Cepsa begins selling sustainable aviation fuel at 4 of Spain’s major airports

Cepsa has begun selling sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at four of Spain’s main airports, which, combined handle over 133 million passengers each year, representing 55 percent of the country’s passenger traffic.

The energy company is now selling SAF at major airports in Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Seville to all customers who request it, becoming the first company to offer biofuel for aviation on a permanent basis.

The energy company, currently one of the main manufacturers and suppliers of aviation fuels in the Spanish market, produces this sustainable fuel at its La Rábida Energy Park in Huelva from organic waste, such as used cooking oils and agricultural waste.

These second-generation biofuels, in addition to reducing aircraft emissions by up to 90 percent compared to conventional kerosene, promote the circular economy, as they are produced using waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.

“We want to make sustainable aviation a reality as soon as possible,” said Tobi Pardo, Cepsa’s aviation director. “We are therefore proud to offer our SAF on an ongoing basis to customers in the aviation industry. For the first time in Spain, four of the country’s main airports have access to this sustainable fuel, which will allow airlines to move forward in their own decarbonization processes.”

The company said the news reflects its commitment to becoming a benchmark in the clean-energy sector and leading the decarbonization of air transport.

This milestone comes a few months after Cepsa supplied SAF to more than 200 flights at Seville Airport in a pioneering move that marked the first supply of SAF at an airport in Southern Europe.

It was also the first time in Spain that the entire value chain had traceability certified by the ISCC EU (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) system, from the manufacture of SAF to its physically supplying it.

This new step for the energy company contributes to the European Commission’s Fit for 55 package, which includes a legislative initiative called “ReFuelEU Aviation” that aims to boost the supply and demand of aviation biofuels in the European Union to 2 percent use by 2025, 6 percent by 2030 and 70 percent by 2050.

The company aims to lead the production of SAF in Spain and Portugal, with an annual production capacity of 800,000 tons annually by 2030, enough sustainable fuel to fly around the world 2,000 times.

To this end, Cepsa will develop the largest second-generation biofuels plant in Southern Europe, together with Bio-Oils, through an investment of up to 1 billion euros.

This facility, to be commissioned in 2026 in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva), will have a flexible production capacity of 500,000 tons of SAF and renewable diesel and use the latest technology for biofuels production.

In addition, it will be designed from the outset as a digital-native plant, with the latest advances in artificial intelligence, the internet of things and data analysis, to maximize efficiency and ensure the highest standards of safety and environmental protection.