SkyNRG’s Swedish eSAF joint venture awarded €21 million state funding

Project SkyKraft, an eSAF joint venture between Dutch SAF supplier SkyNRG and Swedish power company Skellefteå Kraft, has been awarded €21 million ($24m) from the Swedish Energy Agency’s Industriklivet initiative. The early-stage funding will go towards the next phase of development for the planned eSAF facility at Näsudden in the Port of Skellefteå. The grant will support the project’s feasibility work, including the design and engineering activities needed to prepare for a planned Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2027. Once operational, SkyKraft aims to produce up to 130,000 tonnes of eSAF annually using renewable electricity and biogenic CO2. SkyKraft is SkyNRG’s third facility, joining renewable gas to SAF Project Wigeon in the US and DSL-01, a large-scale SAF plant in the Netherlands that reached FID earlier this year.

The grant comes at an important moment for the renewable fuels sector in Europe, said the two partners, with demand for eSAF, unlike broader electro fuel markets, being driven by clear regulatory mandates and accelerating aviation decarbonisation targets.

“This support is a strong signal that SkyKraft represents the kind of project Europe needs to scale SAF production,” said Maarten van Dijk, SkyNRG’s co-founder and CEO. “eSAF is a complex and capital-intensive industry, but the long-term demand fundamentals are very strong. With SkyNRG’s experience in SAF markets and Skellefteå Kraft’s renewable energy expertise, SkyKraft combines industrial capability with the right market conditions to move from ambition to delivery.”

Joachim Nordin, CEO of Skellefteå Kraft, said Näsudden offered world-class conditions for eSAF production, with access to renewable electricity, biogenic carbon dioxide and the necessary infrastructure.

Industriklivet supports innovative industrial projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and accelerating the transition to net zero. It funds feasibility studies, research, pilot and demonstration projects, and commercial-scale investments. Since its launch in 2018, the initiative has supported projects across sectors including hydrogen, electrification, carbon capture, bio-based solutions and sustainable fuels.

“The geopolitical situation and what is currently happening in the global fuel markets shows how important it is to get away from dependence on fossil imports,” said Caroline Asserup, Director General at the Swedish Energy Agency, which administers Industriklivet. “This SkyKraft investment provides synergies as we can both reduce emissions and at the same time build up domestic production of aviation fuel.”

After a seven-year development period, construction has begun on SkyNRG’s DSL-01 SAF production facility at the Delfzijl chemical park in the north of the Netherlands and startup is expected in mid-2028. Once operational, it will produce 100,000 tonnes of SAF each year and 35,000 tonnes of sustainable by-products including biobased propane, butane and naphtha. The plant will make use of the HEFA pathway, enabled by Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology. Alongside DSL-01, SkyNRG is developing Project Wigeon in the Pacific Northwest with global SAF partner Boeing.

Image: A render of the proposed SkyKraft eSAF facility in the Port of Skellefteå, Sweden

Christopher Surgenor
Editor