Aviation - Hamburger Project on new fuel propellants abandoned
A major project for the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) in Hamburg will not be pursued further. This information comes from a response of the Hamburg Senate to a parliamentary question by the Linksfraktion. In June 2022, it was announced that a private consortium intended to build such a facility in the Hamburg industrial areas of Billbrook and Rothenburgsort. "The consortium has informed us that they will not continue with the project," the Senate response states.
The government stated in the response that a responsible authority had contacted the Federal Transport Ministry to advocate for stronger funding for such projects. "The Senate believes that the limited availability of SAF imposes a significant hurdle for the necessary transformation of aviation," it continues.
Linksfraktion: Hamburg will lack SAF
According to the Linksfraktion, Hamburg will be short on SAF. It is completely open how the demand for SAF at Hamburg Airport can be met. No suppliers for the 7,000 tons of SAF required from 2025 could be identified, said the environmental policy spokesperson Stephan Jersch: "The planned production facility involving Airbus in Billbrook/Rothenburgsort has also failed according to the Senate."
The government estimates that the Hamburg Airport will require around 7,000 tons of SAF in 2025, as stated in the response. The background is complicated EU legislation. Airport operators are required by a regulation to facilitate access to fuels containing SAF. The Senate points out that the procurement of SAF is regulated between airlines and fuel companies.
The planned Anlage should have produced 10,000 tons of SAF annually
According to a Senate communication from 2022, the utilities company Uniper, energy technology conglomerate Siemens Energy, aircraft manufacturer Airbus, and chemicals company Sasol EcoFT were involved in the "Green Fuels Hamburg" project. The planned facility was to produce at least 10,000 tons of green kerosene annually for aviation from 2026 in its initial expansion phase.
- Despite the cancellation of the major SAF project in Hamburg, the demand for SAF at Hamburg Airport still stands at approximately 7,000 tons from 2025.
- The Linksfraktion has raised concerns about Hamburg's potential shortage of SAF, as identified suppliers for this amount have yet to be found.
- The proposed facility for SAF production in Billbrook and Rothenburgsort, involving Airbus SAS, has also been abandoned as per the Senate's recent statement.
- The government is advocating for stronger funding for SAF projects at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Digitalization (Germany) due to the limited availability of SAF and its significant impact on aviation's transformation.
- The "Green Fuels Hamburg" project, which involved Uniper, Siemens Energy, Airbus, and Sasol EcoFT, aimed to produce 10,000 tons of green kerosene annually for aviation from 2026 onwards.
- The private consortium backed out of building the SAF facility in Hamburg's industrial areas of Billbrook and Rothenburgsort, citing reasons not disclosed in the Senate response.
