Phelan Green taps Johnson Matthey for South African SAF plant

Phelan Green Group subsidiary Phelan Green Hydrogen has licensed core process technologies from a subsidiary of Johnson Matthey PLC (JM) to equip Phase 1 of the operator’s planned electro‑sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) complex in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, South Africa.

As part of the contract announced on June 16, Johnson Matthey Catalyst Technologies (JM CT) will provide its proprietary HyCOgen technology, which catalytically converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) and electrolytic (green) hydrogen into carbon monoxide (CO) that will be combined with hydrogen to form synthesis gas (syngas), JM said.

Syngas produced via the HyCOgen process will then be converted using the additionally licensed JM-bp PLC jointly developed Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS technology into synthetic crude for upgrading into synthetic paraffinic kerosine suitable for aviation, according to the service provider.

This most recent contract for the roughly $2.5-billion proposed project follows Phelan Green’s previous award in April 2026 to Honeywell UOP LLC for licensing of the provider’s proprietary FT Unicracking process technology, which uses FT liquids and waxes made from CO₂ to create eSAF that complies with aviation industry standards.

Designed to produce about 35,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of eSAF, Phase 1 of the proposed eSAF plant will be followed by subsequent phases to expand overall production capacity at the site to about 140,000 tpy across all phases, according to Phelan Green and its project technology licensors.

Phase 1 of Phelan Green’s eSAF plant comes as part of the company’s broader clean-hydrogen development at Saldanha Bay that—launched in November 2023 with an $800-million initial investment—aims to produce about 80,000 tpy of green hydrogen and 400,000 tpy of e-methanol for export to EU and UK markets, according to the operator.

Official construction on the Saldanha Bay eSAF project is scheduled to begin in fourth-quarter 2026, Honeywell UOP said.