UK unlocks £63m funding for 17 SAF firms

The UK government announced the winners of its third window of its Advanced Fuel Funds competition naming 17 companies developing first-of-a-kind projects who will share £63m ($85m) funding on development stages up to construction.

View the attached image for details on companies and technologies awarded.

The Advanced Fuel Fund competition’s third window of funding provides grant funding  to commercial and demonstration-scale projects in the UK at development stages up to construction including parts of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), front-end engineering and design (FEED) and pre-front-end engineering and design (Pre-FEED).

The first and second windows of the award were to help FOAK firms complete feasibility.

“This £63m [$85m] is lift off for Britain’s green aviation revolution. We’re not just backing brilliant British innovation, we’re creating thousands of high-skilled jobs and positioning the UK at the forefront of the global sustainable aviation market,” said Mike Kane, UK’s aviation minister.

With the announcement of winners of the third window, the UK government has so far provided £198m ($268m) through the Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) to scale up cleaner aviation technologies.

“We’re proud that Project Speedbird, developed in partnership with British Airways, has been recognised by the Department for Transport as part of its continued commitment to advancing SAF in the UK,” said Jimmy Samartzis, CEO of LanzaJet. LanzaJet and LanzaTech bagged £16.4m ($22m) for their three planned projects in the UK.

“Support from the Advanced Fuels Fund is a key step in scaling our technology. This funding enables the detailed design and construction of OX2, our demonstration plant launching in 2026, and builds on the successful delivery of OX1. It brings us closer to producing lower-cost, lower-carbon aviation fuel and supports the UK’s ambition to become a global leader in SAF production,” said Andrew Symes, CEO and co-founder of OXCCU.