Spanish solar firm Solarig buys space for EUR-780m SAF plant in Spain

Spanish solar developer Solarig has secured land from a public entity in Spain’s region of Castile and Leon to build a sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) plant with an estimated investment of EUR 780 million (USD 847.8m).

Solarig on Wednesday announced an agreement with the region’s infrastructure and environment investment manager Somacyl to acquire 116,000 square metres of surface in the PEMA industrial park in Soria, where it seeks to build a plant with a capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of SAF per year.

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The project, named Numantia SAF, will also include the construction of ancillary renewable energy facilities, such as a 370-MWp solar farm, a 50-MW wind farm and a battery energy storage system of 100 MWh.

Solarig said it would set up two pathways to SAF -- gas-to-liquid and power-to-liquid -- within the same facility. The former will consist of the reforming of biomethane obtained from processed local agricultural and livestock waste. The latter will combine biogenic CO2 with renewable hydrogen. All of these processes will be powered by renewable energy.

Construction of the Numantia SAF plant is expected to start in 2026. Commissioning and operations are set to begin in 2028. Solarig estimates the project will create 870 jobs during construction and more than 140 jobs during the operation and maintenance phase.

“A few months ago, Solarig launched the development of a biomethane strategy in Castilla y León, and today Solarig is announcing a pioneering project in the world with a fully circular approach: it involves the use and recovery of biogas produced from our agricultural and livestock waste together with renewable resources: water, wind and sun. By combining these local resources with the latest technology, Solarig will be able to join the sustainable fuel economy that is now emerging,” Solarig CEO Miguel Angel Calleja said.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.087)