A Bristol-headquartered biofuel company has secured a £5m investment from sustainable airline Wizz Air.
Firefly Green Fuels, based in Bristol, marks the airline's first equity investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) research and development. Wizz Air has said that the partnership will allow it to supply SAF to its UK operations from 2028, up to 525,000 tonnes over 15 years.
Firefly Green Fuels specialises in a process, which converts sewage sludge, a low-value waste product available in large quantities, into SAF. It is said that more than 57m tonnes of sewage sludge are produced in the UK each year, with the potential to produce 250,000 tonnes of SAF.
The agreement with Firefly is the latest milestone for Wizz Air's sustainability strategy, including its fleet renewable plan. This new venture will further strengthen Wizz Air's commitment to reducing its carbon emissions by 2030.
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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 SAF, which will be independently certified against the leading sustainability standard RSB, is projected to deliver a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil jet fuel on a life cycle basis, according to the Centre for Aviation Awards for Excellence 2022. It has also been predicted that Firefly will have its first commercial plant operating within the next five years.
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