NorSAF, Nova Pangaea Team Up on Latvia-Based SAF Plant

NorSAF and Nova Pangaea Technologies have joined forces to develop an advanced ethanol production plant in Latvia, which will supply NorSAF's sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility. The project will utilize locally sourced wood waste and Nova Pangaea's proprietary REFNOVA technology to convert the biomass into ethanol.

The partnership aims to address Europe's growing challenge of meeting increasing demand for SAF while developing more resilient and locally sourced feedstock supply chains. Over the coming decade, SAF production must scale up dramatically under EU regulations, which require aviation fuel suppliers to sharply increase the share of SAF at EU airports from 2% in 2025 to 6% in 2030, and jumping to 20% by 2035.

NorSAF's founder and Board Member, Janis Kisiels, emphasized that Europe cannot strengthen its energy security simply by reducing fossil-fuel imports. It also needs to build the industrial capacity to produce clean fuels that will replace them. The current reliance on overseas feedstocks like used cooking oil leaves the aviation sector vulnerable to international supply chain shocks.

Nova Pangaea's REFNOVA technology converts waste biomass, such as woody and agricultural residues, into ethanol and biochar, a valuable co-product which permanently captures carbon and makes the whole process carbon negative. The resulting locally sourced ethanol can then be converted into SAF through the alcohol-to-jet pathway.