Montana Renewables, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Calumet, has revised its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) expansion plan at its Great Falls, Montana facility to a more capital-efficient approach, it is reported. Remaining capital spending has been reduced from an original $1.2 billion to $137 million, while the target of 200 million gallons of annual production by the end of 2028 remains unchanged.
Montana Renewables plans to expand its current SAF production capacity of approximately 60 million gallons per year in stages, reaching 80 million gallons by the end of 2026, 120 million gallons by spring 2027, and 200 million gallons by the end of 2028, the company said. As part of the revision, the company also reduced its planned use of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee, increasing the share funded through retained earnings.
Remaining capital spending was reduced from an original $1.2 billion to $137 million. Production capacity is planned to expand in stages to 80 million gallons by the end of 2026, 120 million gallons by spring 2027, and 200 million gallons by the end of 2028. The remaining DOE loan guarantee was reduced from $658 million to $34 million.
The shift to a capital-efficient expansion approach using existing facilities is reported to be an attempt to maintain the SAF capacity expansion target without requiring large-scale new investment.
If capital-efficient strategies based on retrofitting and optimizing existing facilities spread further in SAF capacity expansion, cases of increasing renewable fuel production capacity without major new capital investment could become more common.