Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. reported that ramp-up of unit operations was completed during the second quarter, making its Montana Renewables subsidiary the largest producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in North America (approximately 30 million gallons per year).

The Montana Renewables team delivered on our first mover strategy and quickly adapted to our new processing capabilities. We worked through the expected new equipment teething problems at an excellent pace, and we enter the next quarter on track to demonstrate the steady-state earnings power of this business.

—Todd Borgmann, Calumet CEO

Montana Renewables enters the third quarter running 12,500 barrels per day (bpd) of renewable feedstock. Approximately 50% of renewable diesel production is currently being sold into Canada; all of the SAF is being delivered to Shell Aviation; and the renewable hydrogen plant capacity was demonstrated.

Feedstock mix is presently 8,000 bpd untreated and 4,500 bpd of treated safety stock as Montana Renewables rotates from clean to dirty inventory.

With these milestones met, we have demonstrated Untreated EBITDA of $1.25 to $1.45 per gallon and confirmed top-tier status given Montana Renewables’ unique advantages of preferred location, better technology and higher margins.

—Bruce Fleming, CEO Montana Renewables and EVP Corporate Development

The planned hydraulic expansion and MaxSAF developments both continue as the company strategically seeks to grow its first-mover position in the rapidly accelerating SAF market. Funding discussions with the Department of Energy are ongoing.

The Great Falls refinery in Montana produces both SAF and RD using Topsoe HydroFlex technology. Topsoe says that the HydroFlex process layout offers lower capital expenditure (CAPEX), and also a lower energy consumption during operation, resulting in a lower Carbon Index (CI). Topsoe’s HydroFlex can be deployed in both grassroots units and revamps for co-processing or stand-alone applications.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners manufactures, formulates and markets a diversified slate of specialty branded products and renewable fuels to customers across a broad range of consumer-facing and industrial markets. Calumet is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates twelve facilities throughout North America.

Montana Renewables is a renewable fuel business located in Great Falls, Montana. In November 2021, Montana Renewables was separated both legally and commercially from Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P., and was designated as an unrestricted subsidiary of Calumet as a part of the separation.

Montana Renewables’ production facility in Great Falls is strategically located close to major feedstock sources in both the United States and Canada, including the temperate oil seed growing zone along with large farm and ranch operations in Montana and the adjacent states and provinces. This strategic location significantly decreases the carbon emissions as well as transportation costs of both the renewable feedstock to MRL and the renewable fuel to product off-takers.

The demand for renewable fuel is the highest in states and/or provinces that have enacted a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that is generally concentrated in the northwest United States and Canada. An additional emissions benefit is that the site’s electrical power is physically sourced from the five hydroelectric dams immediately downstream of Montana Renewables’ location on the upper Missouri River.