US-headed advanced renewable fuel and biochemical platform technology developer Gevo Inc. has announced that it and HCS Group GmbH, a long-time customer of Gevo, have signed a project Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and build a renewable hydrocarbon facility at HCS Group’s site located in Speyer, Germany. Anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024, HCS Group will be the first commercial producer in Germany to enter the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market.
The MoU anticipates the first project to have 60 000 tonnes-per-annum capacity of renewable hydrocarbons, advanced renewable fuels, and low-carbon SAF by the end of 2024.
Gevo and HCS Group have a long-standing and productive relationship at supplying products to service existing HCS Group customers with renewable chemicals and high-octane products. Given that history and the need for SAF in Europe, it made strategic sense to develop a joint project in the EU, said Dr Patrick R. Gruber, CEO of Gevo.
The HCS Group manufacturing center, operated by the Haltermann Carless brand, is strategically located in the geographical center of Europe, at the Rhine river, and in the vicinity of Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) in Frankfurt am Main.
This project, developed in technology partnership with Gevo, is a key element of HCS Group’s strategy and our aspiration to be a perpetual pioneer in the area of high-value hydrocarbons while making a clear contribution to defossilization and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is a unique opportunity to enter the SAF market as the first commercial producer in Germany, building on our market success with renewable hydrocarbons, said Henrik Krüpper, CEO of HCS Group.
First commercial SAF producer in Germany
As such the Speyer location offers excellent prerequisites for supplying customers in Europe with SAF, certified under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), and a portfolio of certified renewable drop-in fuels and specialty chemicals.
We are excited to enable our customers in the aviation, premium fuels, and personal care industries with bio-based solutions to meet their sustainability goals. Using our existing infrastructure in Speyer including our new hydrogenation plant allows us to minimize time-to-market, certification and approval processes, and costs for this first-of-its-kind project said Henrik Krüpper.
The plant will utilize Gevo’s low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) alcohol-to-jet (AtJ) technology making it the first in Europe.
Gevo’s technology creates the building blocks for making hydrocarbons. We will need to establish several suppliers of our renewable building blocks, throughout the EU, made from sugary agricultural residues. Gevo’s technology and business system for producing renewable hydrocarbons for fuels, chemicals, and plastics can be a contributor to fight climate change, get production off a fossil-based system, and be at the forefront of future use of residues and waste feedstocks under the EU REDII Annex IX in Europe, ended Dr Patrick R. Gruber.
