By Nick Moseley, Portland Observer - Read full article here

A PROJECT that hopes to create a Portland facility to convert forestry residues into low-carbon methanol, and in turn more than 160 local jobs has received significant backing from global leaders in aviation Qantas and Airbus as part of their recent funding round.

HAMR Energy, the team behind the Portland Renewable Fuels project, announced the successful closure of their $10 million Series A funding round, which also saw them secure investment from technology leaders Honeywell and Thyssenkrupp Uhde.

The facility will produce 300,000 tonnes annually of low carbon methanol, drawing on residues from the local plantation forestry industry - this methanol can serve directly as a shipping fuel or be converted into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The production aims to help close the global SAF supply gap, strengthening Australian fuel security and supporting the country’s transition to cleaner energy.

HAMR Energy co-founder and project director Alex Smith told the Observer the funding success had been very important for HAMR and they are "very excited to have such a great group of investors. We thank them all very much for their input, investment and partnership as part of this project," he said.

"I think this really signals that all of these companies have looked at our project and at Portland Renewable Fuels, have gone through with partnerships and investment and that sends a very strong signal this is a project that they all want to be a part of."

"That makes us very excited, and I think that also demonstrates the strength of the Portland project."

Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer Fiona Messent said the benefits posed by HAMR Energy’s projects extended well beyond the aviation and air travel industries.

"Building sustainable aviation fuel supply in Australia is essential to meeting our decarbonisation targets and reducing aviation's emissions," she said.

"A domestic SAF sector means jobs, regional investment, and economic growth across Australia."

"HAMR Energy’s vertically integrated approach represents a significant step forward, and we’re proud to support production that will help establish this critical local industry."

Airbus Chief Representative for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Stephen Forshaw said the group is "excited to support the development of this proposed project in Victoria."

"Airbus sees HAMR Energy’s innovative approach to producing SAF from methanol as a very interesting technology pathway, which can help accelerate the industry’s transition to sustainable fuels," he said.

"Developing low carbon fuel production in more of Australia's states has the potential to create broad access for off-takers across the country - so important when we consider the reach of our industry."

Locally, the Portland Renewable Fuels project will continue to be worked on, with HAMR Energy stating through 2026 they'll have "a laser focus" on the project in 2026, with Mr Smith stating the project would soon enter its latest phase.

"There's a lot of things that go along with this, with it being a big project, so now we're looking to move into the next step of project development, about approvals and doing the necessary engineering to support the approvals work," he said.

"Over the next three to six months, we'll be starting that next phase of work, and over that timeframe, we're looking forward to engaging more broadly with the community and the stakeholders down there in Portland."

"With a very big project with a lot of moving parts like this, over the next couple of years we will be looking to get the project to a financial investment decision, which is another big milestone on the way to starting up and producing methanol."

"We'd always love a project like this to be quicker, but one of the things that we really try to focus on is being as realistic as possible, but 2030 or 2031 is still the timeline we are targeting for the first methanol production stage."