Swiss is the first airline to integrate solar fuel into flight operations

(CONNECT) The synthetic solar fuel from Synhelion in Zurich has been used in civil aviation for the first time. Synhelion delivered a first 190-liter barrel of synthetic crude oil from its DAWN production plant at the German research centre in Jülich to a refinery in northern Germany, according to a press release. There, the oil produced using solar energy was processed into certified Jet A-1 kerosene. It was then fed into the flight operations infrastructure of the airline Swiss via the fuel supply system at Hamburg Airport.

The amount of fuel delivered corresponds to around 7 percent of the fuel required for a flight from Hamburg to Zurich. According to Synhelion's co-CEO and co-founder Philipp Furler, the delivery of this first barrel is a symbolic gesture. But "this milestone brings us one step closer to scaling up our solar fuel technology worldwide". Proof that it can be seamlessly integrated into refinery processes is key to this. 

Swiss has been a strategic partner of Synhelion since 2020 to support the commercialisation of solar fuel. The airline has also held a stake in Synhelion since 2022. "We deliberately invested in a Swiss start-up," says Swiss CEO Jens Fehlinger. His company is "very proud to play a pioneering role with Synhelion in promoting and developing this important new technology for more sustainable air transport."

As a next step, Synhelion and Swiss are driving forward the sustainability certification of the production process and the fuel in accordance with the EU Renewable Energy Directive. It stipulates that sustainable synthetic fuels must emit at least 70 percent less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. According to an independent assessment, the fuels from the DAWN production plant clearly exceed this target, says Synhelion. Synhelion is also preparing for the start of continuous commercial production with sufficient capacity in Spain in 2027. ce/mm