Sustainable aviation fuel plant in SCZone?

Qatar’s Al Mana Holding is establishing a foothold in the Suez Canal’s logistics value chain, deploying USD 200 mn to establish a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Ain Sokhna. This marks the first Qatari industrial investment in the SCZone and the opening move in a broader USD 2-2.5 bn industrial play from the Qatari private sector and government, a government source tells EnterpriseAM.

What we know: The project will be managed by Al Mana’s subsidiary Green Sky Capital via the project vehicle SAFFly Egypt. The facility will span 100k sqm — with 30k sqm dedicated specifically to Sokhna Port for export infrastructure — and is expected to produce 200k tons of SAF and bio-byproducts annually by the end of 2027, all derived from refined used cooking oil (UCO).

REMEMBER- The project achieved a big milestone last week after securing long-termagreement to purchase the full production of the project, providing certainty for investors that are long-wary of the lack of offtake agreements for alternative fuels production projects.

SAFFly could plug into a new government-backed collection system for used cooking oil, the feedstock for SAF. The Madbouly government has been working to formalize the supply chain for used cooking oil, having recently launched a collection system that targets 500k tons by 2030 and 730k tons by 2035.

Competition for spent French-fry oil? The state’s own planned USD 530 mn SAF complex in Alexandria — which is being developed with technology licensing from Honeywell — also needs cooking oil as feedstock.

This is the Qatari diversification play going live. Until now, the Qatari pipeline has been top-heavy with real estate assets — like the USD 3.5 bn Alam El Roum project. The new plant unlocks a high-value investment track targeting the logistics industry.