A Catalyst for Impact: INERATEC and Sasol Chemicals deepen partnership to maximize e-SAF yields
To meet the soaring global demand for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), INERATEC is doubling down on one of the most critical levers in the race to scale: increasing e-SAF yield from the production process. With feedstocks like green hydrogen still in limited supply, making every molecule count is a necessity. That’s why INERATEC is proud to announce a new milestone in its longstanding collaboration with Sasol Chemicals, a global leader in Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalyst technology.
Boosting the yield of synthetic kerosene (e-SAF) by up to 15%—that’s the breakthrough INERATEC is targeting with the next generation of cobalt-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts developed by Sasol Chemicals. The advanced catalyst, expected to be commercially available by 2026, will be deployed across INERATEC’s pioneering Power-to-Liquid (PtL) plants—including ERA ONE, the world’s largest PtL facility. A newly signed Letter of Intent (LoI) formalizes the companies’ shared commitment to this next step in scaling sustainable e-Fuel production.
"Improving yields is currently the most impactful lever for scaling e-SAF production," says Dirk Uys, Vice President Sales Sasol Chemicals. "Especially while critical inputs like green hydrogen remain scarce."
A partnership anchored in Innovation
INERATEC and Sasol have long shared a vision for accelerating the e-Fuel economy. From initial test reactors in 2016 to the full commissioning of ERA ONE in June 2025, Sasol’s state-of-the-art catalysts have powered INERATEC’s modular reactors and enabled the future annual production of up to 2,500 tons of e-Fuels and e-Waxes. The next chapter in this partnership was already foreshadowed in CARE-O-SENE, a publicly funded German-South African research initiative focused on optimizing FT catalysts specifically for sustainable aviation fuel applications.
With the new LoI, this vision now gains clear commercial momentum.
“The collaboration with Sasol is more than a supplier relationship—it’s a strategic alliance,” says Dr. Tim Böltken, Managing Director of INERATEC. “Their proven technology and global reputation provide an essential validation for what we’re building at INERATEC. We’re not only scaling fast, we’re scaling with the best.”
Sasol’s benchmark cobalt-based catalysts are the result of nearly a century of innovation, originating from the pioneering work of Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch and brought to industrial scale by Sasol since the 1950s. Today, Sasol remains the leader in FT catalyst development, making their endorsement and technical support a powerful validation of INERATEC’s process design and commercial readiness.
As INERATEC continues to expand production capacity and deploy new PtL plants worldwide, strong collaborations are vital for unlocking investment, building customer trust, and ultimately achieving the scale the energy transition demands.
