Global carrier Singapore Airlines ( SIA ) has agreed to purchase up to 4,800 tonnes of next-generation sustainable aviation fuel ( SAF ) from Aether Beacon ( Aether ) over three years, with deliveries commencing in 2028.
SIA is the first airline to purchase SAF produced at Project Beacon, Aether’s commercial production facility, which is being developed at Aster’s refining complex on Pulau Bukom in Singapore. The agreement marks SIA’s first purchase of SAF produced using new technology that converts waste carbon feedstocks into aviation fuel.
Project Beacon will use feedstocks like biomethane and industrial waste gases to produce SAF using Aether’s Aurora technology. This offers an alternative to the hydro-processed esters and fatty acids pathway, which relies on more constrained lipid-based feedstocks.
Aether uses its proprietary technology which innovates around the Fischer-Tropsch process to convert these waste-derived gases into liquid aviation fuel. The SAF produced will be certified under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
By 2031, Aether intends to start up its first large-scale commercial plant, with a production capacity at least 10 times larger than Beacon, as part of its planned expansion of its next-generation SAF production capacity.
“Supporting the development and adoption of SAF and securing future supplies, are integral to SIA’s ambition of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” says Lee Wen Fen, the airline’s chief sustainability officer. “As the first airline to purchase SAF from Project Beacon, SIA is demonstrating demand for new lower-carbon fuel production pathways in Singapore.
“We will continue to work with partners globally to scale SAF production, strengthen the aviation industry’s sustainability ecosystem and support the transition to more sustainable air travel.”
Conor Madigan, Aether Fuels’ co-founder and CEO, adds: “We have selected Singapore as the home of our first commercial facility and built critical partnerships across the local value chain. Singapore is building a strong ecosystem for aviation decarbonization through refining and aviation infrastructure, investment support and sustainability policies and using its position as a global aviation hub.
“This binding agreement is an important next step and a strong signal of committed demand from a leading global airline – exactly the type of collaboration needed to create the commercial conditions to bring new SAF pathways to scale.”
