Allied Biofuels FE LLC (Allied Biofuels) has let a contract to a consortium of Topsoe AS and Sasol Ltd. to jointly deliver technology licensing and engineering services for the operator’s plan to build Central Asia’s first integrated biorefinery and solar-powered clean fuels complex in Uzbekistan’s Khorezm Region.

As part of the mid-July contract award, Topsoe and Sasol will provide the core technology license, engineering design package, and technical services for the proposed electro‑sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) complex, which will primarily produce eSAF using a combination of captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) with green hydrogen, as well as SAF from bio-based feedstocks like waste oils and fats, Topsoe and Sasol said.

The technology partners specifically will provide Allied Biofuels’ project with their Topsoe-Sasol integrated G2L process, which consists of the service providers’ following proprietary technologies:

• Topsoe’s SynCor reforming technology for converting methane-rich gas and oxygen to carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the two key syngas components required by the low-temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LTFT) synthesis process.
• Sasol’s LTFT synthesis process for catalytic conversion of carbon monoxide and hydrogen into long-chain molecules.
• Topsoe’s hydroprocessing technology, which breaks down, isomerizes, and saturates the long-chain molecules to produce designated end-products (e.g., jet fuel, diesel, naphtha).
• Topsoe’s hydrogen technology for production of low-carbon hydrogen to power associated hydroprocessing and syngas processes.

The integrated G2L process will enable the proposed complex to produce more than 300,000 tonnes/year (tpy) combined of eSAF and SAF, the licensing partners said.

The contract award marks a major milestone for “Allied Biofuels’ development of a globally competitive clean fuels platform capable of contributing to the aviation sector’s growing need for credible, scalable SAF and eSAF,” said Alfred Benedict, managing director at Allied Biofuels.

Intended to simultaneously strengthen Uzbekistan’s role in the aviation sector’s transition toward lower-carbon fuels, attract clean energy investment, support the development of a domestic and export-oriented low-carbon fuels industry, and position Khorezm Region as a future hub for green industrial development, Allied Biofuels’ most recently confirmed its proposed $6.1-billion integrated complex specifically will produce about:

• 257,000 tpy e-SAF.
• 160,400 tpy SAF.
• 5,040 tpy of renewable diesel.

The complex will be supported by a large-scale renewable energy system, including about 4.45 Gw of renewable power, 1,600 Mw-hr of battery energy storage, and 2.4 Gw of electrolyzers supplied by Plug Power Inc. for green hydrogen production, the operator said.

The planned e-fuels project comes during a period of rapidly growing demand for SAF, alongside expanding regulation and incentives for its production and deployment, including the European Union's (EU) ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, which requires fuel suppliers to deliver 1.2% share of eSAF in all EU airports by 2030, and 35% by 2050, Topsoe said.

Pending the outcome of Allied Biofuels’ final investment decision on the project due in 2027, the complex, if approved, would reach full-scale commercial operations sometime in 2030, according to the Topsoe-Sasol partnership.