Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels (NWABF) has received a major boost in its plans to establish a renewable fuels refinery in Washington state after signing a $70 million funding partnership with Black Gold Equity Partners. This additional funding will help to establish a $3 billion production facility using woody biomass as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The company—which has a SAF offtake agreement with Delta Air Lines—expects to break ground next year in the Port of Longview. It holds a long-term lease for 250 acres along the Columbia River corridor, allowing for maritime transport of both the feedstock and finished biofuel.
NWABF expects the facility to be operational by first-quarter 2031, with an annual output of 60 million gallons of neat SAF, produced via a gasification/Fischer-Tropsch-based process, which first breaks the biomass down into a gas before converting it into liquid synthetic fuel.
“One of the greatest challenges facing the sustainable fuels industry isn’t technology—it’s access to capital,” said Dave Smoot, founder of Northwest Advanced Bio-Fuels. “Black Gold Equity Partners understands what it takes to build a project like this one. Their backing helps us move from concept to construction, and we believe it shows what’s possible for sustainable fuel infrastructure across the country.”
More In Sustainability and Environment
