SAF INVESTOR LONDON 2025 • REPORT
Reasons to be cheerful
SAF prospects energised speakers at our London conference. But no one minimised the challenges ahead. Words: Oscar Henderson
Attendees listen to panellists as they demystify the cost of compliance with sustainable aviation fuel mandates.
SAF INVESTOR LONDON 2025 • REPORT
Attendees listen to panellists as they demystify the cost of compliance with sustainable aviation fuel mandates.
Reasons to be cheerful
SAF prospects energised speakers at our London conference. But no one minimised the challenges ahead. Words: Oscar Henderson
OPTIMISM was in the air at our SAF Investor London conference. Some 78% of attendees were optimistic about the market for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) during our event in May.
But more needs to be done to ensure SAF delivers its true potential. Almost half (48%) of the audience believed the industry needs more demand signals in order to ensure projects closed. IAG was awarded the Offtaker of the year award at our annual awards ceremony in recognition of its industry leadership and to encourage others.
In a room of SAF believers, less than half admitted to using book and claim. (This system enables fuel purchasers to claim the environmental benefits of SAF without requiring the physical delivery of the fuel to their specific flights. It is designed to widen access to the environmental benefits of SAF by decoupling its sustainability benefits from physical fuel purchases)
Airbus, which showcased its Airbus Book & Claim Demonstrator (ABCD) at the conference, hopes the technology will boost update of the system. is hoping to raise this. Launched this year, its ABCD pilot programme enables purchases to buy SAF certificates. This allows them to claim the associated emissions reduction benefits, even if the fuel is used elsewhere. Airbus acts as a facilitator, managing the SAF certificates through the RSB Book & Claim Registry.
Alastair Blanshard, ICF.
Kwame Bekow (right) of AfriSAF chats to industry colleagues.
LanzaJet’s Jimmy Samartzis says partnerships remain key to scaling SAF globally.
Gene Gebolys of World Energy: Going from first-of-a-kind to nth-of-a-kind SAF projects requires continuous learning. Its about derisking projects to make investors see the opportunity.
Alex Harrison, partner, Projects & Energy Transition at Akin, highlighted what financiers are looking for in offtakes. This includes provisions for price risk, volume risk, duration and location.
Government support helps, but Geraldine Pic-Paris, director of Sales, EMEA at ATOBA Energy warned that mandates and subsidies are “not enough to see a difference”. The investment community needs additional mechanisms – particularly long-term offtake agreements with creditworthy buyers – to justify the capital commitments required, she said.
Alastair Blanshard, director, Sustainable Aviation, ICF told attendees that predicted demand levels are expected to grow from about 1m tonnes of neat SAF this year to 16m tonnes in 2030. Of that total, 10m tonnes is expected to be accounted for by the mandated areas of the UK and the EU, with the US and China also expected to boost their demand.
Gene Gebolys, CEO, World Energy highlighted the critical importance of demand. Policy stability in the US can only come in four-year terms, so allowing market dynamics to provide certainty is vital, he said. Meanwhile, the World Energy team continues to work on the expansion of its Paramount facility and a second project in Texas.
David Jerez Antoni of PGGM says fund beneficiaries are seeking exposure in sustainability-linked investments.
