NextChem awarded engineering contract by Total for SAF plant in France

Photo: Total Energies

Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced that its subsidiary NextChem has been awarded a contract by Total Energies to carry out a front-end engineering design and supply its technological know-how to implement a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Grandpuits, France, capable of processing 400,000 tons per year (ton/y). The project is part of the plan to convert the Grandpuits Refinery into a zero-crude platform that will include a biorefinery, where NextChem is already engineering Europe’s first plant to produce compostable and biodegradable plastics, with a capacity of 100,000 ton/y.

The SAF plant, due to be operational in 2024, will strengthen NextChem’s role in Total Energies’ net-zero strategy as a major part of the Grandpuits Refinery “zero-crude” platform development, known as “Projet Galaxie.”

The “Projet Galaxie” will produce SAF by treating primarily animal fats from Europe and used cooking oil. This new unit will be aligned with France’s roadmap for the deployment of SAF, which includes a target of 2 percent by 2025 and 5 percent by 2030.

SAF technological know-how is one of NextChem’s key components of its green-tech portfolio that makes Maire Tecnimont Group a key enabler of the energy transition. Contributing to sustainable mobility through a wide range of solutions for the production of green, low-carbon biofuels is one of Maire Tecnimont Group’s priority goals towards 2025, within its sustainability strategy.

“We are very happy to continue strengthening our strategic collaboration with a prestigious global player like Total Energies,” said Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Maire Tecnimont Group and NextChem. “Being the partner of choice for its ambitious Grandpuits energy transition project is exciting, as innovative corporations have pioneering goals and may make the difference in Europe’s challenging path to decarbonization. Combining Maire Tecnimont’s leading experience in EPC contracting in the natural resources transformation sector worldwide, with NextChem’s focus on deploying solutions in carbon footprint reduction through the development of new technologies is a winning value proposition. The air transportation sector is looking for biofuels solutions urgently, to cope with the challenging targets for GHG emissions reduction. This partnership will give a concrete answer to a concrete need.”

Total Energies is investing in low-carbon activities with strong growth, like bioplastics and renewable fuels production, with the ambition of getting to net zero in Europe by 2050.

“We are very pleased to launch this next stage, alongside with our partner NextChem,” said Virginie Merini, senior vice president of renewable fuels at Total Energies. “Signing this contract is an important milestone as it reinforces our commitment to speed up our growth on the renewable fuels market with the ambition to produce close to 5 million tons of renewable fuels a year by 2030.”