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A Belfast firm is building jet fuel machines small enough to ship. The government has just backed it

Qurexa Editorial Team4 October 20267 min read 0 0
A Belfast firm is building jet fuel machines small enough to ship. The government has just backed it

What happened

On 1 October 2026, UK Export Finance announced that it had guaranteed commercial funding for CATAGEN, a cleantech company based in Belfast's Titanic Quarter. UK Export Finance, usually shortened to UKEF, is the government's export credit agency. It does not normally lend money itself. It guarantees loans made by banks, which makes banks more willing to lend to exporters. CATAGEN makes technologies that cut carbon and other emissions. The funding will support its subsidiary, ClimaHtech Green Flight, which produces sustainable aviation fuel, usually shortened to SAF. SAF is a lower-carbon alternative to normal jet fuel, made from more sustainable sources than fossil fuels. The company's approach is unusual. Rather than building one enormous refinery, CATAGEN makes small, modular production units that can be put in different places and added to as demand grows. CATAGEN also runs a second business, CATAGEN Green Emissions Testing, which provides testing that helps vehicle and other manufacturers meet strict emissions standards around the world. Some numbers from the announcement: - The group employs 50 highly skilled staff. - It supports a wider network of 85 UK-based suppliers. - Its partners span the UK, Europe and the US, and include ROUSH, Zenvo, Ducati, Ryanair, Shell Aviation Ireland, Vinci Airports and LoganAir. The company was founded by Dr Andrew Woods, who has a PhD in mechanical engineering from Queen's University Belfast. He said: 'The backing from UKEF has been instrumental in bridging the gap between late-stage product development and commercialisation.' Lauren Dougherty, UKEF's Export Finance Manager for Northern Ireland, said: 'CATAGEN is turning world-class Northern Irish innovation into modular technology that can be sold around the globe.' The announcement came ahead of UKEF's Northern Ireland Business Forum in Belfast on 6 October.

Why this matters

Aviation is one of the hardest parts of the economy to clean up. Batteries are too heavy for long flights. Hydrogen needs entirely new aircraft and airport systems. For the next couple of decades, the main realistic option for cutting aviation emissions is fuel that burns in the engines we already have. That is what SAF is. It is not a new kind of engine. It is a different way of making the liquid that goes in. The interesting thing about CATAGEN's approach is the size. Most fuel production is enormous and centralised, because that is how you get costs down. The trouble with enormous and centralised is that it takes years and a vast amount of capital before a single litre is produced. Small modular units change the shape of that problem. You can put one somewhere, see whether it works, and add more. For countries and airports without the scale to justify a refinery, that may be the only route in. The other reason this matters is less about fuel and more about how small British companies grow. There is a well-known gap between having a product that works and selling it internationally at volume. Banks are often unwilling to lend across that gap, because the company has no track record of overseas sales. Dr Woods described UKEF's backing as bridging exactly that gap. That is what an export credit agency is for, and it is a quieter but genuinely useful piece of industrial policy.

What the evidence actually says

There are a few things this announcement does not tell us, and it is worth naming them. **The amount is not disclosed.** The press release says commercial funding backed by a UKEF guarantee. It does not say how much. So we cannot judge the scale of the commitment. **SAF's carbon savings depend entirely on how it is made.** This is the single most important caveat in any SAF story. Sustainable aviation fuel is a category, not a recipe. Fuels made from waste oils, from agricultural residues, or from captured carbon dioxide and renewable electricity have very different carbon footprints. The announcement describes CATAGEN's technology as helping to produce SAF with very low carbon emissions, but it does not publish the feedstock or the lifecycle figures. Those numbers are what independent assessment would need. **Partner lists show relationships, not revenue.** ROUSH, Ducati, Ryanair, Shell Aviation Ireland, Vinci Airports and LoganAir are serious names. But a named partner can mean anything from a signed supply contract to a joint trial. The release does not specify. **50 staff and 85 suppliers is a small company.** That is not a criticism; it is context. This is an early-stage scale-up, not an established fuel producer. **'Expected to scale dramatically' is a forecast.** The release says the global SAF market is expected to grow significantly as aviation works towards its decarbonisation targets. That is a widely shared expectation, but it depends on policy mandates holding, and on supply catching up with them. What is solid: a real Northern Irish engineering company with real customers has secured government-backed finance to move from development into commercial production. That is a good news story at the right size, and it does not need inflating.

Practical advice

Most of this is not something a household acts on. But two groups of readers can do something with it. **If you run a business that sells overseas, or wants to:** UKEF support is not just for large firms. It offers guarantees, insurance and loans for exporters of all sizes, and each UK region has an Export Finance Manager whose job is to talk to local businesses for free. Search gov.uk for 'UK Export Finance regional contacts'. **If you are in Northern Ireland:** UKEF's Northern Ireland Business Forum was held in Belfast on 6 October. These events run regularly across the UK, bring together exporters, finance specialists and government staff, and are usually free. It is worth asking to be told about the next one. **If you are choosing a career in engineering:** emissions testing, fuel chemistry and modular process engineering are growing areas with a shortage of people. CATAGEN's founder came out of Queen's University Belfast; this is work that does not require leaving the UK. **If you fly and want to reduce your own impact:** be realistic about what is in your control. SAF currently makes up a very small share of jet fuel worldwide. Flying less, flying direct rather than connecting, and travelling by train where it is practical all make a bigger difference today than choosing an airline on the basis of SAF claims. Treat airline carbon-offset add-ons with scepticism; the quality varies enormously.

What to know

UK Export Finance has guaranteed commercial funding for CATAGEN, a Belfast cleantech group, to help its ClimaHtech Green Flight subsidiary move sustainable aviation fuel technology into commercial production. The announcement was made on 1 October 2026. CATAGEN employs 50 staff and supports 85 UK suppliers. Its approach uses small modular production units rather than one large refinery, which lowers the cost of starting and allows capacity to be added as demand grows. The funding amount was not disclosed, and the release does not publish feedstock or lifecycle carbon figures, which are what determine how sustainable any SAF actually is. The broader point is about the gap between a working product and international sales. That is the gap UKEF exists to bridge, and the company's founder says that is what it did here. If you export, or want to, your region has a UKEF Export Finance Manager you can talk to for free. That is the most useful thing to take from this. Sources: UK Export Finance, 'Belfast cleantech firm CATAGEN takes off with government-backed finance', 1 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/belfast-cleantech-firm-catagen-takes-off-with-government-backed-finance ; UK Export Finance (organisation page), accessed 4 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-export-finance ; CATAGEN, company website, accessed 4 October 2026, https://catagen.com/ This article is for general information and is not financial, investment or business advice. Speak to a qualified adviser before making commercial decisions. Nothing in this article is medical advice, and it does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.

#sustainable aviation fuel#exports#northern ireland#clean energy#manufacturing#ukef

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