Repsol, Volotea sign agreement for SAF supply in Spain from 2025 to 2029

Photo: Repsol

Repsol announced Aug. 1 that it and Volotea have reached an agreement for the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on flights operated by the airline from airports in Spain.

The energy company said it plans to supply Volotea with up to 6.1 million liters (1.6 million gallons) of SAF from 2025 to 2029.

The use of this fuel would lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 80 percent in lifecycle terms from production to consumption compared to the petroleum kerosene it replaces, according to International Air Transport Association studies.

This volume of SAF would allow Volotea to operate its flights from Spanish airports with a percentage of SAF, meeting the 2 percent requirement set by the European Union’s ReFuelEU aviation regulation, which will come into effect at the beginning of next year.

SAF is the most effective way to decarbonize the aviation sector.

This sustainable fuel is produced from organic materials, such as vegetable oils, animal fats, biomass or other waste and can be used in existing aircraft without the need for any modifications to infrastructure or engines.

The SAF supplied by Repsol is produced from waste such as used cooking oil and is certified in accordance with the standards of Annex IX Part B of the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive RED II.

“This alliance with Volotea reinforces our commitment to aviation in Spain,” said Valero Marín, Repsol’s chief customer officer. “Our investments are focused on increasing the production of SAF to meet airline demand. In this regard, the start of large-scale production at our 100 percent renewable fuels plant in Cartagena allows us to be ready to supply the SAF required by the airline industry to achieve its decarbonization goals.”

Carlos Muñoz, founder and CEO of Volotea, added, “Signing this agreement with Repsol as a key partner reinforces our commitment to more sustainable aviation and is a step towards achieving our industry’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Although in Spain we are making good progress in setting up infrastructure for the production of SAF, it is essential to have a system of incentives for the different players in the industry, focused on stimulating the use of this sustainable fuel, in order to continue investing in the research and development of new technologies, as well as in its production and distribution on a large scale. Over the years, Volotea has launched several initiatives to reduce our environmental impact. Thanks to this ongoing commitment and the rapid progress made recently, we will be able to reduce our direct CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometer by 50 percent by 2025, five years ahead of our initial target.”

Since 2022, Volotea has been working on the integration of SAF into its fleet.

Between 2022 and 2023, the airline used approximately 1 million liters of SAF.

Since September 2022, it has had an agreement with Airbus to operate its shuttle between Hamburg, Germany, and Toulouse, France, with 34 percent SAF.

In March this year, the airline and Repsol had already reached an agreement to include the equivalent of 50 percent SAF fuel on the route operated by Volotea between Madrid and the Region of Murcia, marking a new milestone towards the decarbonization of the airline sector for the company.

This year, Repsol began production of 100 percent renewable fuels at its Cartagena facilities. 

The plant, the first large-scale facility in Spain and Portugal dedicated exclusively to the production of 100 percent renewable fuels, has a production capacity of 250,000 metric tons per year and can produce renewable diesel and SAF from waste.

Repsol’s goal is to reach a production capacity of up to 1.7 million tons of renewable fuels by 2027 and up to 2.7 million tons by 2030.