Large-scale e-fuels production facility under construction

Infinium has announced that construction of its second US-based e-fuels production site, known as Project Roadrunner, is underway in Pecos, West Texas.  

It is expected to become the world’s largest e-fuels production facility when operational, producing 23,000 t/y (7.6mn gallons) of e-SAF and other e-fuel products for customers including American Airlines and IAG, owner of British Airways, Aer Lingus and other international airline brands.  

The Roadrunner project reached financial close with investments from Brookfield Asset Management and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. The facility is expected to reach commercial operations in 2027.  

In 2023, Infinium became the world’s first to produce and ship commercial volumes of e-fuels to customers in the US and Europe from its production facility, Project Pathfinder, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The fuels produced by the Roadrunner project will be sold domestically in the US and exported to international markets. Under an agreement with IAG, the e-SAF will be shipped to the UK to satisfy compliance requirements under the recently enacted UK SAF Mandate, which requires that at least 10% of all jet fuel in flights taking off from the UK is sourced from sustainable feedstocks by 2030.

SABA launches advanced, next-generation SAF procurement

The Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) – a collaborative initiative aimed at accelerating the adoption of SAF – has released a request for proposal (RFP) to increase the supply of next-generation SAF, including power-to-liquids and those using advanced bio-based feedstocks.  

This first-of-its-kind aggregated SAF procurement is designed to deliver a boost to scalable long-term SAF production capacity. By focusing the RFP on next-generation fuels, SABA seeks to channel investment towards SAF with fewer feedstock constraints than today’s commercially available fuels.

SABA members include over 35 companies from a range of sectors, including finance, technology, media and entertainment, business consulting, and others seeking to reduce their aviation emissions through investment in SAF. Through this RFP, SABA will facilitate five to 10-year forward purchasing commitments on behalf of its members at sufficient volumes to support a final investment decision for a new next-generation SAF production facility.

SABA will work with its corporate partners to generate the demand signal needed to give advanced SAF producers confidence to scale production. Through a book and claim model, corporate customers will be purchasing SAF certificates that allow them to invest in SAF and capture the environmental benefits, even if the fuel does not flow directly into the planes they fly on. The travellers’ investment allows them to make a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction claim on their climate disclosures, while the physical SAF flows to an aircraft operator.

‘Book and claim is the bridge between the aviation industry’s sustainable fuel ambitions and scalable real-world production – and SABA is helping build it,’ says Bryan Fisher, Managing Director at SABA co-founder RMI. ‘By mobilising corporate demand and catalysing investment in cutting-edge fuel production, we can fast-track innovation, expand high-integrity supply, and deliver the climate results the aviation sector urgently needs.’

SAF production takes off as new capacity comes online

SAF production is growing in the US as new capacity comes online, according to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). US production of ‘other biofuels’, the category used to capture SAF in the analysis, approximately doubled from December 2024 to February 2025.

In addition to SAF, the ‘other biofuels’ category includes renewable heating oil, renewable naphtha, renewable propane, renewable gasoline and other emerging biofuels that are in various stages of development and commercialisation.

Prior to 2025, renewable naphtha and renewable propane, which are byproducts of renewable diesel production, made up most of ‘other biofuels’ production and was growing because of increasing renewable diesel production. SAF made up only a small portion of production because of limited production capacity. At the beginning of 2024, US SAF production capacity was only around 2,000 b/d, with just two plants capable of producing SAF: World Energy’s plant in Paramount, California, and Montana Renewables’ plant in Great Falls, Montana.

US SAF production capacity increased by about 25,000 b/d in late 2024 after Phillips 66 completed its 10,000-b/d SAF project in Rodeo, California. Diamond Green Diesel completed its 15,000-b/d SAF project in Port Arthur, Texas, in 4Q2024.

A couple of smaller projects will bring additional SAF production capacity online in 2025. New Rise Renewables announced it began SAF production at its plant in Reno, Nevada, in February, adding up to 3,000 b/d of SAF production. Par Pacific plans to begin SAF production at its plant in Kapolei, Hawaii, in the second half of the year, adding about 2,000 b/d of SAF production capacity.

The EIA predicts that with US SAF production capacity now around 30,000 b/d and growing this year, SAF will likely drive significant growth in ‘other biofuels’, making up most of the category’s production.