Growing the UK Sustainable Aviation Fuel supply chain

A showcase of regional industrial clusters

The data to inform this analysis is not exhaustive but representative to inform decision making around sourcing expertise or capability along the SAF supply chain. By mapping out the site of planned production facilities and supply chain capabilities, the analysis can create regional clusters.

Distribution of SAF Facilities across UK Regions

To produce SAF, various components need to work together from availability of feedstocks to blending the synthetic component into fossil jet. The top regions with the highest number of SAF supply chain organisations are:

• London [41 org., 17.6% of total],
• South East England [29 org., 12.4% of total],
• Yorkshire and the Humber [26 org, 11.2% of total],
• East of England [26 org, 11.2% of total], and
• North West England [25 org, 10.7% of total].

Data on confirmed SAF production facility locations was collected from publicly available information and mapped. The following regional clusters have been highlighted as the two regions with the highest concentration of both planned and operational SAF facilities, in total accounting for over half of the total number of SAF facilities in the UK SAF supply chain:

• Yorkshire and the Humber [9 facilities, 28.1% of total], and
• North East England [8 facilities, 25.0% of total].

Main Technologies and Services Supporting the UK SAF Supply Chain

Data from a variety of technologies and capabilities across the supply chain was collected, though not exhaustive, the largest share of the SAF supply chain consists of the following capabilities:

• Petroleum Infrastructure [54 org., 18.4% of total],
• SAF Facility [37 org., 12.6% of total],
• Technology Provider [30 org, 10.2% of total],
• Commercial and Legal Services [29 org, 9.9% of total], and
• Feedstock Provider [25 org, 8.5% of total].

Whilst technologies and provision of services to create UK SAF industry are constantly growing, this analysis highlights some of the most common types of services or technologies on offer across the supply chain:

• Storage [48 org., 16.3% of total],
• FT [24 org., 8.2% of total],
• EPC [21 org, 7.1% of total],
• Hydrogen Supplier [16 org, 5.4% of total], and
• Jet Fuel Supplier [13 org, 4.4% of total].

Share of Key Feedstocks in the UK SAF Supply Chain

The availability of, and access to feedstocks is critical to growing the UK SAF industry. The UK SAF production facilities currently confirmed utilise a variety of feedstocks from municipal waste to industrial gases. To ensure a growing supply of SAF, a range of domestic feedstocks will be required with the top five feedstocks according to number of organisations, are:

• CO2 & Hydrogen [14 org., 19.7% of total],
• MSW [14 org., 19.7% of total],
• CO2 [10 org, 14.1% of total],
• Biomass [6 org, 8.5% of total], and
• Biogas [4 org, 5.6% of total].

Next Steps and Engagement

Organisations wishing to be included in the SAF capability map can contact us on safenquiries@iukbc.org.uk with their organisation name, capability description, website, and postcode.