Simply Blue Group diversifies to develop projects focused on sustainable aviation, marine fuels

Simply Blue Group, a leading global offshore wind project developer, announced March 27 that it is developing onshore renewable energy parks to power facilities capable of producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The projects in Canada, Ireland and Australia will process more than 1.5 million metric tons of sustainable biomass annually to produce over 300,000 tons of SAF each year.

The company currently has a pipeline of fixed bottom (approximately 4 gigawatts) and floating wind projects (10 gigawatts) globally and has been recognized as a pioneer of floating offshore wind. 

Simply Blue Group’s sustainable fuels will be produced in onshore renewable energy parks (REPs) focusing on renewable liquid fuels for aviation, marine vessels and chemical feedstocks.

These REPs will be able to produce a range of sustainable fuels but will focus on SAF and methanol, with future phases expected to include green ammonia. 

Simply Blue Group is also developing 500 megawatts of solar PV and over 2 gigawatts of onshore wind farms that will generate renewable electricity to power the renewable energy parks, while sustainable biomass feedstocks and water will be sourced locally.

The three sustainable fuels projects are currently in engineering-design phase, with the Canadian project expected to be in construction in 2026. 

Simply Blue Group said it believes there is a significant opportunity to produce SAF for the aviation market, with most forecasts suggesting a significant global SAF supply deficit. 

“Simply Blue Group’s projects are perfectly placed to supply this market, using competitive renewable electricity and large-scale sustainable biomass supply resulting in a potential saving of millions of tons of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere each year,” the company stated.

Michael Galvin, Simply Blue Group’s director of hydrogen and sustainable fuels, said, “We recognized the sustainable fuels market opportunity a couple of years ago and were able to make the connection that others couldn’t, by integrating large-scale power generation with biomass conversion to produce sustainable fuel. We have been busy building an exceptional development team and assembling strategic sites of land and biomass feedstock.”

Hugh Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Simply Blue Group, added, “Simply Blue Group established itself in 2011 as a blue-economy project developer and our mission was to work with the oceans to help address the climate and food crisis. Our focus at the time was on the marine environment but we realized that the oceans and the land must sometimes work together to achieve a common goal. Therefore, it was logical for us to move onshore to develop renewable energy parks. In terms of project development, we are deploying the same skillsets we apply to all our business pillars—identifying opportunities and initiating and de-risking early-stage projects. In Simply Blue Group, we have a hugely committed team of technical experts and visionaries who are helping us do just that.”

As the EU moves forward with its escalating mandate for a minimum SAF content in all flights leaving the bloc, Simply Blue Group said it recognizes there is a clear opportunity to develop projects and to supply SAF.

Major airlines in Europe have pledged to surpass the EU’s mandated 6 percent content threshold for 2030 with some aiming for 10 percent to 12.5 percent SAF blends in the fuel they use.

“There is currently no credible alternative to the kerosene molecule for most aviation fuel and therefore there will be very strong demand for SAF in the foreseeable future,” the company stated.