ETFuels has started Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for ETFuels’ flagship Rattlesnake Gap e-methanol project in West Texas, USA. ‘[This marks] a major step toward commercial-scale production of e-fuels for the global shipping and aviation markets,’ the company said on LinkedIn.
Once completed, Rattlesnake Gap will be the largest e-methanol plant in the United States, accelerating the energy transition for two of the hardest-to-abate sectors. Choosing Texas was a strategic move as the location combines excellent renewable resources, a key industrial supply chain, and a pro-business culture, enabling ETFuels to deliver RFNBO-compliant fuels at unprecedented speed and scale.
‘Texas is on track to become the world leader in e-fuels production so it made perfect sense for ETFuels to build our first project here,’ says Lara Naqushbandi, CEO of ETFuels. ‘Rattlesnake Gap is one of an elite few e-fuels projects worldwide to have reached this advanced stage of development – and the first to pioneer a fully integrated behind-the-meter model at commercial scale, reinforcing Texas’s position as a true energy innovator.’
The FEED is being executed by S&B Engineers and Constructors based in Houston, bringing deep EPC expertise in US energy infrastructure. John Cockerill will supply electrolyzers from its new Baytown, Texas factory, and Johnson Matthey will provide its eMERALD methanol synthesis technology.
The project directly responds to accelerating regulatory pull from:
- FuelEU Maritime, which mandates reductions in marine fuel GHG intensity; and
- ReFuelEU Aviation and the UK’s PtL e-SAF mandate, introducing legally binding e-SAF blending mandates
ETFuels’ Rattlesnake Gap will supply both aviation and shipping markets, establishing Texas as a key transatlantic hub for e-fuels production and offtake. In under three years, ETFuels has built a global portfolio across the USA, UK, Spain, and Finland, representing 2.5 GW of renewable power.
