Germany backs Brandenburg eSAF with €350m grant

Germany’s federal government and the state of Brandenburg have handed ENERTRAG and Zaffra a €350m grant for a power-to-liquid eSAF plant at the PCK refinery in Schwedt, the largest public funding commitment for a PtL project in Europe to date.

Total investment in the facility exceeds €500m.

The plant will produce more than 30,000 tonnes of eSAF annually from 2030, using green hydrogen produced via electrolysis combined with biogenic CO2 supplied by local paper manufacturer LEIPA Georg Leinfelder.

Those feedstocks are converted into fuel via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. At that output, the facility would cover roughly a quarter of Germany’s national eSAF obligation under the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation.

The money, €245m from Berlin and €104m from Brandenburg, was formally presented on site by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche and Brandenburg’s Minister-President Dietmar Woidke.

Zaffra, the joint venture between Denmark’s Topsoe and South Africa’s Sasol, is contributing its G2L eFuels platform, which combines Sasol’s Fischer-Tropsch process with Topsoe’s eREACT technology.

ENERTRAG handles the renewable energy and hydrogen electrolysis side, with hydrogen also piped in via Gascade’s FLOW network.

“With today’s funding award, Germany is sending a clear signal: sustainable aviation fuels at industrial scale have a firm timeline and a concrete location,” said Jan Toschka, Zaffra’s CEO.

A final investment decision is targeted for end-2027.

Engineering studies are underway, led by the Griesemann Group following their appointment in April 2026, with production scheduled to begin in 2030.