Metafuels has opened its aerobrew methanol-to-jet demonstration plant at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, as it prepares a commercial eSAF business targeting operations from 2030. The facility is designed to test and de-risk the process at industrially relevant scale before the company’s planned rollout from its first commercial plant in Rotterdam.
The plant at PSI is described as the first to combine all production steps for making aviation fuel from methanol under one roof, and it is built to produce about 50 litres of SAF a day. PSI and Metafuels frame the project as a bridge between laboratory development and commercial deployment, with the process using water, renewable electricity and carbon dioxide from sustainable sources.
Supporters include SWISS and Lufthansa Group, underscoring airline interest in drop-in synthetic fuel that can be used in existing aircraft, engines and airport infrastructure. The Rotterdam project, named Turbe, is intended to be the next step in scaling the technology as European eSAF mandates tighten from 2030 onward.