Exolum has announced an investment of £4.5 million to establish a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blending facility at Redcliffe Bay in south-west England. The facility at Redcliffe Bay will supply blended SAF through Exolum’s national pipeline network to airports in southern England and Wales, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Bristol, Exeter, and Cardiff. It will form part of a planned 2,000 km pipeline-based SAF blending hub network, referred to as the SAF Superhighway, which will provide access to jet fuel for about 40 per cent of flights departing from UK airports.
The project is expected to commence operations from 2026, and support the decarbonisation of approximately 64,741 flights annually between London and New York. Unblended SAF will be delivered by ship to Bristol’s Royal Portbury dock, and transported via pipeline to the Redcliffe Bay site, where it will be stored and blended with conventional aviation fuel.
The project includes infrastructure upgrades such as the conversion of existing aviation fuel tanks for SAF storage, installation of advanced blending infrastructure to ensure compliance with the technical standards, and modification of the existing system by installing pumps, filtration units, and segregation valves for transport and integration with the existing pipeline network.
Furthermore, the project is part of a broader plan to develop a nationwide network of SAF blending hubs across the country. The initiative coincides with the progress of the UK’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill, which aims to introduce new subsidies to support domestic SAF production.
