A new partnership on next-generation Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has been announced between Airbus Canada, Pratt & Whitney Canada, a business unit of Pratt & Whitney, and SAF+ Consortium.
The initiative known as CADAQ-100 is being supported by the Government of Quebec, and the key areas of collaboration between industry partners will include SAF research and testing, including flight testing blends of up to 100% SAF on an Airbus A220 aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines. The parties will provide a total financial contribution of more than CA $17 million, supported by the Government of Québec.
Benoît Schultz, President and CEO of Airbus Canada, said, 'Airbus, alongside many of its customers, is fully committed to expanding the use of SAF, an essential pillar to support the aviation industry's decarbonisation journey. Building this new Canadian ecosystem alongside the SAF+ Consortium demonstrated the airframer’s commitment to making SAF an economically viable solution available to customers and partners globally, he added.
The industry partners will also conduct feasibility studies for establishing local production facilities for power-to-liquid e-SAF in Quebec, which could lead to the development of a commercial e-SAF plant targeting an annual output of up to 100 million litres of e-SAF by 2028.
The e-SAF would be produced using power-to-liquid technology, using renewable energy to synthesise captured CO2 emissions with green hydrogen, producing a clean aviation fuel with a potential reduction in lifecycle CO2 emissions by up to 90% compared to conventional kerosene.
Edward Hoskin, Vice President, Engineering, Pratt & Whitney Canada, said SAF represented a key drop-in solution for reducing the environmental impact of thousands of aircraft flying today and in the coming decades, and thereby would enable the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. He said collaboration between the public and private sectors is critical to achieving these goals.
Jean Paquin, President and CEO of SAF+ Consortium, said the company already had multiple purchase commitments from Canadian airlines in place, and for its ambition to achieve net-zero emissions, investment in SAF production infrastructure is urgently needed. The collaboration would help accelerate the SAF+ Consortium’s vision to transform Montreal into a North American sustainable aviation hub.
All Airbus aircraft and all modern Pratt & Whitney engines today are compatible with SAF blended up to 50% with conventional Jet Fuel-A, and work is underway to validate compatibility up to 100% SAF.
Airbus aims to have all its commercial and military aircraft and helicopters capable of operating with 100% SAF by 2030.
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