New sustainable fuels projects

Published:  27 March, 2024

Simply Blue Group, a leading global offshore wind project developer, has announced it is developing onshore renewable energy parks to power facilities capable of producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The projects, in Canada, Ireland and Australia will process more than 1.5 million tonnes of sustainable biomass annually to produce over 300,000 tonnes of SAF each year.

The company currently has a pipeline of fixed bottom (c. 4GW) and floating wind projects (c. 10GW) globally and says it has been recognised as a pioneer of floating offshore wind.

Simply Blue Group’s sustainable fuels will be produced in onshore Renewable Energy Parks (REPs) focusing on renewable liquid fuels for aviation, marine vessels and chemical feedstocks. These REPs will be able to produce a range of sustainable fuels but will focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and methanol, with future phases expected to include green ammonia.

Simply Blue Group is also developing 500 MW of solar PV and over 2 GW of onshore wind farms that will generate renewable electricity to power the renewable energy parks, while sustainable biomass feedstocks and water will be sourced locally.

The three sustainable fuels projects are currently in engineering design phase, with the Canadian project expected to be in construction in 2026. Simply Blue Group believes there is a significant opportunity to produce SAF for the aviation market, with most forecasts suggesting a significant global SAF supply deficit. Simply Blue Group’s projects are perfectly placed to supply this market, using competitive renewable electricity and large-scale sustainable biomass supply resulting in a potential saving of millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year.

Michael Galvin, Director of Hydrogen and Sustainable Fuels of Simply Blue Group, said, “We recognised the sustainable fuels market opportunity a couple of years ago and were able to make the connection that others couldn’t, by integrating large scale power generation with biomass conversion to produce sustainable fuel. We have been busy building an exceptional development team and assembling strategic sites of land and biomass feedstock.”

Hugh Kelly, Co-Founder and CEO of Simply Blue Group, said, “Simply Blue Group established itself in 2011 as a blue economy project developer and our mission was to work with the oceans to help address the climate and food crisis. Our focus at the time was on the marine environment but we realised that the oceans and the land must sometimes work together to achieve a common goal. Therefore, it was logical for us to move onshore to develop renewable energy parks. In terms of project development, we are deploying the same skillsets we apply to all our business pillars; identifying opportunities and initiating and derisking early-stage projects. In Simply Blue Group, we have a hugely committed team of technical experts and visionaries who are helping us do just that.”

As the EU moves forward with its escalating mandate for a minimum SAF content in all flights leaving the bloc, Simply Blue Group recognises there is a clear opportunity to develop projects and to supply SAF. Major airlines in Europe have pledged to surpass the EU’s mandated 6% content threshold for 2030 with some aiming for 10-12.5% SAF blends in the fuel they use. There is currently no credible alternative to the kerosene molecule for most aviation fuel and therefore there will be very strong demand for SAF in the foreseeable future.

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