Drax Group has signed heads of terms to supply more than one million tonnes of biomass annually to a proposed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Texas, marking a strategic step into a growing segment of the low-carbon fuel market. The agreement, reached with US-based Pathway Energy, centres on a new SAF facility planned for Port Arthur on the Gulf Coast. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026, with commercial operations targeted for 2029.
The plant aims to produce approximately 30 million gallons of SAF per year using biomass as a feedstock, supported by bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology. This would position the facility to deliver fuel with a net negative carbon profile, aligning with industry ambitions to decarbonise air transport.
For Drax, the supply deal signals growing demand for sustainable biomass outside the power generation sector, offering diversification as regulatory scrutiny over carbon accounting in energy markets increases. The company highlighted that this would represent its largest third-party supply agreement to date, underlining the commercial scale of the opportunity.
Drax Group plc (LON:DRX), trading as Drax, is a power generation business. The principal downstream enterprises are based in the UK and include Drax Power Limited, which runs the biomass fuelled Drax power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire.
