The investment will enable the availability of SAF under an innovative fuel offtake agreement with American Airlines, with financial support from Citi
Infinium and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst announced this week, a $75 million project equity investment commitment to support Infinium’s Project Roadrunner, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions. Project Roadrunner will convert waste carbon dioxide (CO2) and renewable power into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other low-carbon fuels. This first-of-a-kind commercial-scale Power-to-Liquids (PtL) eFuels facility is expected to be the largest PtL eFuels project in North America once operational. Breakthrough Energy Catalyst funds and invests in first-of-a-kind projects that support the deployment of emerging climate technologies to reduce emissions and accelerate the clean energy transition. This commitment represents Catalyst’s first equity investment to date.
Project Roadrunner, located in West Texas, will convert an existing brownfield gas-to-liquids project into a fully integrated eFuels facility that will deliver products into both U.S. and international markets. It will primarily produce Infinium eSAF, a sustainable aviation fuel with the potential to significantly reduce the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with air travel. PtL SAF is expected to reduce lifecycle GHG emissions in aviation by around 90 percent, which is higher than the emissions reductions achieved using SAF on the market today. Project Roadrunner will also produce Infinium eNaphtha for use in plastics manufacturing and Infinium eDiesel for use in hard-to-electrify transportation methods, such as long-haul trucking and maritime applications.
In tandem with Catalyst’s investment in Infinium, American Airlines and Infinium have entered into an innovative, firm offtake agreement for Infinium eSAF. This agreement is a critical enabler of further investment in Project Roadrunner. American joined Breakthrough Energy Catalyst as an anchor partner to accelerate the development of next-generation clean energy technologies, including SAF. The Catalyst team worked to develop the agreement alongside the American and Infinium teams. The agreement provides one model for how airlines can use offtake agreements to help promising new SAF technologies attract investment dollars.
In further support of this offtake agreement, Citi and American Airlines have separately agreed to transfer the associated emission reductions to Citi to support the scaling of this innovative technology and help reduce a portion of Citi’s Scope 3 emissions from employee travel. Citi is also a partner of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst.
Infinium has numerous eFuels projects in development across the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Japan and Australia.
“The investment from Catalyst is critical to accelerating the completion of Project Roadrunner and to the delivery of significant volumes of eFuels created from waste carbon dioxide and renewable power. Importantly, this project will serve as a template for other, larger eFuels plants under development,” said Robert Schuetzle, CEO at Infinium. “The groundbreaking commercial agreement with American is an important prototype for the aviation industry as its firm offtake agreement supports project financing, providing revenue certainty for the project.”
“This project is a landmark achievement for the development of sustainable aviation fuels and the offtake agreement provides a model for the entire aviation industry of one way to effect change and support the scale-up of capital-intensive projects,” said Mario Fernandez, Head of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. “Infinium’s technological and commercial maturity, coupled with the company’s project development expertise, will help accelerate the clean energy transition by quickly bringing to market clean fuels for aviation, trucking, and other long-distance parts of the transportation sector. American’s creativity, commitment and collaboration with Citi, have set a new marker, demonstrating what it takes to usher in a climate-friendly aviation future.”
“American joined Breakthrough Energy Catalyst because we saw the potential to accelerate the commercialization of the clean energy technologies of the future. Today, we see the realization of that potential in Catalyst’s investment in Infinium’s electrofuels SAF, coupled with American’s long-term commitment to purchase those fuels,” said Jill Blickstein, American’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Our partnership with Catalyst – and our new commitment with Infinium – exemplifies the novel collaboration necessary to bring to market the new technologies that will allow us to decarbonize.”
“Citi is proud to work with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, American Airlines and Infinium in this effort to support the commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel," said Val Smith, Citi's Chief Sustainability Officer. "Infinium's eSAF technology is the latest example of innovation and growth in the climate solutions space. We hope the offtake arrangement with American, where we combine their direct use of SAF with our indirect use through our business travel, will serve as one model for how offtake agreements can be used to help scale up future solutions for low-emissions air travel.”
Infinium is an electrofuels provider on a mission to decarbonize the world. Electrofuels are a new class of synthetic fuels made using renewable power and waste carbon dioxide, not petroleum or resources needed to produce food. Infinium electrofuels can be dropped into existing trucks, planes, and ships, significantly reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions compared to fossil-based fuels. In addition to helping the transport industry meet carbon reduction goals, Infinium electrofuels are a lower carbon alternative for chemical processing, including plastics production.
Breakthrough Energy is committed to accelerating the world’s journey to a clean energy future. The organization funds breakthrough technologies, advocates for climate-smart policies, and mobilizes partners around the world to take effective action, accelerating progress at every stage.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a novel platform that funds and invests in first-of-a-kind commercial projects for emerging climate technologies. By investing in these opportunities, Catalyst seeks to accelerate the adoption of these technologies worldwide and reduce their costs.