Johnson Matthey selected by Phelan Green for e-SAF plant in South Africa

Above: (left to right) Alberto Giovanzana, CEO Catalyst Technologies, Johnson Matthey and Paschal Phelan, Chairman, Phelan Green Energy.
Courtesy Johnson Matthey

Construction of the facility in Saldanha Bay is expected to begin by the end of 2026 and is part of the wider Phelan Green Hydrogen Project which expects investment of R47 billion (more than £2 billion). 

The licence win represents the first phase of the project, which when completed is expected to be one of the world’s first commercial-scale eSAF production facilities, able to produce around 35,000 tonnes of eSAF each year, intended for sale into the EU/UK markets. That will be the equivalent of producing up to 6% of the EU and UK’s mandated eSAF volumes for 2030.

Once all phases are complete the facility is expected to supply around 140,000 tonnes of eSAF in total each year. 

Johnson Matthey’s HyCOgen technology uses a catalysed process to convert CO2 and electrolytic (green) hydrogen into carbon monoxide (CO). This CO is then combined with additional hydrogen to form syngas. HyCOgen technology integrates with FT CANS technology, jointly developed and co-owned by JM and bp, which converts syngas into synthetic crude oil, supporting overall process efficiency. This synthetic crude oil will then be upgraded to produce synthetic paraffinic kerosene. 

Alberto Giovanzana, CEO of JM CT, said: “Phelan Green’s plans for an eSAF facility in the Western Cape are a landmark project. It will be one of the world’s first commercial-scale eSAF facilities and a clear signal that SAF can scale today. It also marks Johnson Matthey’s first deployment of HyCOgen and FT CANS in Africa.”

Blair Phelan, Managing Director Phelan Green Group, said: "Securing these licence and engineering agreements with Johnson Matthey completes the technology backbone of our project. Their team’s support has been instrumental in getting us here. We are now ready to turn renewable energy, CO₂ and water into sustainable aviation fuel and to prove that eSAF can be produced at commercial scale, here in South Africa."