MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | New Rosemount Facility Expands Sustainable Aviation Fuel Access at MSP Airport

ROSEMOUNT, MN (July 30, 2026). Minnesota officials and aviation industry leaders have marked the completion of a sustainable aviation fuel blending facility intended to expand the supply of lower-carbon fuel available to airlines at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The facility is located at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend refinery in Rosemount. It can receive, store and blend as much as 30 million gallons of unblended sustainable aviation fuel annually, according to Delta Air Lines and the Minnesota Sustainable Aviation Fuel Hub.

The project connects the blended fuel to MSP Airport through existing pipeline infrastructure.

Despite some reports describing the development as a production facility, the Rosemount operation does not manufacture the sustainable aviation fuel. It receives what the industry calls “neat” sustainable aviation fuel, blends it with conventional jet fuel and delivers the resulting product for use by aircraft at MSP.

That distinction matters when evaluating the project’s size, economic effect and environmental benefit.

Sustainable aviation fuel can be made from feedstocks including used cooking oil, agricultural products, animal fats and other renewable or waste-derived materials. The source, manufacturing method and transportation distance can significantly affect the fuel’s overall greenhouse-gas performance.

The alternative fuel must currently be blended with conventional jet fuel before it can be used in commercial aircraft under existing technical standards.

Delta joined state officials, Minnesota Sustainable Aviation Fuel Hub members and other partners July 27 to celebrate the facility’s completion. MSP is Delta’s second-largest hub, making the airport a significant location for efforts to increase commercial use of alternative aviation fuels.

Delta says it uses approximately 250 million gallons of jet fuel annually at MSP. The blending facility’s maximum annual capacity of 30 million gallons of unblended sustainable aviation fuel would represent a portion of that demand rather than a complete replacement for petroleum-based jet fuel.

The airline has set a goal of having sustainable aviation fuel account for 10 percent of its fuel use across its network by 2030.

Supporters say the Rosemount facility addresses an infrastructure problem that has limited wider adoption. Airlines need a reliable system for receiving, testing, storing, blending and delivering alternative fuel in commercial quantities. Pine Bend already has large storage tanks, rail-unloading capacity, laboratories, filtration systems and pipeline connections to the airport.

The project is part of the Minnesota Sustainable Aviation Fuel Hub, a coalition of airlines, businesses, agricultural interests, government bodies, universities and nonprofit organizations working to build a regional supply chain.

Minnesota officials say the emerging industry could create new markets for farmers and support jobs connected to fuel processing, transportation and aviation. Those economic outcomes will depend on where the fuel is produced, which feedstocks are used and whether regional production grows alongside blending and distribution capacity.

Sustainable aviation fuel is generally promoted as a way to reduce life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions compared with conventional jet fuel. It does not eliminate emissions from aircraft engines, and the precise reduction varies according to the feedstock and production process.

The completed Rosemount facility provides MSP with infrastructure to use the fuel at a larger commercial scale. Its environmental significance will ultimately depend on how much sustainable fuel passes through the facility, how that fuel is produced and how consistently airlines replace conventional jet fuel with qualifying alternatives.

Sources:

Delta Air Lines, “Delta Joins Minnesota Leaders to Celebrate Opening of New SAF Blending Facility Serving MSP,” July 27, 2026; Minnesota Sustainable Aviation Fuel Hub; KARE 11, report on the Pine Bend sustainable aviation fuel facility 

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