Phelan Green’s family board has approved the Phase 1, R12-billion investment in the R47-billion electro-sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) project near Saldanha Bay, and has committed the equity required to start construction in the first quarter of next year.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Cape Town, the Phelan Green Group is an Irish, privately-owned family business. The group develops renewable-energy and sustainable fuel projects for the global energy transition.

The investment announcement was made at this week’s 2026 Africa Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town.

“Our family board will underwrite R2-billion in equity to support this phase, with financial close and construction start targeted for the first quarter of 2027,” confirmed Phelan Green Group MD Blair Phelan.

“We have invested in this business for two generations, and committing R2-billion of our own equity [out of the R12-billion required] reflects how strongly we believe in what Hopefield can become.

“The project will create more than 2 500 jobs during construction, which will span ten years across all three phases, and 500 permanent roles at the facility.

“That excludes the significant employment we expect from other green industries that the project will catalyse in the area.”

Phelan said significant work had taken place to ensure that the project secured regulatory approval and met its target of delivering its first fuel in the second quarter of 2029, “right in time for the EU’s mandates”.

“More than 20 specialist studies have been completed to support two separate environmental-impact assessments, one for the eSAF plant and the other for a solar plant, as well as a water-use licence application.

“We have secured 6 000 ha of land 40 km from the Port of Saldanha for the project and have built early offtake relationships with airlines and fuel majors.”

Phelan noted, however, there were a “few key things” that could move South Africa’s green hydrogen industry forward “at much more pace”.

“In our first phase, we can do this as is, with our own energy, but to grow this industry, we need to relook how the wheeling framework and grid access is looked at.”

He added that there was “a great team” between the Department of Electricity and Energy and the various industry bodies, but that it was important to now move from project “preparation teams to have a delivery team also, to help us get the last hurdles across the line, and to be able to grow at scale and increase the employment and revenue figures into the South African economy”.

Phelan Green Group eFuels head Luca Guerrini says in a statement that SAF mandates and eSAF sub-mandates introduced by the EU and the UK are binding law, with fixed start dates and published volumes, and that they are driving global demand for clean energy solutions.

“The EU requires a minimum 1.2% eSAF share of jet fuel by 2030, rising in steps to 5% by 2035 and 35% by 2050.

“The UK requires 0.2% power-to-liquid fuel, or eSAF, by 2028, increasing to 3.5% by 2040.

“In the EU, a supplier that falls short pays a penalty on the shortfall and must still supply the missed volume the following year.

“The UK mechanism works in a similar way, through a buy-out price on every unit of unmet obligation,” explains Guerrini.

“The CO2 used in production at Hopefield will be captured from biomass, namely invasive alien vegetation already growing in, and degrading the Western Cape’s water catchments, so it adds no fossil carbon to the atmosphere.

“Combined with green hydrogen made from renewable electricity, this allows the fuel to qualify as a renewable fuel of non-biological origin under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, the standard required by potential customers in the EU, while the UK assesses eligibility under the criteria of its own SAF mandate.

“The fuel will also meet the international specification ASTM D7566, which qualifies a synthetic fuel as a ‘drop-in’ blend component for conventional jet fuel, making it compatible with existing aircraft engines.”

Phelan Green Group board chairperson Paschal Phelan notes that the vision he had when he started the business in South Africa more than two decades ago has not changed.

“With the increasing devastation from climate change, I realised the potential South Africa had to become a hub for cleaner energy, which would bode well for the economy.

“The group subsequently became a pioneer of the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, the competitive bidding system established to encourage private-sector investment into the national grid using renewable-energy technologies.”

The Phelan Green Group has three subsidiaries: Phelan eFuels (e-fuels and hydrogen), Phelan Energy (solar, wind and battery energy storage systems) and Phelan gEPC (engineering, procurement and construction).

It develops, builds and operates renewable energy and e-fuels projects across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and South America.

It has, to date, delivered more than 500 MW of solar, with the majority of its solar assets located in South Africa.