Montana delivers SAF at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport

Renewable fuel developer Montana Renewables announced that it has successfully supplied sustainable aviation fuel at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s (MSP) to be used as blend in the Delta Airline fights – first at the airport.

The fuel was supplied in partnership with Shell Aviation.

“We are pleased to remain at the forefront of the SAF revolution,” said Bruce Fleming, CEO, Montana Renewables (MRL). “MRL is an ISCC-approved SAF producer and the SAF being sold to MSP is produced from Minnesota camelina. This demonstrates shorter local supply chains and pioneers camelina as a viable non-food oil that provides additional cash crop potential for farmers.”

MRL said the move will support the development of Minnesota SAF Hub.

MRL is one of the as the leading producer of SAF in North America, with an annual production capacity of around 30m gallons. The company is eyeing to expand SAF production capacity in the coming years to meet domestic and international rising demand.

US SAF production and imports grew 100% during the first half of 2024 to 52m gallons compared to 26m gallons in 2023, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewable identification number (RIN) values.

SAF Grand Challenge metrics dashboard published by the Department of Energy showed that during the first half of 2024, SAF in the US was predominantly based on conversion of fat, oil, and grease feedstocks through the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) process.

Major producers included World Energy, Montana Renewables, Sinclair, GEVO, and Neste Oil.