South Africa’s Sasol and Denmark’s Topsoe have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) joint venture (JV) this year.

The JV will develop, build, own and operate ventures producing SAF based on Sasol’s Fischer Tropsch technology and Topsoe’s relevant SAF technologies. While the JV is still in an early stage—with exact feedstock yet to be determined—the companies will explore the use of green hydrogen, “sustainable sources of CO₂” and biomass in SAF production.

“We are fundamentally transforming our business by focusing on decarbonising our operations, while preserving and growing value. The MoU is underpinned by decades of collaboration between our companies in technology development, commercialisation and operations,” says Fleetwood Grobler, Sasol’s president and CEO, referring to the two firms’ strategic partnership, which has   than 25 years.

“We are fundamentally transforming our business by focusing on decarbonising our operations” Grobler, Sasol

Aviation represents just under 3pc of global emissions but is often cited as a hard-to-abate sector owing to the difficulty of electrifying aircraft. While hydrogen-electric planes are being tested, companies including Shell, BP and TotalEnergies are investigating SAF as a drop-in-fuel to immediately lower aircraft emissions.

Sasol has previously signed an MoU with German aircraft manufacturer Deutsche Aircraft to advance technology for green hydrogen-based SAF in aviation. The company has also joined a consortium that includes German technology firm Siemens, German energy company Uniper and aerospace company Airbus to explore the development of an integrated green hydrogen-to-SAF value chain in Germany, with an eye to producing 10,000t/yr of green kerosene from 2026.

---

Author: Polly Martin