DG Fuels awards FEED contract to Samsung E&A for Louisiana SAF project

Image: DG Fuels

Samsung E&A, a total solutions provider to the global energy industry, has secured a contract for front-end engineering design (FEED) of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production plant in the United States, marking its full-scale entry into the global clean-energy market. 

Samsung E&A announced Dec. 15 that it signed a contract Dec. 12 with DG Fuels, a U.S. SAF project developer, for the clean-energy facility basic design for the Louisiana SAF production project.  

The company will execute the clean hydrogen production package from a total of two packages.  

The contract is valued at approximately $15.7 million and will take approximately 10 months to complete.  

Samsung E&A said it aims to secure a linked contract for the main project upon completion of the basic design, with the total project size estimated at approximately $3 billion.  

This project, to be built in St. James Parish, Louisiana, will produce 600,000 tons of SAF annually using abundant waste resources such as agricultural byproducts and woody biomass in the region as raw materials.  

Samsung E&A will be in charge of blue-hydrogen facilities such as the air-separation unit, auto-thermal reformer and carbon-dioxide capture, as well as green-hydrogen facilities based on water-electrolysis technology for this project. 

With this contract, following a Malaysian SAF order secured late last year, the company said it has fully entered the global SAF market.  

SAF, produced from biofuels instead of conventional fossil fuels, is attracting attention as a next-generation, ecofriendly energy source, significantly reducing carbon emissions.  

With the global decarbonization movement driving major countries to mandate the use of SAF blends, the SAF market is expected to expand steadily. 

Samsung E&A said it has been investing and collaborating to secure core energy-transition technologies, including SAF, carbon capture, hydrogen, ammonia and LNG, centered on its “E&Able” strategy, a new business model for the future energy transition.  

These efforts have led to tangible results in the clean-energy sector, with recent wins including the SAF plant in Malaysia, a biodegradable plastics plant in the United Arab Emirates, a basic design for an ecofriendly LNG plant in Indonesia, a conceptual design for an LNG plant in North America, and a low-carbon ammonia plant in the U.S. 

“We will continue to secure orders for this project through the successful completion of the FEED,” said Hong Namkoong, president and CEO of Samsung E&A. “Through this, we will solidify our position in the North American region, where we are expanding into new markets, and expand our participation in new energy-transition businesses such as SAF, hydrogen and carbon capture.”