TotalEnergies Expands SAF Production to Accelerate Decarbonization of Air Travel
TotalEnergies says it is “working towards the decarbonization of air transportation, with the production and distribution to its customers of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).” As from 2028, TotalEnergies says 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% for 2030.”
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said the company’s long-term vision “is taking action to meet the strong demand from the aviation industry to reduce its carbon footprint.” He explained that: “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 ten years, we have been pioneering and investing in biorefineries and developing coprocessing in our refineries.”
TotalEnergies says it has been pioneering SAF production in several refineries:
At the Grandpuits Biorefinery in France, TotalEnergies said it is transforming “its site into a zero-crude platform, including a biorefinery with a production capacity of 230,000 tons a year of SAF in 2026” while at the La Mède Biorefinery, also in France, TotalEnergies says it will “produce 15,000 tons of SAF for distribution to airports in the south of France.”
At the Normandy refinery, TotalEnergies 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.” In Belgium, the Antwerp refinery “launched a project to coprocess 50,000 tons this year, with capacity set to rise to 80,000 tons annually” and in Germany, the Leuna refinery is set to start “a coprocessing project for 50,000 tons a year is planned for 2026.”
Also, TotalEnergies says it “supplies aviation fuels including SAF, in line with blending mandates and the needs of its customers.” Those customers include airlines which includes “Air France-KLM, with whom the Company has signed a major deal to deliver up to 1.5 million tons of SAF over ten years” and “Volotea will provide SAF through 2029 for the airline’s flights from several French airports.”
TotalEnergies also supplies “SAF-blended aviation fuel to several French airports, including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris-Le Bourget, Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Nazaire.”
TotalEnergies “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 sustainable aviation fuel composition on aircraft, especially for blends of over 50%. 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” and “a partnership with Safran, begun in 2021, that 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.”
