Firefly Green Fuels will supply Wizz Air with more than half a million tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) over a 15-year period, it was announced today.
This morning, the UK-based SAF producer, which is converting sewage sludge to sustainable aviation fuel, set out its plan to be producing SAF commercially before 2030.
The company said its new commercial-scale production facility, based in Harwich in Essex, will have capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of SAF a year.
Firefly aims to have its production plant operational by 2029 – one year ahead of the UK’s first mandate for 10 per cent of aviation fuel to be SAF by 2030.
Yvonne Moynihan, corporate and ESG officer at Wizz Air, told reporters in London today: “We’re very excited about our first jump into venture capitalism as well as [being] an airline [that is] investing in a sustainable aviation fuel start-up.
“For us, we’re hoping [the partnership] is a marriage of low costs. We have [sewage sludge], a very low-cost feedstock.
“As James [Hygate, Firefly CEO], often says, it’s the cheapest and most abundant possible, so it’s perfect to pair that with a low-cost airline which is focused on low costs and low fares.”
According Firefly, independent analysis by Cranfield University has shown its SAF offers a 92 per cent CO2e saving versus fossil jet fuel.
Firefly CEO, James Hygate, said: “The signing of these agreements marks a significant leap forward in realising our ambitions to develop a SAF industry here in the UK.
“Opening up this new sewage pathway will bring new jobs and growth to the UK, helping us to secure a greener and more prosperous future.”
The company claims that producing SAF from sewage sludge will mean a cheaper fuel in vaster quantities.
Currently, high costs and low availability are holding airlines back from investing in sustainable aviation fuel.
According to Moynihan, though, policymakers must go further to provide incentives for adopting SAF due to costs being so high.
She told ARGS today: “In the ETS [Emissions Trading Scheme], SAF has no carbon price attached to it.
“And with the EU’s ETS, 20 million tonnes of free allowances will be allocated.
“We’re not sure yet how they’re going to be allocated and whether they will be extended but the more free allowances we have, the more economically efficient that will be.
“That incentivises airlines to uptake and uplift more SAF if you’re getting the [benefits] of it. Other incentives will be book and claim flexibility as well.”
It’s “already impossible” to get a price for SAF and none of the local EU airports Wizz Air operates from offer SAF, Moynihan claimed.
The sustainability officer added that “investment follows policy”, and urged the government to introduce SAF incentives for airlines ahead of the UK’s 2030 mandate.
