Total Energies provides SAF production, project updates from Paris Air Show

During the onset of this year’s Paris Air Show June 16, Total Energies provided an update on its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and project development.

The company said come 2028 it will be able to produce more than half a-million tons of SAF a year to cover the increase in the European SAF blending mandate set at 6 percent for 2030.

Total Energies will be capable of supplying SAF at more than 10 percent of the jet-fuel volumes it will market in Europe ahead of the EU mandate set at 6 percent in 2030.

“Total Energies is taking action to meet the strong demand from the aviation industry to reduce its carbon footprint,” said Patrick Pouyanné, the chairman and CEO of Total Energies. “Sustainable aviation fuels are essential to bring the air industry’s CO2 emissions down immediately. Their development is fully aligned with our approach to get to net zero, together with society. For 10 years, we have been pioneering and investing in biorefineries and developing coprocessing in our refineries.”

Pioneering SAF production

• The Grandpuits biorefinery: Thanks to a 500-million-euro (USD$578.6 million) investment, Total Energies transforms its site into a zero-crude platform, including a biorefinery with a production capacity of 230,000 tons a year of SAF in 2026. Total Energies has joined force with SARIA, the European leader in the collection and recovery of organic materials, which will supply the majority of the feedstock supply.

• The La Mède biorefinery: This year, La Mède will produce 15,000 tons of SAF for distribution to airports in the south of France.

• The Normandy refinery: Total Energies has begun coprocessing SAF at its Normandy platform. Coprocessing involves the treatment of both fossil jet fuel and biomass in a standard refining unit. The site’s annual production capacity is 160,000 tons.

• The Antwerp refinery in Belgium: An initial project to coprocess 50,000 tons a year of SAF was launched this year. Annual production capacity will subsequently be increased to 80,000 tons a year.

• The Leuna refinery in Germany: A coprocessing project for 50,000 tons a year is planned for 2026.

Supplying SAF to air customers

Total Energies supplies aviation fuels including SAF, in line with blending mandates and the needs of its customers. Those customers include several airlines:

• Air France-KLM, with which the company has signed a major deal to deliver up to 1.5 million tons of SAF over 10 years. This is one of the group’s largest SAF supply contracts.

• Volotea, which has also signed to buy SAF from Total Energies until 2029, in order to reduce the emissions of its flights out of several French airports.

• Total Energies also supplies SAF-blended aviation fuel to several French airports, including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris-Le Bourget, Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Nazaire.

Committed to SAF research

Total Energies is also forging partnerships with aerospace groups to accelerate the sector’s decarbonization.

Those partnerships are playing a critical role in understanding the impact of SAF composition on aircraft, especially for blends of over 50 percent. They include:

• A partnership with Airbus, signed in 2024, to supply over half the company’s needs in Europe, and conduct a shared R&D program to develop fully sustainable fuels.

• A partnership with Safran, begun in 2021, which led to the formulation of a SAF that was completely compatible with current aircraft and was used to power a flight by a military helicopter in February 2023.

Total Energies is also stepping up its R&D effort, especially in feedstock, which remains one of the challenges to increasing SAF production.

The Solaize research center in Lyon has specialist teams coordinating this work.