Metafuels secures major Dutch government grant to support eSAF project

Following its $24 million funding round in February, Swiss aviation technology company Metafuels has now secured a €1.92 million ($2.24m) grant from the Dutch government to advance its Turbe eSAF project in the Port of Rotterdam. Awarded to Metafuels’ Dutch subsidiary, the grant comes from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) under the TSE Industry Studies – Hydrogen & Green Chemistry programme. It will support, says the company, critical project development activities through to final investment decision (FID), including front-end engineering and design (FEED), permitting and consents, and commercial development. Turbe is to be the first commercial deployment of Metafuels’ proprietary methanol-to-jet technology, called aerobrew, and is targeting production from 2030 onwards, in line with the introduction of eSAF sub-mandates under the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation.

“Securing this support from RVO is a strong validation of both our technology and our approach to scaling eSAF production, and the merits of the Turbe project,” commented Saurabh Kapoor, CEO of Metafuels. “Rotterdam is one of Europe’s most important energy and industrial hubs, and an ideal location to deliver large-scale synthetic fuel projects. This grant enables us to accelerate Turbe towards FID and make commercial eSAF production in Europe a reality.”

When produced using renewable electricity, green hydrogen and captured carbon, Metafuels claims its methanol-to-jet pathway can deliver up to 90% lower lifecycle emissions compared to fossil kerosene.

The company recently awarded the FEED contract for the Turbe facility to McDermott Netherlands and is also preparing for the installation of its methanol-to-jet demonstration plant at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland.

The $24 million funding round was led by UVC Partners, with participation from Energy Impact Partners, Contrarian Ventures, RockCreek, Verve Ventures and Fortescue Ventures.

Image: A render of the Metafuels Turbe facility in Rotterdam

Christopher Surgenor
Editor