Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways have joined forces with Renewable Developments Australia (RDA) to support the development of what is being described as a 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility in far north Queensland, reports Greenair.
The Brisbane-based RDA plans to construct an ethanol-to-jet (EtJ) plant near Charters Towers, a regional inland town nearly 140 kilometres from Townsville, using bioethanol derived from locally grown sugarcane.
Subject to final investment approval, RDA is targeting production of up to 96 million litres of SAF annually by 2029. The company says the project will incorporate technology from several international partners and has received a written commitment from Boeing to support the venture with policy advocacy and technical expertise.
This new partnership is part of a broader memorandum of understanding signed by Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways in October 2023, under which the two airlines agreed to cooperate not only on commercial matters but also on sustainability initiatives aimed at reducing aviation-related carbon emissions in Australia.
Virgin Australia confirmed plans to procure SAF from the Charters Towers facility, though it noted that the agreement is “subject to several factors which are commercial-in-confidence.”
RDA says the project is unique in its fully integrated design. Sugarcane will be cultivated onsite, with waste materials from SAF production recycled to generate renewable electricity, making the facility energy self-sufficient. The company is currently in the pre-final investment decision stage.
The chosen site for the project lies south-west of Charters Towers and was selected based on findings from feasibility studies that identified reliable biomass supply as critical to producing consistent, low-carbon, and cost-effective renewable fuels. RDA highlighted the area’s favourable agricultural conditions, including more sunshine than coastal regions, reliable rainfall, sustainable water resources, and protection from extreme weather events like cyclones.
In a separate SAF initiative in North Queensland, Virgin Australia recently announced it will begin sourcing blended SAF from Viva Energy at Proserpine Airport between March and July this year.
Charters Towers is also near another major sugarcane-to-SAF project underway in Townsville, led by Jet Zero Australia in partnership with Qantas, Airbus, the Queensland Government, and U.S.-based SAF producer LanzaJet. That project aims to produce up to 102 million litres of SAF annually.
