USA BioEnergy to build SAF facility in Texas

USA BioEnergy (USABE), Scottsdale, Arizona, has closed on the acquisition of more than 1,600 acres of land in East Texas for its new $2.8 billion advanced biorefinery, designed to convert wood waste into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The SAF facility has already secured a 20-year offtake agreement with Southwest Airlines, under which Southwest may purchase up to 680 million gallons of unblended SAF.

USABE’s planned greenfield facility in Bon Weir, Texas, aims to address airlines’ growing demand for SAF by converting forest thinnings into fuel.

“This advanced-fuels facility development milestone underscores USA BioEnergy’s commitment to the future of aviation and energy security,” USABE CEO Nick Andrews says. “It bolsters our goal of being the world’s leader in advanced fuels. We also appreciate the opportunity to create good-paying jobs in Newton County, Texas, which has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the state of Texas. We are proud this project is a win-win-win for the area, the industry and our business objectives.” 

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Under the terms of the Southwest Airlines offtake agreement, USABE says that once the SAF is blended with conventional jet fuel it can produce the equivalent of 2.59 billion gallons of net-zero fuel, avoiding 30 million metric tons of CO₂ over the agreement term. This will enable approximately 112,000 short (less than three hours) or 7,000 long haul (more than 10 hours) net-zero airline flights per year, according to USABE’s calculations.

The initial plant footprint is approximately 300 acres. After the engineering and design process concludes, construction of the biorefinery is expected to take about two years, followed by a six-to-eight-month commissioning period. The facility will annually convert one million tons of forest thinnings into 65 million gallons of premium net-zero transportation fuel, including sustainable aviation fuel and renewable naphtha. The plant will also capture and sequester more than 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the biorefinery’s lifetime.

The project has received support from state, county and federal credits and tax incentives totaling approximately $150 million. Local supporting organizations include the Texas Forest Country Partnership, Texas Forestry Association, the City of Newton, Newton County, the Newton Independent School District, Jasper County, the Sabine River Authority (SRA) and the Texas Economic Development and Tourism Office of the Governor.