DG Fuels has revealed the location of its upcoming $5 billion sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant. The city of Moorhead, located in Clay County, Minnesota, has been chosen as the site, and when completed, the plant will produce 193 million gallons of SAF per year and generate around 650 jobs.
When SAF production begins in 2030, DG Fuels will use its specialized expertise to produce SAF in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
The plant will work by converting low-value agricultural waste, such as corn stover and timber waste, into high-value SAF, making its location in Clay County ideal - the region is well-known for its extensive farmland and abundant timber resources.
The plant will also stimulate economic growth in the region, with an estimated state-wide economic impact of $50 billion over the next 30 years, according to Michael C. Darcy, the CEO of DG Fuels. Darcy went on to explain how the process works, adding,
“DG Fuels’ baseline process differs from other systems by having little or no environmental emissions either to the atmosphere or waters while at the same time providing significant economic value to the agricultural communities and farmers that we partner with."
The program's initial milestone is to be in a position to deliver 100 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) by 2030, rising to 193 million gallons when the plant is fully working.
The SAF produced by DG Fuels has the added advantage that it is compatible with existing aircraft engines, reducing the need for additional manufacturing or costly engine conversions.
Last year, DG Fuels announced its partnership with Airbus. At the time, the European aircraft manufacturer's CEO, Guillaume Faury, celebrated the news, saying,
"Sustainable aviation fuels play a crucial role in enabling aviation's decarbonization roadmap. We are committed to supporting all efforts that contribute to making them available at scale around the globe. The partnership with DG Fuels supports the emergence of a new technological pathway allowing for the production of SAFs from a broader range of waste and residue sources, first in the US with a potential for large-scale production worldwide."
Locating the facility close to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport makes sense, given that the airport processed more than 34 million passengers last year, making it the 18th-busiest in the country. Domestically, the most popular routes in 2023 were to:
- Denver (DEN) - 938,000 passengers
- Phoenix (PHX) - 639,000 passengers
- Chicago (ORD) - 630,000 passengers
- Atlanta (ATL) - 600,000 passengers
- Las Vegas (LAS) - 591,000 passengers.
The airport serves as a hub for Delta Air Lines, with the carrier commanding a market share of almost 60%. Delta Air Lines operates transpacific routes to both Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND), as well as transatlantic services to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and the two SkyTeam hubs of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG).
