Montana Renewables advances SAF expansion at Great Falls biorefinery

Calumet Inc. subsidiary Montana Renewables LLC (MRL) has closed on a previously announced conditional loan guarantee of up to $1.44 billion from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to fund the proposed MaxSAF expansion at the operator’s renewable fuels manufacturing plant in Great Falls, Mont. (OGJ Online, Oct. 18, 2024).

Finalized as of Jan. 10, the first $782-million tranche of the two-tranche loan guarantee will fund eligible expenses MRL previously incurred, upon payment of which MRL will simultaneously make a $150-million equity investment with funds the operator currently holds, Calumet said.

The balance of the loan guarantee will be disbursed through a delayed draw—or revolving credit—facility from start of construction in 2025 through the MaxSAF project’s scheduled completion in 2028, MRL said.

First announced in 2023, Calumet and MRL said the MaxSAF expansion will boost the Great Falls biorefinery’s current sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production by more than 700% to about 300 million gal/year to bring the site’s combined SAF-renewable diesel production capacity at the site of 330 million gal/year (OGJ Online, July 10, 2023).

The project also will involve a sequence of discrete individual projects as part of the expansion, including:

• Adding a second renewable fuels reactor to enable about half of the 300-million gal/year SAF capability to be online by 2026.
• Debottlenecking the biorefinery’s existing renewable fuels and feedstock pretreatment units.
• Installing SAF blending and logistics assets.
• Increasing the manufacturing site’s renewable hydrogen production.
• Adding cogeneration for renewable electricity and steam.
• Installing on-site water treatment and recycling capabilities.
• Implementing other unidentified enhancements at the site.

“This is essentially the largest agricultural investment in Montana history and will double our purchases of seed oils and tallow from approximately 1.5 billion lb/year today to 3 billion lb/year post-expansion,” said Bruce Fleming, MRL’s chief executive officer.

With engineering on the project already under way, the MaxSAF expansion would involve a series of works to increase production capacities at Great Falls (OGJ Online, July 10, 2023).

MRL said it expects the MaxSAF expansion specifically will help to catalyze additional regional development, particularly for renewable feedstocks sourced from local farms and ranches.

“By driving local infrastructure development in transportation, agricultural, and energy related businesses similar to the Minnesota SAF Hub, MRL will create a large-scale, end-to-end SAF industry comprised of public and private partners in Montana and the Pacific Northwest,” the operator said.

Minnesota SAF hub

Led by the Greater MSP Partnership and slated to become the US’ first large-scale hub committed to scaling production of SAF to replace conventional jet fuel, the Minnesota SAF hub is a coalition anchored by Bank of America Corp., Delta Air Lines Inc., Ecolab USA Inc., and Xcel Energy Inc. joined by other leading institutions, such as the state of Minnesota, the Metropolitan Airports Commission and the University of Minnesota that—alongside helping to decarbonize air travel—aims to create jobs across Minnesota and the surrounding region, as well as build a sustainable, large-scale market for regenerative agricultural practices and products, according to the group’s website.

The partnership said it intends to deliver affordable and regionally produced low-carbon SAF to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul (MSP) International Airport as quickly as possible before subsequently scaling annual production to hundreds of millions—and possibly billions—of gallons, the website said.

Delta has already signed agreements with multiple SAF producers, including Neste Corp. and Gevo Inc., to build a dependable supply of SAF to meet the company’s goal of 10% SAF usage by yearend 2030, according to the airline’s website.