Airline invests £5m in Bristol bio-fuel company
A low cost airline has made a £5m investment in a Bristol firm which is looking to turn sewage into aviation fuel.
Wizz Air has backed Firefly – a spin out of Gloucestershire business Green Fuels.
The deal marks the airline’s first equity investment in sustainable aviation fuel research and development.
The airline is hoping the deal will allow it to supply sustainable fuel to its UK operations from 2028.
Firefly said more than 57 million tonnes of sewage sludge are produced in the UK each year, with the potential to produce 250,000 tonnes of fuel.
The agreement with Firefly is the latest stage in Wizz Air’s strategy to become a sustainable airline.
Michael Berlouis, head of strategic projects at Wizz Air, said: “In addition to fleet renewal and operational efficiency, SAF is crucial for reducing carbon emissions from aviation.
“However, feedstock availability remains the key challenge for the industry. Our investment in Firefly and its sewage sludge SAF technology is a major step forward for Wizz Air in securing its long-term ability to provide low-cost fares to its customers in an ever more environmentally sustainable way.
“From 2028, we are aiming to procure 525,000 tonnes of SAF from Firefly over a period of 15 years. This has the potential to reduce our emissions by 100,000 tonnes CO2-eq per year, which is equal to the emissions of over 12,000 return Wizz Air flights between London and Budapest”.
James Hygate, chief executive of Firefly Green Fuels, added: “We are thrilled to be establishing a partnership with Wizz Air. The investment will accelerate the commercialisation of our game-changing Firefly process, with the binding offtake agreement saving a staggering 1.5m tonnes of carbon emissions.
“Firefly will facilitate a step change towards the future of air travel. The feedstock, sewage sludge, is available in vast quantities globally and with Firefly we can put it to a truly beneficial use, reducing the use of fossil fuels in the hardest to decarbonise areas.”
Firefly’s technology originated in the laboratories of Green Fuels, a pioneer in renewable fuels founded in 2003 and awarded a Royal Warrant of Appointment to the former HRH The Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, in 2013.
Firefly demonstrates an integrated technology route to SAF using sewage sludge as feedstock, addressing a market opportunity and unmet need.
. The project encompasses engineering design and construction of a demonstrator plant, capable of generating the quantities of fuel to allow qualification. This in turn will lead to a first-of-a-kind commercial refinery and roll-out to several UK locations where airports, pipeline terminals and wastewater treatment works are in close proximity.
