Moorhead lands $5B sustainable jet fuel plant and its 650 jobs

A $5 billion facility to manufacture jet fuel for airplanes is coming to Moorhead.

DG Fuels, a Washington D.C.-based energy company, announced it’s putting a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Clay County, bringing 650 jobs to northwestern Minnesota’s border with North Dakota.

The facility, which expects to start production in 2030, will convert agriculture and timber waste into jet fuel, according to a statement from Greater MSP, a Twin Cities-based regional development organization.

“We not only want to lead the world in de-carbonizing air travel” at Minnesota-St. Paul International Airport, said Greater MSP CEO Peter Frosch. “But we want to produce that SAF in Minnesota.”

The selection of Moorhead, Frosch said, was evidence of the concerted push from the Minnesota SAF Hub — which includes government, universities, nonprofits and companies, including Bank of America and Delta Air Lines — to ramp up production of SAF in Minnesota.

The project is also a win for Moorhead.

“With the largest shovel-ready industrial site in the state of Minnesota, we are excited and prepared to compete on the national stage for this economic development opportunity,” said Moorhead Mayor Shelly Carlson in a statement.

While SAF can be produced from biomass streams, including corn stover, industry experts look to perennial crops as well, such as camelina and other oilseeds, as possible sources for feedstocks.