On July 22, 2026, South Australia took part in one of the critical developments in energy in Australia: the project that produces jet fuel from the waste of forests. Per the report by InDaily, a group of Labour leaders disclosed a new project regarding the production of renewable jet fuel in North-West Adelaide, thus positioning Gillman at the centre of the new domestic supply chain. The project was organised by the Melbourne-based company HAMR Energy, which was approved for a federal loan of $32 million by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
What gives the plan its uniqueness is its industrial choreography. Biomass such as forest waste products like sawdust, bark, wood chips and thinnings will undergo processing in Victoria first, where approximately 600,000 tonnes of biomass are expected to be processed. The biomass will be converted into green methanol in Portland, Victoria and then into sustainable aviation fuel in Gillman, South Australia. The Gillman plant is anticipated to produce around 140 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel every year, which would make it possible to substitute approximately 140 million litres of fossil-based kerosene and cut down about 330,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions as per the report provided by ARENA and the press release.
The size is impressive, but the financial structure is equally significant. Government assistance comes in two parts: $12.5 million for initial front-end engineering design and $19.5 million more if HAMR gets the necessary co-funding to proceed with detailed design work. InDaily mentions that South Australia could have a total cost of $700 million to $800 million, clarifying that the project is not just a test project in the usual sense of the term but a real industrial endeavour that aims to go from idea to construction planning.
The political messaging was equally clear. Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, Federal Minister for Transport Catherine King, and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas spoke of the undertaking as addressing oil supply issues and capturing a larger share of the energy transition’s benefit in Australia. Bowen stated that the project would enhance future energy resilience against fuel shortages, while King pointed out the new possibilities for forestry, manufacturing, engineering, and aviation. Malinauskas went even further by claiming that South Australia is leading the establishment of its own jet fuel production industry.
That objective matches with the overall logic of sustainable aviation fuel. The International Air Transport Association claims that SAF is able to reduce the life cycle carbon emissions by about 80% in comparison to traditional aviation fuel, whereas the International Civil Aviation Organization states that SAF has the biggest opportunity to decrease global aviation CO₂ emissions and is a key element of the goal of moving the aviation industry to carbon neutral status by 2050. Most importantly, SAF is a drop-in fuel, which means that it could be used in the already existing aircraft and airport infrastructure with no need for redesigning the entire aviation system. This is what provides projects like HAMR with practical meaning, as they do not wait for the aeroplanes of the future but use the technology in existing aircrafts.
There’s a sharper strategic layer underlying the environmental story. Australia relies heavily on imported liquid fuels, and aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise because long-haul flights have few alternatives to energy-dense liquid fuels. According to ARENA, the project aims to see if hardly utilised forestry by-products can become low-carbon fuels at scale while also generating new regional income for plantation owners and creating jobs in construction, engineering, manufacturing and other businesses. Thus, in a way, the Gillman initiative is larger than a plant: it’s a gamble that waste can be turned into feedstock and that Adelaide will be one of the places to develop Australia’s fuel future.
