A £2bn investment to develop a world-leading sustainable aviation fuel plant creating thousands of jobs on Teesside is poised for take-off.

Saudi Arabian firm Alfanar has confirmed its commitment to develop its Lighthouse Green Fuels development at the North Tees industry cluster.

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen secured the pledge as he met senior Alfanar executives including vice chair Sabah Al Multaq during a visit to Saudi capital Riyadh last week to promote global investment in Teesside.

The mayor also committed to championing this project with government as it moves closer to getting started.

The facility will convert more than 1.5million tonnes of sustainably sourced biomass waste to produce up to 180 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel a year.

The amount is the equivalent of fuelling 25,000 short-haul or 2,500 long haul flights a year and more than 2,000 jobs will be created during construction, with a further 240 full-time roles when the plant is operational.

Ben Houchen said: “It is outstanding news that Alfanar has committed to delivering this project on Teesside and it’s a further example of the transformative global investments we are bringing to Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

“Developments such as Lighthouse Green Fuels put our region at the forefront of a growing industry which is primed for massive expansion and will deliver thousands of jobs and billions of pounds in investment in coming years.

“We have the skills, infrastructure and passion to attract world-class projects and we will not stop here. We are tirelessly working to promote our region – including the UK’s most successful Freeport – as a first-choice location for national and internal investment.”

The Lighthouse Green Fuels plant will also benefit from a connection to carbon capture and storage facilities currently under development off the coast of Teesside by the Northern Endurance Partnership.

More than 750,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be avoided when the plant is coupled with the carbon capture technology.

Lighthouse Green Fuels is part of a wider movement establishing Teesside as the UK’s capital for low-carbon aviation fuel manufacturing.

The Department for Transport previously awarded almost £40m from its Advanced Fuels Fund to Alfanar and four other Teesside businesses to develop sustainable aviation fuel projects.