Alfanar completes FEED for Teesside SAF project, moves closer to build

Alfanar said on June 11 it had completed front-end engineering design for Lighthouse Green Fuels, the Teesside sustainable aviation fuel project that would produce 180 million litres of SAF and 30 million litres of renewable naphtha a year if it reaches commercial operation. The FEED milestone matters because it locks down the plant’s technical configuration, from feedstock handling and gasification through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, utilities, storage and possible carbon capture integration, moving the scheme from concept toward a financeable build.

The project is planned for a brownfield site at Seal Sands on the north bank of the River Tees, in Stockton-on-Tees and Redcar and Cleveland. Alfanar says the site is already connected to the grid and has established oxygen, natural gas and water links, a significant advantage for a plant of this scale because it can cut infrastructure risk and shorten the path to construction.

Lighthouse Green Fuels has already cleared several planning steps. The scheme received an original Section 35 direction on Oct. 25, 2022, which was varied on April 23, 2024. A newer Section 35 direction request for the renamed LGF Projects Limited application was submitted to the secretary of state on Aug. 12, 2025. That followed statutory consultation in December 2025 and January 2026, with a further targeted consultation in April and May 2026.

The design is built around sustainably sourced biomass residues and, if carbon capture and storage is included, could deliver carbon-negative fuel. Alfanar’s project material says the plant will convert roughly 1 million tonnes of waste into 165 million litres of aviation fuel a year, while planning material puts the SAF output at 180 million litres annually. Tees Valley Combined Authority has said the project could avoid more than 750,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year when paired with CCS, with the scheme linked to carbon capture infrastructure under development off Teesside by the Northern Endurance Partnership.

The project’s financing and policy backing remain central to its bankability. Alfanar said it has already invested £90 million and expects to put in another 100 million euros before final investment decision, which it expects by the end of 2027. The UK government’s Advanced Fuels Fund has awarded Lighthouse Green Fuels £8 million in its third round, after Alfanar said it won an additional £8.66 million in 2023. The UK SAF Mandate, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2025, starts at 2% of UK jet fuel demand and rises to 10% in 2030 and 22% in 2040.

Officials have cast the scheme as strategically important for both aviation decarbonisation and regional industry. The government has described Lighthouse Green Fuels as the first major refinery project in the UK for decades and said it could supply fuel for 27,000 flights a year, while the secretary of state has said projects of this kind are nationally and internationally significant for net zero. Alfanar says the plant could support more than 2,000 construction jobs and 300 permanent roles once built.