Aviation Sustainability and the Environment, CAPA 15-Jan-2020

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World Fuel Services and World Energy to Offer WEF SAF Program with Jet Aviation at Teterboro, Bedford and Dulles Airports

Program launched in time to enable business jets traveling to the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to lower overall flight carbon emissions.

World Fuel Services and World Energy announced a World Economic Forum (WEF) Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Program designed to increase SAF availability and supply chain efficiency within the industry. The program will be available in time for business jets traveling to the 50th Annual Meeting of the WEF to enable lower carbon emissions of flights departing from Jet Aviation’s facilities at Teterboro (TEB), Boston/Bedford (BED) or Dulles International (IAD) to Davos, Switzerland, for the January 2020 event.

Although Jet Aviation does not physically offer SAF at TEB, BED or IAD, the WEF SAF Program allows fuel consumers at those locations to opt-in and claim SAF environmental benefits. Under the program, for each gallon of conventional fuel purchased at TEB, BED or IAD, an equivalent amount of conventional fuel will be replaced with SAF on flights departing from Jet Aviation’s Van Nuys (VNY) location in California.

“In the future, this type of program would enable low-carbon SAF purchases regardless of geography,” says Darren Fuller, vice president of business development for business aviation at World Fuel Services. “Our customers that want to participate are spread all over the world, and unfortunately the supply of SAF is not yet broad-based. This innovative program will optimize and align new demand with limited supply while supporting the industry’s sustainability goals. Our continued commitment to sustainability demands innovation to make SAF more cost-effective and accessible to a wider audience of FBOs and flight departments.”

“World Energy is on a mission to expand access to new and innovative ways to drive change toward a lower-carbon future. We are excited about expanding our collaboration with World Fuel Services to provide ever-increasing access to sustainable aviation fuel,” said Bryan Sherbacow, chief commercial officer of World Energy. “This process expands access to the benefits of SAF with maximum efficiency.”

Multiple business aviation organizations commended World Fuel Services, World Energy and Jet Aviation for making the program available to Davos-bound aircraft departing from the three airports.

“The business aviation community has long been committed to sustainability and minimizing the industry's carbon footprint. While we continue working to make SAF as widely available as possible, this important, new market-based initiative will demonstrate demand for the fuels, and provide a way of promoting supply and use that matches the need,” said leaders with the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Coalition, which consists of the European Business Aviation Association, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, the International Business Aviation Council, the National Air Transportation Association and the National Business Aviation Association.

David Best, senior vice president & general manager for Jet Aviation’s Regional Operations USA, said, “Jet Aviation is very pleased to support sustainable solutions in the U.S. We are particularly proud of our leading position in Van Nuys, where, in addition to our investment in a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building, we provide all customers with SAF. Our goal is to help reduce the industry’s carbon footprint by exploring all viable solutions and working in partnership to offer customers a choice.”

Rolls-Royce will hold a 73.1% majority stake in Berlin-based electricity storage specialist Qinous GmbH from 15 January 2020. The Group is acquiring the shareholdings of all other current financial investors, including that of investment holdings company IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Berlin). The founding shareholders will continue to hold shares in the company and will retain their current roles in the business. It has been agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price or the other departing shareholders.

Rolls-Royce had already acquired a 19.9% stake in the former start-up back in October 2018. The company is involved in battery storage systems and associated control systems, and has already implemented storage solutions around the world.

“Our new subsidiary is to play a pivotal role going forward,” said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems Division. “This is where we are going to pool all the division's microgrid activities – from simple storage solutions to complete, complex microgrid solutions of various sizes and configurations. As a young, start-up-style company, Qinous brings expertise that is an ideal complement to Rolls-Royce's industrial credentials. Together we will be able to respond quickly and with great professionalism to the demands of the market,” he continued.

The joint development work on a range of storage solutions in recent months has shown that the two companies are an excellent fit and, as Schell explained, “that we can achieve new market potential by integrating more closely. We see great market potential for sustainable power supplies, especially for distributed, environmentally-friendly MTU microgrid solutions."

“Taking a majority holding in Qinous is a major step forward as we transform into a provider of integrated solutions for our customers. In future, we will be able to offer not just the technical solution and associated service offerings, but the finance too,” said Schell. Qinous has made a name for itself with modular, scalable, prefabricated plug-and-play battery products that combine renewable energy sources, power generators and battery storage technology. Rolls-Royce is a specialist in customized energy solutions with the worldwide sales and service network of its product and solution brand MTU.

“This even closer partnership between Rolls-Royce and Qinous is a logical and consistent step towards opening up the rapidly growing microgrid market. The functionality and reliability of the solutions have been proven in a large number of projects. Now, with MTU's experience and global presence, we can meet demand more quickly and more comprehensively,” said Steffen Heinrich, co-founder and co-managing director of Qinous. “Also on behalf of co-managing director Reinhard Edelmann and co-founder Busso von Bismarck, I want to thank the seedcorn investors who made it possible to set Qinous up as a company, and who have supported us actively right through to the present day.”

Sabine Wolff, Investment Manager at IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft commented: “We are delighted to have found an internationally renowned partner for Qinous in the form of Rolls-Royce. The combination of renewable energies and storage solutions, which are already being used successfully in on-grid and off-grid applications and to safeguard grid stability, will also find further areas of application in tomorrow's microgrid markets. The partnership between Rolls-Royce and Qinous has become a success story for the Berlin operation, and presents us with an attractive exit opportunity.”

The modular component system of the coordinated Qinous/MTU product range will in future allow the configuration of solutions from 30 kW/30kWh to several megawatts. “The range of services and deliverables covers the needs of commercial enterprises, municipal utilities, energy suppliers, and even sizeable industrial plants. Together with Qinous, we can offer customers a wide range of microgrid solutions consisting of different combinations of power generation and storage systems. In this way we will ensure sustainable, cost-optimized and – above all – climate-friendly power supplies, whether connected to the public grid or independent of it,” said Cordelia Thielitz, Vice President of Rolls-Royce's Microgrid Solutions business. “The key to this is the comprehensive expertise in storage technology, the efficient integration of microgrid components and the development of intelligent control systems,” she emphasized.

Qinous employs around 40 people in Berlin. Rolls-Royce is engaged in research and development of microgrids and power generators at four locations: Friedrichshafen, Ruhstorf, Augsburg and Mankato (US).