ARENA has given $12.5 million for the initial phase, for engineering and development work to build an integrated supply chain, with a further $19.5 million for front-end engineering design once HAMR has secured co-funding.
It’s the first investment by the government’s $250 million LCLF allocation from the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund, to support domestic production of lower-emissions fuels for aviation and other hard-to-abate sectors. HAMR’s projects include Australia’s first large scale methanol-to-jet SAF refinery in Port Adelaide.
Engineers Alex Smith and David Stribley founded HAMR Energy in 2020 in Melbourne. They hope to process around 600,000 tonnes of plantation forestry residues each year to produce around 300,000 tonnes of low carbon methanol. The Port Adelaide refinery would convert that into approximately 140 million litres of SAF annually, alongside renewable diesel and other low carbon fuels.
The startup expects to create hundreds of construction jobs and more than 200 ongoing roles, and estimates that the SAF it will produce could reduce emissions by approximately 85% compared with fossil fuels.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said investment supports the engineering and development work needed to advance one of Australia’s most promising SAF opportunities.
“HAMR Energy’s project presents an opportunity to use the byproducts of our existing plantation forestry industry to help build a new domestic low-carbon liquid fuels industry that will lower emissions in aviation and strengthen Australia’s fuel security at the same time,” he said.
David Stribley said his company’s projects “have the potential to strengthen Australia’s fuel security, reduce aviation emissions and create skilled jobs across construction, engineering, manufacturing and regional supply chains”.
Plants in Victoria are also on the drawing board.
