bp Cherry Point to receive $26.8 million for sustainable aviation fuel

bp Cherry Point near Birch Bay is slated to receive nearly $26.8 million to help the refinery to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for the first time.

The grant funding comes from the help of U.S. senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who worked to secure the grant program in the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, SAF consists of renewable biomass and waste that has a smaller carbon footprint than petroleum-based jet fuel.

The $26.8 million will fund infrastructure and equipment for SAF production at bp Cherry Point. The project is anticipated to create 96 jobs and produce 10 million gallons of fuel annually, according to a news release from Cantwell’s office.

The Cherry Point production will supply fuel to airports in the region through the Olympic Pipeline, which runs from Ferndale to Portland.

“These grants will kick-start SAF production to supply airports across the Pacific Northwest, build low-emission engines for cleaner regional air travel, and develop technologies to reduce fuel burn and cut costs,” Cantwell wrote in the statement.

This comes after county executive Satpal Sidhu announced in March 2023 that the bp corporate office in London had designated Cherry Point as a preferred location for sustainable aviation fuel production with a green hydrogen capability.

The bp grant was the second highest amount awarded in the U.S. of 36 grants.

Cantwell secured over $36 million in federal grants for sustainable aviation projects in the state. Other funds are going toward a hydrogen-electric propulsion research and development facility at Paine Field International Airport in Everett, Seattle-based company APiJET to develop software for airlines to operate of fuel-optimized routes, and a Boeing program to improve the measurement of fuel in an airplane fuel tank, according to the news release.