SAF facility to be built at Saltend
Above: The OXCCU team.
Courtesy px Group / OXCCU
OXCCU is a carbon-to-value company that develops catalysts and processes to convert carbon dioxide and green hydrogen into fuels, chemicals and plastics.
The climate-tech spin-out from the University of Oxford has demonstrated the world’s first direct carbon dioxide (CO2) hydrogenation process, turning CO2 directly into aviation fuel range hydrocarbons, also known as SAF, with minimal oxygenate byproducts.
The project presents a novel approach to SAF production simplifying a multistep process to a single step.
OXCCU will now build a First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) demonstration plant at Saltend Chemicals Park, which will be fed by biogenic carbon dioxide and green hydrogen. The plant is expected to produce 160 kilos (200 litres) of liquid fuel per day, of which the majority will be SAF. The approach directly aligns with the Advanced Fuel Fund’s objective to use carbon dioxide as a carbon source for SAF production due to feedstock concerns at scale with the other biofuel SAF routes.
The px Group will provide the engineering design and construction of the Outside Battery Limits (OSBL) support facilities as well as operations and maintenance when the plant is up and running. The plan is for operations to start in 2026.
The project has been announced at a time when the UK Government has developed a framework to cement the UK’s status as a world leader in SAF, with a SAF mandate and a revenue certainty scheme to boost uptake and help create jobs.
The Government has committed to having at least five commercial SAF plants under construction in the UK by 2025, viewing low or zero emission technologies as key to sustainability targets.
Geoff Holmes, CEO of px Group, said: “We are truly excited to be working with OXCCU on a world’s first project that will shape the long-term sustainability of the UK aviation industry.
“At px Group we are passionate about cutting CO2 emissions and helping the UK to meet its sustainability ambitions.
“This groundbreaking project with OXCCU further meets this commitment and demonstrates the confidence in Saltend as a pioneering centre for industrial decarbonisation projects.”
Andrew Symes, CEO of OXCCU, said: “The strategic combination of OXCCU's highly efficient novel catalyst and process with px Group's world leading facilities creates the perfect environment for us to scale-up.
"This project will demonstrate CO2 and hydrogen directly converted into jet fuel-range hydrocarbons and the potential for much lower cost SAF.
"We look forward to working with px Group on this exciting step for the global aviation industry.”
The announcement with OXCCU follows the Hydrogen-to-Humber H2H Saltend decarbonisation project recently being granted planning permission. Equinor’s H2H Saltend is a 600-megawatt low carbon hydrogen production plant with carbon capture, one of the first of its kind and scale to be granted planning permission in the UK, helping to establish the Humber as an international hub for low carbon hydrogen whilst significantly reducing carbon emissions.
OXCCU, a spin-out company from the University of Oxford, is developing novel catalysts and reactor designs to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into hydrocarbons with high conversion and selectivity for use as fuels, chemicals and plastics. The company is headquartered in the UK, with operations at Begbroke Science Park, Oxford and London Oxford Airport.
The px Group is backed by Ara Partners, a private equity company specialising in decarbonisation investments. OXCCU is backed by investors including IP group (Kiko), Clean Energy Ventures, United Airlines, Eni, Aramco Ventures and Trafigura.
