The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has approved a loan guarantee of $1.67 billion for the expansion of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) refinery in Montana.
The decision was approved by US President Donald Trump’s administration on February 11, 2025. According to the DOE, the loan will help finance the expansion of a renewable fuels’ facility in Great Falls, Montana, aiming to produce about 315 million gallons of biofuels annually, most of which will be SAF.
According to the DOE’s official website, when fully operational, Montana Renewables is set to become a top global producer of SAF, expected to produce about half of all North American SAF and about 12% of all global SAF through 2030.
The loan was first proposed and completed by the Biden-Harris administration on January 10, 2024. At the time, the energy department announced a total loan guarantee of $1.67 billion to Montana Renewables.
However, on February 5, 2025, Bloomberg reported that the Trump administration was looking into legal ways to cancel loans from a $400 billion program aimed at financing clean energy technology.
The DOE informed Bloomberg via email that these loans are being considered as part of an agency-wide review “to ensure all activities are consistent with President Trump’s executive orders and priorities.”
The new refinery project is expected to create, at its peak, 450 construction jobs and up to 40 new permanent operations jobs.
The Montana Renewables facility has been operational since late 2022 and currently produced approximately 140 million gallons of biofuels per year.
