The Midnight Moment: Haffner Energy, Metafuels, Sugar Valley Energy Get Lit

December 16, 2025

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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... After decades of laboratory work, pilot plants, and demonstrations, the sector is pivoting—decisively—from invention to execution. The chemistry has been proven. The technologies have been validated. What comes next is not about breakthroughs, but about readiness: engineering discipline, capital alignment, regulatory fit, and the ability to scale without breaking the system. Recent developments at Metafuels, Haffner Energy, and Sugar Valley Energy illustrate what this phase looks like in practice. These are not speculative announcements. They are system checks before midnight.

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Metafuels: Engineering for the Switch

In Europe, Metafuels is moving through the final technical choreography required before large-scale deployment.

The Swiss aviation technology company has awarded McDermott a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) contract for its Turbe project, a first-of-a-kind synthetic SAF facility planned for the EVOS terminal at the Port of Rotterdam. FEED is the last comprehensive engineering stage before a Final Investment Decision (FID)—the moment when drawings, models, and estimates are converted into irrevocable commitments.

Metafuels’ proprietary methanol-to-jet process, aerobrew, has already been demonstrated at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. The FEED phase now focuses on optimizing specifications, tightening cost estimates, and reducing execution risk—exactly the work required to ensure a system holds when placed under real-world load.

The company’s strategy centers on yield and efficiency: converting e-methanol into e-SAF at higher rates, producing a drop-in fuel compatible with existing aircraft and infrastructure, with up to 90 percent lower lifecycle emissions than conventional kerosene.

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Haffner Energy: Making the System Affordable

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Just weeks after unveiling its new H6 generation technology, France-based Haffner Energy announced a major partnership in Canada that establishes three critical pillars for scale: a technology license, a joint venture, and an initial 5-megawatt industrial pilot project in Quebec. Haffner will hold 49 percent of the JV, contributing its exclusive technology license as its in-kind stake, while its partner builds out a broader advanced biofuels sector.

Canada’s scale matters. With biomass availability roughly 18 times that of France, it offers the conditions needed to test replication rather than one-off performance.

The initial 5-MW project represents just one quarter of the capacity planned for full hubs, underscoring the intent to move rapidly from pilot validation to standardized roll-out across biomass-rich regions, where energy sovereignty and cost competitiveness now matter as much as carbon intensity.

Crucially, the Canadian partnership also establishes a commercial template: licensing revenue, equipment sales, and long-term participation in hub-scale deployment without balance-sheet strain.

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Haffner’s H6 technology delivers hydrogen at a levelized cost below €2.50 per kilogram, compared to nearly €10 per kilogram for electrolyzers of similar scale, while cutting capital expenditure per kilowatt of thermal energy by a factor of three versus prior generations.

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Sugar Valley Energy: When “Shovel-Ready” Is Earned

In California’s Imperial Valley, Sugar Valley Energy (SVE) demonstrates what readiness looks like when deployment extends beyond technology into permitting, finance, and community alignment.

California Ethanol + Power (CE+P) and the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation recently secured a Jobs First Grant for the $1.28 billion integrated renewable fuels and energy campus planned for Brawley.

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Once operational, SVE will produce more than 73 million gallons of ultra-low-carbon ethanol, 771 million standard cubic feet of renewable natural gas, and 41 megawatts of renewable electricity annually, sourced from sustainably grown sugarcane. The project is designed to support California’s LCFS targets as the state prepares for AB 30 implementation and potential statewide E15 adoption.

But SVE’s significance lies in its preparation.

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Sugar Valley Energy also benefits from California’s mature policy and market infrastructure. Long-term LCFS demand, RNG credit markets, and power offtake structures provide multiple revenue streams, while the fixed-price EPC contract materially limits execution risk.

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The remaining hurdles are real. Metafuels must reach FID. Haffner must convert partnership into firm orders and operational hubs. Sugar Valley Energy must secure full project financing.

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The advanced bioeconomy is approaching its own 11:59 p.m. moment. The work is being done now, quietly, deliberately, and at scale, so that when the clock turns, the lights stay on—and the future simply keeps going. READ MORE

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Sugar Valley Energy, in partnership with IVEDC, awarded California Jobs First Grant through the Southern Border Coalition (Sugar Valley Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)

Excerpt frm Sugar Valley Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine: California Ethanol + Power (CE+P) and the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corp. announced on Dec. 11 that the planned renewable fuel and energy campus Sugar Valley Energy has been selected to receive a Jobs First Grant through the Southern Border Jobs First Collaborative. The award represents a significant milestone for the project and for Imperial County, one of California’s most economically challenged regions.

The Jobs First Grant will support critical activities, including geotechnical engineering, foundation design, agricultural preparation, and procurement of key components for SVE’s integrated clean-energy system. These steps are essential to advancing construction readiness and securing full project financing for the $1.28 billion renewable infrastructure development, which will create 250 direct full-time living wage jobs and 15,000 jobs from planning through construction and plant start-up. The project will work in tandem with Imperial Valley College and the Imperial County Workforce Development Office to maximize local training and hiring opportunities.

“The Jobs First Grant accelerates the final steps needed to bring one of California’s most important clean-energy and agricultural revitalization projects across the finish line,” said Dave Rubenstein, president & CEO of California Ethanol + Power. “Sugar Valley Energy will deliver long-term climate benefits, stable employment, and a transformative new industry for Imperial County.”

The Catalyst Last Mile Proposal was submitted by IVEDC in partnership with CE+P, which has already invested $27 million to advance SVE from concept to shovel ready. The grant will immediately support jobs for key local project partners, including Landmark Consultants, Duggins Construction, Benson Farms, and Dubose Design Group and enable the project to begin construction on foundational elements of the ethanol plant.

“This award represents a major step forward, not only for the Sugar Valley Energy project, but for thousands of Imperial Valley families who deserve access to high-quality jobs and long-term economic opportunity,” said Timothy Kelley, president & CEO, Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation. “The Jobs First Collaborative is helping remove barriers that have historically held this region back.”

Developed by CE+P, Sugar Valley Energy will be the first-of-its-kind project in North America. Once operational, the integrated biorefinery campus in Brawley, California will produce more than 73 million gallons of low-carbon ethanol, 771 million standard cubic feet of renewable natural gas (RNG), and 41 megawatts of renewable electricity each year from sustainably grown sugarcane.

Sugarcane cultivated on more than 48,000 acres of Imperial County farmland will serve as feedstock for the project, creating new revenue streams for more than 50 farming entities and supporting 2,000+ local agricultural jobs. The crop replaces less profitable forage crops and will help fill the void left by the 2025 closure of the Spreckels Sugar Company plant, which eliminates hundreds of jobs and dismantled California’s last sugar-beet processing industry.

Imperial County continues to face persistent underinvestment and the highest unemployment rate in the nation, notably 20.2% as of July 2025. The Jobs First Grant helps remove barriers to economic mobility by:

Strengthening workforce development and local hiring pathways
Expanding clean-energy and wastewater infrastructure
Supporting agricultural diversification and resilience
Creating jobs in a future-facing, low-carbon industry
Catalyzing regional investment tied to more than $200 million in federal investment tax credits.

A recent impact analysis found that construction and startup operations for SVE will generate more than $928 million in direct economic activity, creating 15,000+ construction and startup jobs and 250 long-term, family-sustaining operations jobs.

As California implements AB 30 and prepares for statewide E15 adoption, Sugar Valley Energy is positioned to become a major producer of ultra-low-carbon renewable fuel that supports the state’s climate goals and Low Carbon Fuel Standard. The project has completed environmental permitting, secured site control, signed off-take agreements, and executed a fixed-price EPC contract with Hoffman Construction, significantly reducing cost and schedule risk. READ MORE

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Switzerland Sustainability sugarcane Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Quebec pilot scale Netherlands Methanol/Biomethanol/Renewable Methanol Methanol-to-Jet (MTJ-SPK) licensing LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) Jetfuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)) Investing Hydrogen/Renewable Hydrogen Green Jobs grants-state France ethanol/bioethanol electrolysis electrofuels (e-fuels) electricity/power generation E15 Denmark demonstration scale/unit commercialization Carbon Intensity (CI)/Carbon Footprint Canada California BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production biomass biohydrogen BioChemicals/Renewable Chemicals Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

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