Denmark-based Topsoe has been selected to supply technology and services for a large-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility in Zhoushan City, China.
The plant, backed by Zhejiang Jianglan Bio-Energy, is expected to produce 300,000 tonnes of SAF annually from December 2026, initially targeting the European market.
The SAF will be produced using Topsoe’s HydroFlex process technology, which converts renewable feedstocks such as used cooking oil and animal fats into drop-in fuels that meet global jet fuel specifications.
Topsoe will also supply specialised catalysts that accelerate the chemical reactions needed to remove impurities like oxygen, sulphur, and nitrogen from the feedstocks and rearrange the molecules into hydrocarbons suitable for fuel.
Elena Scaltritti, Chief Commercial Officer at Topsoe, said that scaling SAF supply would be essential to decarbonising aviation, which as a sector emitted nearly one billion tonnes of CO2 in 2023.
When fully operational, the company stated its technology is expected to avoid approximately 698,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions each year.
Hu Bowei, Chairman of Zhejiang Jianglan Bio-Energy Technology, said the project would combine the company’s biomass feedstock network with Zhoushan’s oil and gas industrial cluster to create a new growth engine for green fuels.
The project comes as the International Air Transport Association forecasts that global SAF production will more than double in 2025 compared to 2024. However, despite rapid growth, SAF currently accounts for less than 1% of total aviation fuel demand. Challenges remain around scaling up feedstock availability, infrastructure, and cost competitiveness against conventional jet fuels.
