Australia’s push to produce its own marine and aviation fuel from wood waste has cleared a major threshold, with HAMR Energy named one of only four projects selected for the Australian Government’s Investor Front Door pilot program, announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King at Melbourne airport on Wednesday.
The selection places HAMR Energy’s two flagship developments — the Portland Renewable Fuels (PRF) facility in regional Victoria and the country’s first large-scale methanol-to-jet plant in South Australia — among a shortlist the federal government has assessed as carrying direct strategic weight for Australia’s sovereign fuel security. The Investor Front Door is designed to reduce the regulatory friction confronting projects of national significance, connecting domestic and global capital with high-priority investment opportunities whilst accelerating job creation and economic activity across key regions.
At Portland, the PRF facility will convert residues from the local plantation forestry industry into 300,000 tonnes per annum of low-carbon methanol — a product that can be used directly as a marine shipping fuel or processed further into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via a methanol-to-jet route. The project sits at the heart of a growing plantation-to-fuels value chain across the Green Triangle, where supply agreements with major forest managers are already in place ahead of final investment decisions.
Whilst in South Australia, HAMR Energy is progressing site selection for a commercial-scale methanol-to-jet facility capable of producing 140 million litres per annum of SAF — a volume the company says is sufficient to fully offset more than 4.5 million economy-class passenger trips between Adelaide and Melbourne every year. Backed by the South Australian Government and positioned to draw on the Green Triangle’s proximity to plantation feedstocks and world-class existing infrastructure, the plant will be the first at commercial scale in the country.
Together, the projects are projected to generate hundreds of construction jobs and a long-term pipeline of skilled regional employment, whilst providing plantation operators with commercial returns on residues that have historically carried limited value beyond the mill gate. Both developments sit downstream of the AFWI Fibre to Fuels (F2F) research program — a $1.1 million AFWI-backed initiative that has assembled a coalition of more than a dozen industry and research partners, including CSIRO, the University of South Australia and the University of the Sunshine Coast, to test the viability of converting Green Triangle, Tasmanian and Western Australian plantation residues into low-carbon methanol.
Professor Mark Brown, Director of the AFWI Centre for Sustainable Futures at the University of the Sunshine Coast, described the F2F pathway as the kind of commercially minded innovation Australia needs to move to the forefront of low-carbon manufacturing. “Forestry residues are a high-quality resource that can become a valuable domestic feedstock for renewable fuel production,” Professor Brown said, adding that the F2F program exemplifies that innovation needs to build sovereign capability whilst decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors.
“We are delighted to be selected for the Investor Front Door pilot, and our participation is an important step in reducing emissions, enhancing fuel security, and driving long-term economic development in regional communities,” said David Stribley, co-founder of HAMR Energy. “The program will help attract investment and streamline development processes so we can make more of the fuel that is critical to our economy right here in Australia.”
Stribley said the selection arrives at a pivotal moment for Australia’s energy resilience — domestic fuel production currently covers barely one-fifth of the country’s annual demand for refined petroleum products, amid sustained geopolitical pressure on global supply chains. “As we move into the next phase, our focus is on working closely with government, industry partners, and local stakeholders to finalise site planning and prepare for project delivery — progressing regulatory approvals, deepening regional community engagement, and continuing technical assessments to ensure the facilities are developed to world-class standards,” he said.
The Investor Front Door selection follows the successful close of HAMR Energy’s AUD 10 million Series A funding round, which brought Qantas, Airbus and thyssenkrupp Uhde onto the books, with final investment decisions on both the Portland and South Australian facilities, the company’s next stated priority.
