// For airlines
From 2029, eSAF produced next to Keflavík will be delivered into the airport’s fuel system and lifted like the fuel there today. Fuel lifted in Iceland sits in the highest tier of EU price-gap support under current law. This page sets out what the fuel is, what a tonne is worth on your books at Keflavík, and how to secure volume.
// Offer
The Iceland eSAF Project will produce 70,000 tonnes of eSAF a year at Helguvík, beside the terminal that supplies Keflavík, with first fuel targeted for 2029. We work out with each airline what a blend of up to 50% on its Keflavík departures would cost, with the support and without it, at current law and under the Commission’s July 2026 proposal.
Under the Commission’s July 2026 proposal, a further 110 million allowances would fund the support to 2040, and a contract of three years or more that binds both the fuel supplier and the airline could have its support reserved for up to five years. Reservations are capped at 10 million allowances1.
// Compliance value
Certified eSAF is zero-rated under the EU ETS on flights with a surrender obligation and counts under CORSIA on the rest. ReFuelEU Aviation is EEA-relevant and applies in Iceland; its implementation is pending.
Take an airline that, from 2029, lifts 5,000 tonnes of jet fuel a year at Keflavík and contracts 500 tonnes of eSAF, a tenth of its uplift.
Fuel
500 tonnes of eSAF, delivered blended into the Keflavík fuel system. No change to aircraft or procedures.
Emissions
eSAF is rated zero tank-to-wake under the EU ETS. If all 500 tonnes are attributed to flights covered by the EU ETS, they remove about 1,575 tonnes of CO₂ from the allowances the airline surrenders.
Allowance cost avoided
About EUR 126,000 a year at EUR 80 per allowance; EUR 157,500 at EUR 100.
Price-gap supportOn the same flights, the airline can also claim allowances covering the price difference between eSAF and fossil kerosene. See price-gap support below.
Lifecycle claimApproximately 90% lower lifecycle emissions than fossil jet fuel, documented per batch on the Proof of Sustainability.
Tonnes used on flights outside the EU ETS count under CORSIA instead; the same tonne is not claimed under both. We will run this against your own Keflavík uplift on request.
Rated zero tank-to-wake under the EU ETS, eSAF avoids approximately 3.15 tCO₂ per tonne: every €1 of EUA price is about €3.15 saved per tonne of eSAF
Airlines buy and surrender allowances for CO₂ on flights within the EEA and on departures to the UK and Switzerland, so a Keflavík to London departure is inside the EU system. eSAF is rated zero tank-to-wake, so each tonne used on those flights saves approximately 3.15 tonnes of CO₂ in allowances3.
Certified eSAF reduces the offsetting requirement on international flights outside the EU system4.
The Regulation obliges fuel suppliers to blend a rising share of SAF, including a synthetic share from 2030. Airlines have no purchase obligation under it. As EEA-relevant legislation it applies in Iceland; until it is implemented, fuel supplied at Keflavík does not count toward any supplier’s share5.
// Price-gap support
That is the highest tier under current EU rules. At most other EEA airports, eSAF gets 95%, advanced biofuels 70% and most SAF 50%.
Under Article 3c(6) of the ETS Directive, airlines apply each year for allowances that cover the published price difference between fossil kerosene and eligible SAF. For fuel lifted at airports in Iceland the rate is 100%7. The airline claims for fuel delivered into the departure airport’s fuelling system, up to its own fuel use on flights covered by the EU ETS and within the fuel’s certified blending limit. Iceland’s rules for the claim have been in force since February 2025, and operators received allowances under them for fuel used in 20258.
In July 2026 the Commission proposed extending the support to 2040 with a larger pool of allowances, and opening it from 2029 to all flights departing an EEA airport, transatlantic departures included. Under the proposal only fuel produced in the EEA or in certain third countries would be eligible1.
We work with airlines to keep EU support fully available at Keflavík.
// Case for KEF
The plant will stand five kilometres from Keflavík, at the terminal that supplies it. No shipping leg, no second airport in the chain, and an EEA origin, which meets the origin condition the July 2026 proposal sets for support.
The blended fuel is released as standard Jet A-1, with no change to aircraft or procedures.
// Availability
First delivery at Keflavík is targeted for 2029, with staged ramp-up through 2030.
Final investment decision targeted
First fuel at Keflavík
Staged ramp-up
// Product
Same aircraft, same procedures. The only change is the carbon.
Our eSAF will be produced by the methanol-to-jet pathway and designed to meet ASTM D7566. It will enter the Helguvík terminal, be blended with Jet A-1 within the certified limit and reach the aircraft through the existing pipeline, tank farm and into-plane service. IðunnH2 holds a memorandum of understanding with the owner of the terminal tanks.
Approximately 90% lower lifecycle emissions than fossil jet fuel.
No engine or airframe modifications, and no infrastructure changes at the airport. Blends at up to 50% with conventional Jet A-112.
// Certification
Fuel quality under ASTM D7566, sustainability under ISCC EU, CORSIA eligibility under ISCC CORSIA. Pre-certification before FID, certificates on operating data.
Every batch will leave the plant with two documents you can file: a certificate of quality against ASTM D7566, and a Proof of Sustainability from an EU-recognised scheme carrying the batch’s lifecycle greenhouse gas value. The Proof of Sustainability is what you will use to zero-rate the fuel under the EU ETS and, once ReFuelEU applies at KEF, to account for it as synthetic aviation fuel. CORSIA uses a separate certificate, and a batch is claimed under one greenhouse gas scheme only. Because Iceland’s grid is approximately 99% renewable10, above the 90% threshold11, grid electricity is expected to count as fully renewable for the fuel’s certification, without the hourly matching and additionality evidence continental producers must attach.
// Iceland's grid
No hourly matching or additionality evidence
Methanol-to-jet has been part of ASTM D7566 since July 2026, under the alcohol-to-jet annex, A51215. Each batch will carry a certificate of quality against that annex; the blend will be tested and released as standard Jet A-1 under ASTM D1655 and DEF STAN 91-091, the joint checklist used for European supply.
Status: Standard published
EU-recognised certification for ETS zero-rating and ReFuelEU synthetic-fuel accounting16. ISCC EU will certify the plant as a producer of renewable fuel of non-biological origin; the pre-certification report is the earliest document a buyer will see, and the certificate itself is issued on operating data and renewed annually.
Status: Pre-certification planned; certificate at start-up
A separate ISCC certificate that lets an airline count the fuel against its CORSIA offsetting requirement, using a verified lifecycle value for the batch17.
Status: Planned alongside ISCC EU
// Path to offtake
Nothing binds before final investment decision except heads of terms, and those are conditional on it.
Your Keflavík uplift, the share covered by the EU ETS, and the cost of a blend of up to 50%, with and without the support.
Volume of interest and intent. Binds neither party.
Volume, price basis and tenor, agreed during FEED, conditional on final investment decision.
Signed at final investment decision by the airline, a fuel supplier at Keflavík and the project. You lift the fuel as you lift fuel today.
We bring the fuel supplier into the agreement and provide the documentation your support claim needs.
// Procurement FAQ
Up to 50% in the existing fuel pool, within the certified limit for the pathway. No engine modifications.
Under current rules, the support applies up to your own fuel use on Keflavík departures covered by the EU ETS, within the certified blend limit: for an airline whose Keflavík flights are all covered, up to half its Keflavík uplift.
The offtake agreement has three parties: your airline, an aviation fuel supplier holding supply rights at Keflavík, which takes delivery and handles the reporting, and the project, which produces. Before that, the memorandum and heads of terms are between your airline and us.
The airline claims in its annual emissions report, on evidence that the fuel was delivered into the Keflavík fuelling system and certified under the Renewable Energy Directive. Fuel not delivered to a specific aircraft is claimed on purchase records. In Iceland, applications go to Umhverfis- og orkustofnun by 31 March.
Every cost case we prepare shows your cost with the support and without it, labelled current law or proposal. The tier is current law; its carry-over is a matter for the revision, and we are working on it.
Yes. Chain of custody is documented under the certification scheme, and each delivery carries a Proof of Sustainability with batch-level lifecycle greenhouse gas data.
Mass balance. The fuel is commingled in the Keflavík fuel system and the sustainability attribute is allocated by accounting.
Yes, on different batches. Each batch is claimed under one greenhouse gas scheme: the EU ETS for the flights it covers, CORSIA for the rest.
Yes. It is EEA-relevant, so it applies in Iceland; its implementation is pending. Once implemented, the obligation falls on the fuel suppliers at Keflavík. The ETS Directive, including the SAF support in Article 3c(6), has applied in Iceland since 2007 and 2023 respectively.
Nothing binds before final investment decision except heads of terms, which are conditional on it.
// Specs
It blends at up to 50% with conventional Jet A-1 in the existing fuel pool12. Once blended within specification limits, the product will be released as conventional Jet A-1 under DEF STAN 91-09113 and ASTM D165514 (the AFQRJOS Joint Checklist used for European supply). No engine or airframe modifications. No infrastructure changes at the airport.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Fuel type | eSAF via methanol-to-jet (MtJ) |
| Standards | ASTM D7566 (methanol-to-jet included in Annex A5, revision of July 2026)1215; released as Jet A-1 under DEF STAN 91-091 and ASTM D1655 once blended |
| Blend ratio | Up to 50% with conventional Jet A-1 |
| Density at 15 °C | 730-770 kg/m³ (typical SPK range; final spec per batch CoA) |
| Freezing point | -47 °C or below |
| Flash point | 38 °C or above |
| Aromatics | Trace (near-zero from PtL pathway) |
| Sulphur | Less than 15 ppm (effectively zero from PtL pathway) |
| Net heat of combustion | 42.8 MJ/kg or above |
| Smoke point | Improved vs fossil Jet A-1 (higher smoke point typical for SPK) |
| Lifecycle CO₂ | Approximately 90% lifecycle reduction vs fossil jet fuel, tbc at FEED, verified annually |
Full Certificate of Analysis available per batch on delivery.
// Next step
Volume is limited and agreed before final investment decision.
The Iceland eSAF Project is in development. Tell us your Keflavík uplift and the share of it covered by the EU ETS, and we will cost it for you.
