Lange, Executive Vice President, Renewable Aviation at Neste.
Neste’s sustainable aviation fuel annual capacity is currently 100,000 tons. With Neste’s Singapore refinery expansion on the way, and with possible additional investment into the Rotterdam refinery, Neste will have the capacity to produce some 1.5 million tons of SAF annually by 2023.
Air bp has supplied SAF since 2010 and, to date, has supplied more than 20 customers and 16 airports globally, including Norway’s Oslo Airport where it was the first to supply SAF produced by Neste through the existing airport fueling infrastructure, in collaboration with other industry stakeholders.
This latest step in their cooperation will help to increase the availability of SAF at various airports through making best use of Air bp’s and Neste’s expertise in the fields of production, blending, supply and safe operations.
