AeroMorning \u2013 John Smith \u2013 19 June 2026<\/em><\/p>\n On 16 June 2026, Phelan Green Hydrogen announced that it had selected Johnson Matthey Catalyst Technologies (JM) to supply the core process technologies for its planned electro\u2011Sustainable Aviation Fuel (eSAF) facility at Saldanha Bay in South Africa\u2019s Western Cape Province.<\/p>\n According to the companies\u2019 announcement, the project is expected to become one of the world\u2019s first commercial\u2011scale facilities producing synthetic aviation fuel entirely from renewable electricity, water, and captured carbon dioxide through a fully integrated Power\u2011to\u2011Liquid (PtL) pathway.<\/p>\n Construction is expected to begin before the end of 2026 as part of the broader Phelan Green Hydrogen Project, representing approximately ZAR 47 billion (\u2248 \u20ac2.4 billion) of investment.<\/p>\n Converting Renewable Electricity, Water and CO\u2082 into Aviation Fuel<\/b><\/p>\n The facility will use renewable electricity to power electrolysers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The resulting green hydrogen is the primary feedstock for the fuel synthesis process.<\/p>\n The first chemical conversion step uses Johnson Matthey\u2019s proprietary HyCOgen™ technology, based on the catalytic Reverse Water\u2011Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction:<\/p>\n CO\u2082 + H\u2082 \u2192 CO + H\u2082O<\/b><\/p>\n In this step, captured carbon dioxide reacts with green hydrogen to produce carbon monoxide (CO), while water is formed as a by\u2011product.<\/p>\n The carbon monoxide is then combined with additional hydrogen to produce synthesis gas (syngas), a mixture of CO and H\u2082 that serves as the intermediate feedstock for synthetic fuel production.<\/p>\n Fischer\u2011Tropsch Conversion of Syngas into Synthetic Crude<\/b><\/p>\n The syngas is subsequently processed using FT CANS™<\/b>, a Fischer\u2011Tropsch technology jointly developed and co\u2011owned by Johnson Matthey and bp.<\/p>\n In the Fischer\u2011Tropsch reactor, carbon monoxide and hydrogen are catalytically converted into longer\u2011chain hydrocarbons according to the simplified reaction:<\/p>\n CO + H\u2082 \u2192 Hydrocarbons + H\u2082O<\/b><\/p>\n Through this process, carbon and hydrogen atoms are assembled into paraffinic hydrocarbon chains similar to those found in conventional petroleum\u2011derived fuels.<\/p>\n The output is a synthetic crude oil composed primarily of long\u2011chain paraffinic hydrocarbons and waxes.<\/p>\n Upgrading into Synthetic Jet Fuel (SPK) and SAF Certification Pathway<\/b><\/p>\n The synthetic crude is then upgraded through refining processes, including hydrocracking and fractionation, to produce Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (SPK)<\/b>.<\/p>\n SPK is a synthetic jet fuel component produced from non\u2011fossil carbon sources. In this case, it forms part of an electro\u2011SAF (eSAF) production route.<\/p>\n Under aviation fuel certification standards, the SAF component is first certified under ASTM D7566.<\/p>\n The SAF component is then blended with conventional fossil\u2011derived Jet A or Jet A\u20111 fuel.<\/b><\/p>\n After blending, the resulting fuel is delivered to aircraft under ASTM D1655 specifications (conventional fuel specification), while retaining a certified share of sustainable aviation fuel.<\/p>\n In other words, the final product supplied to aircraft is formally governed by ASTM D1655, even though it contains a certified proportion of SAF.<\/p>\n Importantly, the SAF content is not \u201clost\u201d after blending. It is simply accounted for as a sustainable fraction within a standardized fuel pool.<\/p>\n This accounting framework is critical to the current aviation decarbonisation system:<\/p>\n Process Chain Summary<\/b><\/p>\n Step 1 \u2013 Green hydrogen production Step 2 \u2013 CO\u2082 conversion (HyCOgen™) Step 3 \u2013 Syngas formation Step 4 \u2013 Fischer\u2011Tropsch synthesis (FT CANS™) Step 5 \u2013 Fuel upgrading Step 6 \u2013 Final aviation fuel supply Production Capacity and EU\/UK SAF Contribution<\/b><\/p>\n According to the 16 June 2026 announcement, the first phase of the Saldanha Bay facility is expected to produce approximately 35,000 tonnes of eSAF per year.<\/p>\n This volume is expected to represent up to 6% of the combined EU and UK mandated eSAF requirement for 2030.<\/p>\n Once all project phases are completed, total production capacity is expected to reach approximately 140,000 tonnes of eSAF per year.<\/p>\n Strategic Significance<\/b><\/p>\n As highlighted by Johnson Matthey and Phelan Green Hydrogen in their 16 June 2026 announcement, the project represents:<\/p>\n The project integrates green hydrogen production, carbon dioxide utilisation, and Fischer\u2011Tropsch synthesis to demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of synthetic aviation fuel production at industrial scale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Phelan Green selects Johnson Matthey to supply core technologies for its eSAF project in Saldanha Bay, targeting 35,000 t\/yr in phase one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":37068,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3176,6167,2],"tags":[6170,5903,6171],"class_list":["post-37069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-new-energies-for-aviation","category-news","tag-e-saf-pilot-plant","tag-esaf","tag-renewable-energies"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
Renewable electricity + Water \u2192 Green H\u2082 + O\u2082<\/p>\n
CO\u2082 + H\u2082 \u2192 CO + H\u2082O<\/p>\n
CO + H\u2082 \u2192 Syngas (CO + H\u2082)<\/p>\n
CO + H\u2082 \u2192 Hydrocarbons + H\u2082O<\/p>\n
Synthetic crude oil \u2192 Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (SPK) \u2192 SAF (via ASTM D7566 certification and blending)<\/p>\n
SAF blend \u2192 ASTM D1655 Jet fuel (certified blend containing SAF fraction)<\/p>\n\n\n
\n \nProject phase<\/th>\n eSAF production<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Initial phase<\/td>\n 35,000 tonnes\/year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Full project<\/td>\n 140,000 tonnes\/year<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n