Qantas and Airbus pursue SAF technologies through venture capital investment

Qantas and Airbus have partnered with Australian venture capital fund Climate Tech Partners (CTP) to accelerate development of sustainable aviation fuel and other decarbonisation technologies. Australia’s largest airline group and the European airframer have jointly committed to invest A$15 million (US$9.6m) with CTP, which in turn will identify and invest in local and global start-ups in the SAF and aero-tech sectors. The investment will come from a US$200 million fund established by Qantas and Airbus in 2022 largely to accelerate SAF production. Together with US-based alcohol-to-jet SAF producer LanzaJet and the Queensland state government, the two are also backers of Project Ulysses, a new bioethanol SAF plant being developed by Jet Zero Australia near Townsville, in north-east Queensland. That project is targeting annual production of 102 million litres of SAF and 11 million litres of renewable diesel, commencing in 2028.   

Climate Tech Partners invests in scalable technologies, mainly at Series A stage, in sectors including transport and logistics, energy and power, and industrials and resources. “We need new and novel technologies to decarbonise the hard-to-abate sectors,” said CTP, “but also technologies to help us scale proven decarbonisation solutions.”

Qantas and Airbus are collaborating with CTP to advance developments including SAF feedstock and related innovations. The companies said the CTP initiative, using a new, dedicated investment vehicle, would help to bridge a gap they have identified between early-stage climate technologies and commercial scale production.

As the projects selected by CTP evolve, Qantas and Airbus have the option to support follow-on and direct investments which enable the start-ups’ technologies to be deployed in Australian projects.

“Sustainable aviation fuel is the most effective tool we have to decarbonise aviation and, with Airbus, we’re investing significantly in ways to make it more available and accessible,” said Fiona Messent, Chief Sustainability Officer for the Qantas Group, which includes Qantas international, domestic and regional airlines, low-cost carrier Jetstar, and Qantas Freight.

“For Australia, an onshore SAF industry will mean improved national fuel security, more jobs and economic benefit, so it’s fantastic to be collaborating across industries to help accelerate local production.

“As well as funding, this partnership will help provide a vote of confidence in new technologies so they can be developed, scaled and integrated in the SAF supply chain, while also providing companies with access to Qantas and Airbus as they develop and test their solutions.”

“Decarbonising aviation at speed and scale requires bold action and collaboration across sectors, from airlines, manufacturers and airports to regulators, governments and investors,” added Julie Kitcher, Airbus Chief Sustainability Officer.

“This partnership with CTP and Qantas highlights that the scaling of sustainable aviation fuel needs innovative solutions for a nascent technology that will drive innovation, attract investment and create new jobs in Australia, which I believe is well positioned to be a leader in low carbon fuels.”

CTP Co-Founder Patrick Sieb spent 22 years in investment banking, including 15 years with Macquarie Capital as an Executive Director, operating in sectors including transport, social infrastructure and technology, and five years in the transport sector of Morgan Stanley.

He was also Co-head of Climate Tech at Investible, where he worked with CTP Co-Founder Tom Kline to structure and raise Investible Climate Tech Fund, specialising in seed-stage climate start-ups.

“Working with global leading aviation and aerospace companies allows us to not only make more deeply informed investment decisions in this complex area,” he said, “but attract and support the best companies by helping them accelerate through industry engagement.”  

The joint investment by Qantas and Airbus in CTP coincides with the announcement by their North Queensland SAF development partner, Jet Zero Australia, of a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract with French engineering and technology company Technip Energies for the Project Ulysses bioethanol-to-SAF project, which proposes using feedstock including sugar cane waste to produce the new fuel.

Jet Zero also announced continuation of the Owner’s Engineering Services Contract with project delivery company Long Energy and Resources (LERA).

These contracts cover a package of engineering activities, documentation and planning to refine the cost estimate for the Townsville SAF project, develop detailed timelines, and prepare a scope and basis for the engineering, procurement and construction contracts for the new SAF plant. Funding from Airbus, Qantas and co-investor Idemitsu, a Japanese energy company, supported the contracts for the A$36.8 million FEED programme, together with backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of the federal government’s Advancing Renewables Programme, and support from the Queensland government’s Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning.

Photo: Qantas

Tony Harrington

Correspondent

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