Worley to provide FEED services for Alfanar’s UK SAF project

Worley announced on June 3 it has been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) services contract for a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) biorefinery under development by Saudi Arabia-based Alfanar in Teesside, U.K.

Alfanar’s proposed Lighthouse Green Fuels project will convert residual solid waste, including municipal solid waste (MSW), refuse-derived fuel or solid recovered fuel, into SAF and biobased naphtha. The facility is expected to have the capacity to process 1 million tons of feedstock annually, producing approximately 3,200 barrels per day (47.55 MMgy) of SAF and naphtha.

The U.K. Department for Transport in July 2021 named the Lighthouse Green Fuels project as one of eight companies that were shortlisted to receive a share of £15 million ($20.82 million) to develop first-of-a-kind production plants in the U.K. to convert waste into SAF.

A statement released by Alfanar at that time indicates the proposed facility will use a waste-to-liquid process that utilizes gasification and Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce biobased fuels. According to Worley, the facility is currently expected to begin commercial operations in 2027, following the scheduled start-up of the first Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy carbon cluster in Teesside.

Worley said it will provide FEED services for the project and develop the existing early front-end engineering package and integrate the licensor scope to provide a greater level of definition to the project.

“Our work with Alfanar on this important project will contribute to the decarbonization of air and road transportation,” said Bradley Andrews, president of Worley. “The project aims to make fuel which produces 80 percent fewer greenhouse gases than current fossil fuels, which could potentially save over 300,000 [metric tons] per annum of emissions each year. When coupled with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology the plant could achieve in excess of 750,000 [metric tons] per annum.”

“The U.K has an opportunity to be at the forefront of the SAF sector, with its access to suitable feedstocks and planned carbon capture infrastructure,” said Noaman Aladhami, U.K. country manager, Alfanar Energy Ltd. “Alfanar has committed to the next major phase of the Lighthouse Green Fuels plant by awarding Worley the FEED contract. We chose Worley because of its commitment to supporting sustainable projects and significant experience with delivering complex megaprojects.”