Ambition on the domestic production of power-to-liquid (PtL) sustainable aviation fuels appears to be waning from the UK Government, even following support for them via the Advanced Fuels Fund and the SAF Mandate, which includes a sub-target for PtL fuels.
The Government’s recent industry consultation on the SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism acknowledged that ‘PtL could face significant challenges to produce in the UK’, which is why targeted support is needed. These fuels represent the highest-integrity option for alternative aviation fuel, and without urgent action and support from the Government, these challenges could pose a significant risk to plants scaling and producing fuel in line with the SAF Mandate obligation.
Today, a group of civil society and private sector organisations, including T&E UK, are calling on the Government to reaffirm its commitment to the growth of a UK PtL industry, by:
Urgently engaging the domestic PtL sector and setting out next steps to addressing the challenges it faces;
Finalising the SAF Revenue Certainty Mechanism design and accelerating the introduction of required legislation in 2025;
Prioritising support for PtL SAF via the Revenue Certainty Mechanism, to help at least one plant reach Final Investment Decision by 2026;
Publicly recommitting to the SAF Mandate’s sub-target for PtL and considering expanding the ambition of the target to align more closely with EU ambitions; and
Reaffirming the limitations of HEFA fuel via the SAF Mandate cap and the exclusion of these fuels from accessing Revenue Certainty Mechanism funding.
