Breakthrough Energy grants LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels SAF project $50M

In Georgia, Breakthrough Energy announced that its first Catalyst project funding will go to LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Soperton, GA in the form of a $50 million grant. Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a unique program that brings together corporate and philanthropic organizations to accelerate the deployment of essential technologies by funding key first-of-a-kind commercial-scale projects.

Projected to be operational in 2023, LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels project is the firm’s first commercial-scale SAF plant and will be the first in the world to produce Alcohol-to-Jet SAF, which will lower emissions by at least 70% compared to fossil jet fuel. Once fully operational, this plant will play a critical role in scaling SAF production and bringing lower-cost sustainable fuels to market. The plant is expected to produce nine million gallons of SAF and one million gallons of renewable diesel annually, roughly doubling current SAF production in the U.S. Construction of the plant will enable the significant scale-up of LanzaJet’s technology within the U.S. and globally, with subsequent projects already in the planning phase in North America, Europe, and Asia that, together, would produce more than one billion gallons of SAF annually.

First-of-a-kind projects for emerging technologies often struggle to access low-cost capital because they have high green premiums and frequently face unforeseen challenges and costs, especially in the current inflationary environment. By providing capital to these types of early commercial facilities, Catalyst funding can reduce risk for follow-on investments and accelerate the deployment of clean technologies. In this case, Freedom Pines Fuels’ Catalyst grant filled a funding gap and will enable the plant to maintain its current development timeline.

Importantly, the grant will also spur further SAF innovation by helping create a new market for scalable, low-carbon ethanol from sustainable sources by setting the expectation that the plant will transition to second-generation ethanol, including from waste-based feedstocks, by its fifth year. This transition will complement work LanzaJet is already doing to build SAF plants using second-generation ethanol in the U.K. and develop strategic partnerships to accelerate the advanced fuel’s development, of which there is currently little supply in the market.