On Friday, Emmanuel Macron announced the French government's support for the decarbonisation of air transport, a commitment that will include the introduction of a "carbon-neutral" air transport policy. sustainable air fuel production chain (SAF). " We'll be there in 2027-2030" he said during a visit to the Safran plant in Villaroche, Seine-et-Marne, with the French government preparing to put €200 million on the table to speed up its emergence.
TotalEnergies, a key player, took advantage of the opening of the Paris Air Show to announce its commitment to the production of this fuel. necessary for the sector's energy transition. The energy company estimates that it will be able to produce half a million tonnes of SAF from 2028, and thus be in a position to supply companies with enough biofuel to meet the European incorporation mandates, set at 6% in 2030. " TotalEnergies is mobilising to meet the strong demand from the aeronautics sector to reduce its carbon footprint" said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
Three plants are involved in this production, including the Grandpuits site in Seine-et-Marne. This former refinery is currently being transformed into a zero-oil platform, at a cost of 400 million euros. From 2025, the plant is expected to produce 210,000 tonnes of SAF from animal fats and used cooking oils. This key TotalEnergies site for sustainable aviation fuel should also see its production increase by a further 75,000 tonnes by 2027.
Another flagship site is the La Mède refinery, currently being upgraded to a biorefinery, where TotalEnergies is studying a new investment to have the capacity to process 100% of waste from the circular economy to produce biofuels and SAF through co-processing, starting in 2024. While biodiesel produced at La Mède is already used to produce SAF at the Oudalle refinery, near Le Havre, the Gonfreville refinery, also in Normandy, should also be able to produce a further 150,000 tonnes of SAF, again by co-processing biodiesel produced at La Mède. This will follow on from the technical work carried out with its aeronautical partners. The site has already started producing SAF and plans to increase production to 40,000 tonnes a year from 2025.
However, TotalEnergies' production of sustainable aviation fuel is not limited to France, as the company aims to produce a total of 1.5 million tonnes worldwide by 2030in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. That's 10% of the world market.
As part of the energy transformation of air transport, the electric aircraft is one of the other avenues being considered, at least for small aircraft. In this context, Safran has announced the launch of four production lines for its electric motors ENGINEUS, at its sites in Niort in France and Pitstone in the UK. A thousand engines to power air taxis and other 100% electric or hybrid aircraft should be produced there every year from 2026. Five manufacturers - VoltAero, Aura Aero, Bye Aerospace, Diamond Aircraft and CAE - have already selected these electric engines.
