Developer secures construction equity commitment for SAF project in Washington state

Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels LLC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners for an investment of up to $600 million to help NWABF build a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) biorefinery in Washington state. If finalized, the investment would help finance the largest announced SAF project using cellulosic feedstock in the world, according to NWABF.

NWABF has a long-term offtake agreement for more than 60 million gallons annually with Delta Air Lines, which was originally announced early last year.

“We are excited that a leading infrastructure investment firm sees the potential and the promise of the SAF Industry as well as future potential projects by our team, who have been vital to getting this Project to this point,” said Dave Smoot, founder and manager of the Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels Project. “We have strived to establish a workable platform to use for future opportunities, which the NWABF team will continue to lead.”

The potential investment by Stonepeak would be used to partially fund the construction of the multibillion-dollar project and repay prior development, design and engineering stage costs.

NWABF’s technology includes gasification, syngas cleaning and treatment, Fischer-Tropsch conversion to liquid fuel, and upgrading to SAF.

The company has chosen Black & Veatch as its EPC contractor.