Jet Zero Australia bags $29m funding
Jet Zero Australia announced it has received funding commitments of A$29m ($18.m) to advance the engineering activities of Jet Zero Australia’s flagship alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) sustainable aviation fuel project, Project Ulysses, in North Queensland, Australia with investment from Japanese energy conglomerate Idemitsu Kosan.
“Idemitsu Kosan is working to establish SAF production in Japan with an annual capacity of 500,000 kilo litres (500m litres) in order to achieve the government and aviation industry’s goal of replacing 10% of Japan’s jet fuel consumption with SAF by 2030,” said Idemitsu representative Masahiko Sawa.
“This investment agreement represents our first investment in an overseas SAF project and will contribute to the establishment and strengthening of the global SAF supply chain. Australia, especially Queensland, is an important business partner, and we hope to build a bridge between the two countries in the world of carbon neutrality in addition to the resources business.”
Funding will also support advancement of other renewable fuel opportunities in the region, many of which will leverage and support Queensland’s globally competitive agricultural sector.
The placement, managed by Barrenjoey, has been supported by Jet Zero Australia’s foundational investors, including Qantas and Airbus who are committed to accelerating the establishment of a SAF industry in Australia.
This marks Idemitsu’s first investment in a SAF project outside Japan.
Project Ulysses, which has now completeda feasibility study initiated in 2022 with the backing of a A$760,000 ($472,206.9) grant from the Queensland Government, and has recently applied for additional grant support from the federal government which, if successful, will further assist the Project’s continued development into Front End Engineering and Design (FEED).
Jet Zero has also made an application to the Queensland Government’s Industry Partnership Program to assist the Project move towards Final Investment Decision (FID), construction and operation of the facility.
Project Ulysses is targeting annual production of 102m litres of SAF once operational.