Firm supports Baltic green aviation fuel endeavour

A cleantech innovator is supporting plans for an advanced ethanol plant that will supply the Baltic region’s largest sustainable aviation fuel project.

Redcar-based Nova Pangaea Technologies has agreed to collaborate with NorSAF on the facility in Latvia, which will use locally sourced wood waste to produce ethanol for a planned sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant.

NorSAF expects production at its Latvian SAF and eSAF facility to begin in 2031.

The project will use Nova Pangaea’s proprietary REFNOVA technology, which converts waste biomass into ethanol alongside biochar, a co-product that permanently captures carbon.

Bosses say the partnership will help establish a more resilient European supply chain as demand for SAF increases.

Jonathan Wood, chief commercial officer of Nova Pangaea, said: “This strategic collaboration will ensure we have carbon-negative ethanol to feed NorSAF’s SAF project, using locally sourced biomass waste.

“This is a blueprint for the type of partnerships we need to scale SAF production in the UK, Europe and beyond – enhancing energy security, building a new domestic industry that generates jobs and economic growth while reducing fossil-fuel emissions.

“It also demonstrates the potential for UK cleantech companies like Nova Pangaea to use their intellectual property to generate export revenue and drive the UK’s knowledge economy.”

Under EU regulations, aviation fuel suppliers must increase the proportion of SAF supplied at EU airports from two per cent in 2025 to six per cent by 2030 and 20 per cent by 2035.

Europe currently relies heavily on imported feedstocks such as waste fats and cooking oil, with agricultural and forestry residues offering a potential locally sourced alternative.

Janis Kisiels, founder and board member of NorSAF, added: “Europe cannot strengthen its energy security simply by reducing fossil-fuel imports. We also need to build the industrial capacity to produce the clean fuels that will replace them.

“Right now, Europe is dangerously dependent on overseas feedstocks like used cooking oil, leaving our aviation sector vulnerable to international supply chain shocks.

“By tapping into Europe’s own abundant waste resources, particularly those available in the Baltic region, we can build a resilient, domestic supply chain from the ground up.

“Our partnership with Nova Pangaea is a crucial milestone in developing that strategic capability right here in Latvia, ensuring our future SAF production is sustainable, secure, and locally anchored.”

Nova Pangaea also operates a demonstration plant in Redcar and is working with British Airways and LanzaJet on Project Speedbird, a UK Government-backed initiative developing SAF from non-food agricultural and woody biomass.

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