The Minnesota SAF Hub is the nation’s first large-scale hub committed to scaling production of sustainable aviation fuel to replace conventional jet fuel.

Led by the GREATER MSP Partnership, the hub is a coalition anchored by Bank of America, Delta Air Lines, Ecolab and Xcel Energy. These anchor partners are joined by other leading institutions, such as the State of Minnesota, the Metropolitan Airports Commission and the University of Minnesota. Together, we are building an industrial-scale value chain for sustainable aviation fuel, anchored in Minnesota.

Our aim is to deliver affordable, low-carbon SAF to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul (MSP) International Airport as quickly as possible and then scale production to hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of gallons each year. Delta Air Lines has signed agreements with multiple SAF producers to meet its goal of 10% SAF usage in the U.S. by late 2030. 

Our shared success will include helping decarbonize the airline industry, creating great jobs in Minnesota and across the North, and building a sustainable, large-scale market for regenerative agricultural practices and products.

Our approach

The hub is unique because:

• We are working across the entire value chain for multiple pathways and multiple time horizons.

• We are addressing both the supply and demand for SAF.

• We are place-based and cross-sector.

Our work is guided by a three-horizon strategy. The horizons refer to market maturity, not to when we will be undertaking actions on the solutions; in fact, we are taking actions today that are designed to impact Horizon 2 and 3.

Horizon 1 (2024–27): The first horizon is simply getting some SAF to MSP airport by diverting existing SAF to our market. Success here will provide proof of concept, establish “last-mile” appropriate blending and fueling infrastructure and ensure use of the Minnesota SAF tax incentive.

Horizon 2 (2028–35):  The second horizon sees the first in-state production of SAF, with higher volumes supplied at the airport (~25 million gallons).

Horizon 3 (2035 and beyond): The third horizon is focused on achieving real scale across multiple pathways (100+ million gallons) and significantly driving down the CI score of SAF. This reduction in CI score could come from improvements in more technologically mature pathways, e.g., carbon capture and storage at ethanol plants, from novel feedstocks, e.g., novel winter oil seeds, woody biomass, or from more nascent pathways, e.g., power-to-liquid.

The hub is focused on driving progress towards these horizons. We identify and fill gaps in the value chain by attracting value-chain players to Minnesota, supporting pre-competitive efforts to build the value chain, making connections to financing, sites, technology partners, etc., and highlighting research and development needs.