Axens, XCF Global team up to speed SAF project deployment

Axens on May 20 signed a commercial collaboration with XCF Global that is aimed at speeding deployment of Vegan, its proprietary HEFA technology for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. The three-year framework keeps Axens in its role as the technology licensor, while giving XCF Global room to independently provide project development, construction and operational services for customers that need more than a process license to move a plant from concept to startup.

The companies said the arrangement is not a joint venture or merger. Each will contract independently with project developers, and the pact does not create an agency relationship or an exchange of confidential technical information between them. That structure points directly at one of the market’s recurring bottlenecks: renewable fuels projects often have bankable chemistry but still stall when financing, engineering, procurement, construction and startup all have to line up at once. The collaboration is built to reduce that coordination risk.

XCF Global said the model pairs Axens’ Vegan process with XCF’s modular refinery design and execution approach. XCF also said it is one of the few publicly traded U.S. renewable fuels companies focused primarily on SAF, and that it trades on Nasdaq under SAFX. The company said it has experience developing and operating a commercial Vegan unit in the United States, a credential that gives the partnership a practical angle as project developers look for operational support, not just a process diagram.

Vegan is one of Axens’ core HEFA offerings. Axens says the technology can process a wide range of lipid feedstocks, including vegetable oils and waste-based oils, and is suitable for standalone, integrated or revamped refinery units. That flexibility matters as feedstock competition tightens and project economics become more sensitive to input quality, availability and local logistics. Axens has positioned Vegan as a globally marketed technology for SAF and HVO production through the HEFA pathway, and says it remains a leader in licensing and developing sustainable refining and biofuels technologies.

The collaboration also comes as Axens continues to push the commercial maturity of Vegan. In January 2025, Axens said the technology had reached its first reference start-up eight years earlier and that three additional Vegan units were expected to start up in the following months. XCF said its experience includes a first international licensing agreement tied to the New Rise Renewables Australia facility. Taken together, the deal underscores a shift in SAF competition: faster delivery of proven process packages may matter as much as, or more than, another new conversion pathway.