Luxembourg airport invests in SAF production in Norway

A rendering of the Norsk e-Fuel plant (Image: lux-Airport)

Luxembourg airport has invested in and become a shareholder of Norsk e-Fuel AS, an industry consortium located in northern Norway planning to commercialize sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from CO2 and water using 100 percent Norwegian renewable electricity. The company was founded in 2019 as a project-development firm and currently has six employees. The first production facility of Norsk e-Fuel is planned in Mosjøen, Norway, with operations expected to begin in 2024.

In addition to lux-Airport, the aerodrome operator of the Luxembourg airport, Norsk e-Fuel partners include Sunfire GmbH, a technology provider for power to liquid fuels; Climeworks AG, developer of CO2 air-capture technology; Paul Wurth SA (SMS group), a leading international EPC company for steel manufacturers; and the Norwegian clean-tech investment company Valinor, parent company of Norsk Vind, the largest private wind-power developer in Norway.

Accelerated by the European Commission’s “Fit for 55” proposal, which aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 55 percent by 2030, lux-Airport will target its investments in projects that support this initiative. The European Commission’s target for the aviation industry is to substitute fossil fuels with a quota of 63 percent SAF. Included in the 63 percent is a requirement that 28 percent of the total fuel uplift in the EU is so-called “e-Fuels.”

By 2030, every EU airport with more than 1 million passengers or 100,000 tons of cargo per year is obliged to use 5 percent SAF and 0.7 percent e-Fuels of its total fuel consumption.