Norwegian announced on April 24, 2023, that it was going to invest in a new plant to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Mosjøen, Norway.
The project will be undertaken in partnership with Norsk e-Fuel, a company set up in 2019 with the aim to develop Power-to-Liquid synthetic fuels production in Norway. The process employed by Norsk e-Fuel combines carbon, already emitted and captured from the atmosphere, with water and renewable electricity, of which there is an abundance in Northern Norway, in order to produce a drop-in liquid fuel.
Norwegian will be investing 50 million NOK ($4.7M / €4.3 million) in Norsk e-Fuel, joining other shareholders such as Sunfire, a German producer of electrolyzers, Climeworks, which specializes in direct carbon capture, and Lux Airport, the company managing Luxembourg airport, among others.
The plant will enter production in 2026 and is expected to fulfil 20% of Norwegian’s total SAF demand by 2030. The airline has a goal to reduce its carbon emissions by 45% by 2030.
This is but the latest instance of an airline investing in sustainable aviation fuel production.
As the airline industry faces the scarcity of this type of fuels, considered essential for short term carbon footprint reductions, several carriers, including the likes of British Airways, Qantas and United Airlines have decided to invest either directly in SAF plants or in funds that invest in SAF production projects.
