Essar Energy Transition wins government backing for SAF production hub at Stanlow

Essar Energy Transition (EET), which plans to create the world’s leading low carbon process refinery, has been awarded £2.5m from the UK Government’s Department for Transport (DfT), as part of its Advanced Fuels Fund (AFF) scheme.

The funds will enable the company to develop its plans for the creation of one of the UK’s largest advanced Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) production hubs.

Essar Energy Transition plans to establish a Methanol-to-Jet (MtJ) production hub capable of producing 200,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of advanced SAF, using c. 550,000 tpa of renewable e-methanol and bio-methanol sourced domestically in the UK and internationally, including from its sister company –  Essar Future Energies – who are developing an e-methanol project in Gujarat, India.

Having completed a Feasibility Study earlier in 2025, the receipt of the AFF grant enables Essar Energy Transition to advance to the Pre-Front-End Engineering Design (pre-FEED) stage.

It is targeting completion of pre-FEED by March 2026, with full FEED commencing in Q2 2026 and Final Investment Decision (FID) by the end of 2027.

The MtJ production hub’s location at Stanlow has advantages by leveraging Stanlow Terminals existing import infrastructure enabling access to the most competitive, low cost and low carbon intensity (CI) methanol feedstocks.

The existing refinery processing facilities, combined with low-carbon power, hydrogen and carbon capture facilities under development, also offer unique integration opportunities to create one of the lowest CI SAF production facilities in the UK.

Advanced SAF produced at the hub will utilise Essar Energy Transition’s established UK jet export infrastructure - including the Manchester Jet, Midlands, and UKOP oil pipeline systems - as well as existing road and marine distribution routes, allowing supply to regions across the UK.

This infrastructure already supplies 10 UK airports including nearby Manchester International Airport.  The hub will be the most direct SAF supply point to the UK aviation sector, blending SAF on-site into the existing jet fuel stream at Stanlow.

Stanlow’s location allows for future scaling of SAF production as demand grows, with the recent feasibility study highlighting strong integration opportunities with EET Fuels, Stanlow Terminals, EET Hydrogen and EET Hydrogen Power’s broader low-carbon initiatives, already in development at the site.

Tony Fountain, Managing Director at EET, said: “We welcome the UK Government’s support, which enables us to carry out a detailed pre-front-end engineering design process and accelerate this flagship UK advanced sustainable aviation fuels project towards final investment decision.

"At Stanlow, we have major decarbonisation ambitions, aiming to become a leading energy transition hub and home to the world’s first low-carbon process refinery.  Domestic advanced SAF production is central to our long-term vision and a key catalyst for decarbonising aviation.  With SAF still making up only a tiny fraction of global jet fuel use, our MtJ plant will play a critical role in closing that gap and helping the UK meet its Jet Zero targets.”