Client Overview
A leading national airline in Oceania, working in partnership with government stakeholders, sought to evaluate developers capable of delivering the region’s first commercial sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility. With aviation decarbonization a strategic priority, the airline needed an impartial, expert-led review of competing proposals.
The Challenge
Oceania faces unique constraints: limited feedstock availability, high production costs, and no precedent for commercial SAF production.
To move forward with confidence, the airline required independent expertise to:
- Compare developer proposals on technical, economic, and policy grounds.
- Benchmark project assumptions against global SAF leaders.
- Identify risks or “show-stoppers” that could prevent commercial deployment.
LEC’s Approach
LEC conducted a Stage 2 Pre-Feasibility Review (FEL-1) to deliver actionable insight:
- Supplier Engagement – Engaged multiple international SAF developers and
reviewed their proposals in depth. - Global Benchmarking – Compared CAPEX, OPEX, yields, feedstocks, job
creation potential, and lifecycle GHG reductions to international SAF projects. - Risk Assessment – Flagged unproven waste-to-SAF pathways, offshore
processing dependencies, and policy misalignments. - Policy Fit – Evaluated alignment with national recycling and waste minimization
priorities, alongside global SAF frameworks.
Results & Findings
- Two developers submitted technically credible and commercially structured
proposals. - Lifecycle GHG reductions >70%, though verification confidence varied.
- Economic modeling revealed clear trade-offs between upfront CAPEX and
payback timelines. - Risks included lack of precedent for forestry/MSW-to-SAF conversion and
reliance on offshore processing capacity.
Impact
LEC’s independent review provided the airline and government partners with a credible, stepwise assessment that reduced uncertainty and safeguarded against premature commitments. The findings gave leadership the clarity needed to refine SAF strategy, strengthen developer negotiations, and lay the groundwork for Oceania’s entry into global aviation decarbonization.