NTPC fuels India’s green skies with first SAF plant
NTPC Limited has awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for India’s first ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant to GPS Renewables (GPSR), marking a significant step toward decarbonising the country’s aviation sector.
The plant will be set up at NTPC Green Energy Limited’s (NGEL) Green Hydrogen Hub in Pudimadaka, Anakapalli district. The hub, which is progressing as per schedule, also has plans to harness carbon dioxide emissions from NTPC’s Simhadri plant for the production of green fuels and chemicals.
Designed to produce 1,800 tonnes per annum (TPA) of sustainable aviation fuel, the plant will run on ethanol derived from CO2 and employ an established multi-step process chain — ethanol-to-ethylene conversion, olefins oligomerisation, and hydro-processing — to yield both SAF and renewable diesel.
GPS Renewables, a global full-stack renewable energy and gas solutions company backed by Lummus, will lead all engineering — including the hydrogen generation package, off-sites, and utilities — along with procurement, construction, start-up, and commissioning.
The project scope for GPS Renewables runs through March 2029, covering full construction, commissioning, and a year of post-commissioning operations. Lummus Technology will supply the ETJ technology licence and handle basic engineering for the process, while Xytel India — a specialist in skid-mounted, modular, and fully automated pilot and mini-plant solutions — will manage detailed engineering for the core process package.
Mainak Chakraborty, co-founder and CEO of GPS Renewables, underscored aviation’s unique challenge as a hard-to-abate sector and called SAF the most promising tool to address it.
He noted that commercially viable SAF production at scale remains limited in India, and said the collaboration with Lummus Technology was aimed at changing that by bringing a proven, ethanol-based production pathway to the country.
Romain Lemoine, chief business officer of Lummus Technology, described the project as a landmark step in taking ETJ technology from concept to commercial reality.
He added that the integrated solution would deliver a scalable SAF configuration with reduced capital and operating costs, lower carbon intensity, and a strong foundation for future global deployment — with India’s robust ethanol ecosystem serving as the ideal launchpad.
The Pudimadaka Green Hydrogen Hub, with its CO2 utilisation ambitions and growing partner ecosystem, is shaping up as a cornerstone of India’s clean energy transition. With this contract, it now also stands poised to become the birthplace of the country’s sustainable aviation fuel industry.