DG Fuels selects process design, technology for Louisiana SAF complex
DG Fuels LLC, Washington, DC, has let a contract to a subsidiary of Maire SPA’s Rome-based NextChem SPA to deliver a process design package for units at the operator’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production complex under development along the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, La. (OGJ Online, Mar. 24, 2023).
Under the Dec. 6 contract, the waste-to-chemical segment of NextChem’s MyRechemical SRL will provide process design and serve as technology licensor of the proposed complex’s gasification and gas treatment units that, together, will be able to process 1 million tonnes/year (tpy) of the complex’s locally sourced agricultural waste as a first step in the site’s SAF manufacturing process, Maire said.
Offered through Nextchem’s sustainable technology solutions business unit, MyRechemical’s gasification and purification technologies will enable the units to specifically process bagasse—the matted, cellulose fiber residue byproduct of post-processed sugarcane stalks—as well as other sugarcane waste and pulp material into suitable feedstock for DG Fuels’ production of zero-carbon SAF, according to the service provider.
DG Fuels’ proposed $4.2-billion Louisiana investment project would involve construction of a very low CO2 lifecycle-emissions complex equipped to produce up to 180 million gal/year of SAF from a feedstock of agricultural and timber waste using the operator’s proprietary high-carbon conversion technology.
DG Fuels—which is also in discussions to set up a 175-million gal/year SAF project in Maine—said it expects to reach final investment decision (FID) on the Louisiana project in early 2024.
If approved, the Louisiana plant is anticipated to be operational in 2028, Maire said.
Additional agreements
This latest contract for the Louisiana SAF complex follows DG Fuels’ recent contract to Emerson Electric Co. to deliver comprehensive automation and project engineering services for the project, including a suite of advanced sensing, control, systems, equipment monitoring, and production optimization technologies (OGJ Online, Nov. 16, 2023).
In November 2023, DG Fuels—which in October 2022 signed a multiyear SAF offtake agreement with Air France KLM for up to 600,000 tpy for delivery between 2027 and 2036—entered additional agreements with the airline, under which Air France-KLM acquired a new option to purchase up to another 75,000 tpy, the aviation operator said in a Nov. 10 release.
Under the revised offtake option, 30,000 tpy of SAF would come from the proposed Louisiana complex, with the remaining 45,000 tpy to be delivered from the future Maine SAF complex starting as early as 2029, the airline said.
As part of those November agreements, Air France-KLM also confirmed its investment of $4.7 million in DG Fuels to support completion of remaining development work required ahead of the operator reaching FID on the Louisiana SAF complex.
Upon announcement of the Air France-KLM investment—which also aims to support scale-up of advanced waste-to-aviation fuel technology for helping to meet the global aviation industry’s growing demand for SAF as a decarbonization pathway—DG Fuels said it plans to continue working with the airline to deploy its proprietary SAF technology at additional locations in the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
Aside from its ongoing development of the Louisiana and Maine plants, the operator has yet to reveal details regarding its plans for those future SAF projects.
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
