South Korea has released a roadmap for the country's sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate and set up an alliance to support its implementation.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (Molit) and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (Motie) announced the ‘SAF Blending Mandatory System Roadmap' at an event on 19 September.
The roadmap provides details on the ‘SAF Expansion Strategy', which the ministries had announced in August 2024. Nine domestic airlines are already operating some short-haul routes using fuel with a 1pc SAF blend.
A SAF alliance was also formed comprising the two ministries, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (Kotsa), K-Petro and associations for aviation and petroleum. The alliance will help implement the roadmap.
South Korea is set to increase its SAF mandates over the next 10 years. From 2027, all international flights will be required to use jet fuel with 1pc SAF blend. This will rise to 3-5pc SAF blend by 2030 and expected to rise to 7-10pc by 2035. These later targets will be confirmed by 2026 and 2029 and will consider domestic production capacity, targets set by other countries and global market conditions.
Penalties
If fuel suppliers fail to adhere to these blend targets, they will be fined at 1.5 times the average price of SAF for the year. However, these fines will be deferred for a certain period — unspecified for now — to ensure fairness with airline fuelling obligations.
The ministries also plan to introduce a system which allows up to 20pc of the total obligated supply to be deferred for up to three years. They will also consider reducing the SAF blend percentage in unavoidable circumstances like natural disasters.
Korean airlines which exceed the SAF blending quota will receive 3.5 points in international air transport rights, increasing from one point at present. International air transport rights are rights allocated by the government to Korean airlines via a scoring system, to decide which airline gets priority to fly sought-after international routes.
Starting 2028, all international flights departing from domestic Korean airports must refuel at least 90pc of their SAF and jet fuel requirements domestically. But fines for failure to comply will be deferred by a year.
Initially, SAF that meets the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)'s Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (Corsia) will be recognised towards South Korea's mandate. For SAF to meet Corsia requirements, it must achieve a minimum 10pc reduction in net GHG emissions compared to conventional jet fuel. But after 2030, South Korea plans to consider SAF with higher GHG more favourably.
The ministries will also request that international sustainability certification standards, including the ISCC Corsia and ISCC EU certifications, are harmonised at the 42nd ICAO meeting taking place next week. While SAF, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and bionaphtha co-products produced at ISCC EU-certified biorefineries all obtain certification, only the SAF stream is certified when produced at ISCC Corsia-certified biorefineries. This means HVO and bionaphtha produced at these refineries are difficult to sell in the international biofuels markets at competitive prices, market participants said.
Incentives and support
Currently, there is a total 500mn won ($358,100) reduction on facility usage fees at Incheon International Airport Corporation, and 100mn won reduction at other airports managed by the Korea Airports Corporation, to offset some additional costs of using SAF. In 2027, this might shift towards being a more direct subsidy for airlines.
The Ministry of Industry will fund up to 25pc of facility investment costs, and up to 40pc of research and development costs. They will consider providing additional incentives for next-generation production technologies, such as e-SAF.
To ensure stable feedstock supply, they will develop technologies for new raw materials such as microalgae and pursue domestic import tariff concessions for feedstocks not included in free-trade agreements (FTAs). There are also plans to establish an alternative fuel centre within K-Petro by 2027.
Airlines are also looking at providing various perks such as lounge access and seat selection to passengers who voluntarily pay for the use of SAF.
