Jet2 plc invests in Fulcrum NorthPoint SAF project in North West England
U.K.-based leisure-travel group Jet2 plc announced April 27 a major investment in a new sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant to be constructed in the North West of England—one of the first such deals in U.K. aviation, according to the company.
The agreement will see Jet2 plc, which encompasses the award-winning leisure airline Jet2.com, and Jet2holidays, the U.K.’s largest tour operator, invest an equity stake in the plant and expect to receive more than 53 million gallons of SAF over a 15-year period, which would be one of the longest SAF-supply agreements currently.
The Fulcrum NorthPoint facility, being developed by Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd., is a waste-to-fuels plant that will be located at the Essar Stanlow Manufacturing Complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
Production of SAF at the plant is expected to begin in 2027, and when at full capacity 600,000 metric tons of nonrecyclable household waste, which would otherwise have been destined for incineration or landfill, will be converted into around 26.4 million gallons of SAF annually.
The NorthPoint plant will use Fulcrum’s proven waste-to-fuel process and will directly benefit from the intellectual property gained from operations of its pioneering first commercial-scale waste-to-fuels facility, Sierra BioFuels, situated outside of Reno, Nevada, in the United States.
The announcement means that Jet2.com, the U.K.’s third-largest airline, will receive a significant volume of SAF produced at the plant once in operation.
The SAF is expected to achieve net-emissions reductions totaling around 400,000 tons of CO2 for Jet2.com over the 15-year period of the agreement.
The strategic positioning of the plant means that SAF is expected to be delivered directly to Manchester Airport using the existing pipeline infrastructure, rather than having to rely on transporting the fuel by the road network.
SAF is widely recognized as the best way to decarbonize aviation in the medium to long term, including recently by the Transport Select Committee, which stated, “Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) are the most viable option for the immediate reduction of aviation emissions.”
The SAF produced at the NorthPoint site is expected to achieve lifecycle-emissions reductions of approximately 70 percent when compared to conventional aviation fuel, with the future potential to be fully carbon neutral.
“This significant investment into Fulcrum NorthPoint’s SAF production in the U.K. shows not only how seriously we take that responsibility, but also how committed we are to taking tangible actions to address it,” said Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays. “Not only will this action help to lower our climate impacts, but it represents a major step forward in our transition to net zero, too. … This type of investment is critical if we are to get this technology up to the scale required to decarbonize the industry. Our investment is a very clear demonstration that we are backing SAF and the U.K. production of SAF early. We are calling on the U.K. government to scale up its level of ambition and support for SAF production too. Doing this will help achieve decarbonization of the aviation sector, stimulate uptake and seize the enormous economic opportunity here in the U.K.”
Jeff Ovens, managing director at Fulcrum BioEnergy U.K., added, “This strategic, project-level investment by Jet2 plc demonstrates clear commitment to the development of a U.K. SAF industry and further underpins Fulcrum’s leading position in the global waste-to-SAF industry. Fulcrum values this new partnership with Jet2, and we look forward to working together to successfully develop Fulcrum NorthPoint and bring low-carbon jet fuel to Jet2’s increasingly fuel-efficient aircraft fleet.”
