New Heathrow SAF goal for 2026 exceeds UK government mandate

Heathrow is increasing its SAF incentive scheme with the aim of going 2% beyond the UK’s 3.6% SAF Mandate in 2026. Under the revised programme, Heathrow aims to support airlines in reaching a total SAF uplift of 5.6% of all fuel supplied at the airport next year.

If both the mandate and incentive targets are fully met, this would equate to around 350,000 tonnes of SAF, says Heathrow. More than £80mn has been allocated to the 2026 scheme, with funding designed to approximately halve the price differential between conventional aviation kerosene and SAF, which is typically more expensive to produce at present.

The UK’s SAF Mandate came into force at the start of 2025, requiring 2% of total UK jet fuel demand to be met by SAF. The obligation rose to 3.6% in 2026, and will rise to 10% in 2030 and 22% by 2040.

Heathrow estimates that achieving a 5.6% SAF share could cut CO₂ emissions associated with flights using fuel uplifted at the airport by about 600,000 tonnes in 2026. Using the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator, this reduction is comparable to emissions from roughly 950,000 economy return passenger journeys between London Heathrow and the US’s New York City, it says.

Heathrow has longer-term ambitions to increase SAF to 11% of total fuel uplift by 2030.

Airlines participating in the scheme are expected to receive payments linked to the verified volume of SAF purchased and used at Heathrow, subject to eligibility criteria.  

Matt Gorman, Heathrow’s Director of Sustainability, said: ‘Sustainable aviation fuel is not a hypothetical concept for the future, it’s already producing real impact in 2026. Heathrow is leading the way globally, with 17% of the world’s SAF supply in 2024 used at the airport. SAF is a key lever on aviation’s journey to net zero by 2050, and a key element of Heathrow’s net zero plan. Our incentive delivers real progress today, as well as a future promise for tomorrow.’

SAF is produced through several certified technological pathways using diverse feedstocks. Hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) currently dominate, accounting for an estimated 80–90% of global output. Other key routes include alcohol-to-jet (AtJ), Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis from gasification, and power-to-liquid (PtL) or e-fuels, which convert waste, biomass or captured carbon into drop-in jet fuel.

On a lifecycle basis, SAF can deliver average greenhouse gas emissions savings of more than 70% compared with conventional jet fuel, depending on feedstock and production method, according to the UK government.

UK consults on revenue certainty mechanism for SAF

While Heathrow’s initiative strengthens demand signals, the UK government is seeking to underpin domestic supply through a revenue certainty mechanism (RCM).

On 12 January 2026, it launched a consultation on the design of the RCM, intended to complement the SAF Mandate by providing long-term revenue stability for UK-based producers.

Law firm King & Spalding reports in a recent publication that the RCM will be implemented as a contract for difference (CfD) under a private law contract with a government-backed counterparty, likely the Low Carbon Contracts Company, which already acts as counterparty for other UK renewable and clean energy programmes.

Under the CfD model, SAF producers would be offered a guaranteed strike price, pre-agreed in the support contract and intended to make projects economically viable. When the strike price exceeds the reference price, the government counterparty would pay the difference. If the reference price rises above the strike price, the producer would repay the surplus.

Getting the reference price right will be critical. King & Spalding notes that establishing an appropriate benchmark will be challenging in a nascent market with no well-established price index beyond the HEFA pathway.

The RCM is expected to be open to all SAF production technologies except HEFA-based biofuels, including power-to-liquids (e-fuels), recycled carbon fuels and non-HEFA biofuels. To qualify, fuels must meet detailed sustainability criteria aligned with the SAF Mandate.

The mechanism will be funded via a levy on fossil aviation fuel suppliers in the UK. While final details remain under consultation, the levy is expected to vary depending on the difference payments due under the CfD contracts in each period. Suppliers would contribute proportionate to their market share of fossil jet fuel.

This structure could incentivise fossil fuel suppliers to invest directly in UK SAF projects, both to manage levy exposure and to secure supply to meet mandate obligations, suggests the law firm.

The government aims to complete all necessary legislation by the end of 2026 and has committed to publishing a timeline and strategy for the first SAF RCM allocation round, known as SAF AR1.

Meanwhile, at the European level, the EU is also reported to be preparing supply-side support, likely via a double-sided auction to incentivise production of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs).

More detailed commentary on the design of the RCM and information on responding to the consultation can be found in King & Spalding’s full publication.

SkyNRG breaks ground on standalone SAF facility in the Netherlands

Supply momentum is also materialising on the ground. SkyNRG has reached financial close on its DSL-01 SAF production facility at the Delfzijl chemical park in the north of the Netherlands and has started construction.

Once operational, DSL-01 is expected to produce 100,000 t/y of SAF and 35,000 tonnes of sustainable by-products, including biobased propane, butane and naphtha. According to SkyNRG, the plant will use the HEFA pathway enabled by HydroFlex technology from Topsoe, which is designed to process a wide range of renewable feedstocks.

Meanwhile, engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) partner Technip Energies describes DSL-01 as Europe’s first standalone greenfield SAF production facility. The project will integrate an advanced feedstock pre-treatment unit and an on-site hydrogen plant based on the company’s steam methane reforming (SMR) technology. ‘This configuration is intended to improve cost efficiency and minimise lifecycle emissions, thereby enabling large-scale competitive production of SAF,’ it says.

Construction of DSL-01 has begun and startup is expected mid-2028. KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines is the primary off-taker for the SAF produced.  

SkyNRG also reports that the project is the first commercial-scale SAF plant to ‘secure non-recourse project financing’, a milestone it argues demonstrates growing market confidence in scalable SAF production and offers a template for future projects globally. [Non-recourse project finance is a loan structure where debt is secured solely by the project’s assets and cash flows, rather than the general assets of the sponsors. If the project defaults, lenders can seize the project’s collateral but cannot pursue the parent company for any shortfall.]

Beyond the Netherlands, SkyNRG is developing Project Wigeon in the Pacific Northwest, US, with aerospace company Boeing. In Northern Sweden, it is also developing Project SkyKraft with Swedish municipal-owned energy company Skellefteå Kraft, an e-SAF facility that will produce sustainable aviation fuel from renewable electricity, green hydrogen and biogenic CO₂. 

Computer rendering of SkyNRG’s DSL-01 SAF project in the Netherlands 

Photo: Technip Energies