Swiss aviation technology company, Metafuels AG, is set to open a new synthetic sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) production plant in the Port of Rotterdam.
Metafuels is collaborating with Evos, a liquid energy and chemicals storage company, to integrate the plant into their Rotterdam site.
The Rotterdam plant, named Turbe, will initially produce 12,000 litres of e-SAF per day, with plans for a second phase to increase production tenfold to 120,000 litres per day.
Metafuels’ rapid growth is fuelled by strong investment support. In just over two years, the company has raised $22 million, including a $5 million grant from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
The Evos Rotterdam terminal is a dedicated multimodal methanol hub and reportedly the largest ethanol storage provider in Europe.
It offers full connectivity across vessel, barge, truck, and rail, with facilities to store renewable methanol that meets International Methanol Producers and Consumers Association (IMPCA) specifications.
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Metafuels’ aerobrew technology converts sustainably produced methanol into jet fuel with high energetic efficiency and ultra-high carbon conversion.
The result is a drop-in fuel that reduces life cycle emissions by up to 90 per cent compared to conventional jet fuel, without requiring aircraft re-engineering or infrastructure changes.
The aviation sector accounts for over 2 per cent of global CO2 emissions—some 800 million tonnes.
When accounting for additional greenhouse gases and complex climate co-factors resulting from the nature and altitude of emissions, the sector’s total contribution to global warming rises to approximately 3.5 per cent.
Aerobrew SAF plants can process bio-methanol or e-methanol interchangeably, allowing the production of bio-SAF or e-SAF, or both simultaneously, in response to market signals.
Bio-methanol can be produced, for example, from biological waste, while e-SAF uses renewable electricity and captured carbon to create synthetic fuels, offering a scalable and future-proof solution for aviation decarbonisation, reported the Port of Rotterdam.
The next phase for Metafuels will be the launch of front-end engineering and design (FEED), followed by a Final Investment Decision (FID) in mid-2026.
Saurabh Kapoor, CEO of Metafuels, commented: “We have made excellent progress with our technology, and this first-of-a-kind commercial plant represents a major step forward in its commercial deployment.
“We are very excited about our cooperation with Evos as we work towards delivering the Turbe project. Europe has ambitious decarbonisation targets, but without scalable and affordable SAF production, aviation will struggle to keep up.”
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Europe is expected to lead the adoption of synthetic or e-fuels, driven by strong regulatory support. Policymakers are relying on a substantial increase in e-SAF capacity over the next decade, with the EU’s synthetic SAF sub-mandate set to begin at 1.2 per cent from 2030, rising to 35 per cent from 2050.
Earlier this month, the Port of Rotterdam Authority introduced Carbonbid, a sustainability initiative that allows companies to receive financial support for reducing GHG emissions in the port area.
