Canadian electro sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) producer SAF+ International Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with French green and renewable hydrogen producer Lhyfe to develop the production of e-SAF at a site located in the port region of Le Havre in northern France. Under the cooperation agreement Lhyfe would build a green hydrogen production site that would supply more than 100 tonnes per day (300 MW of installed electrolysis capacity) to an e-SAF production site that SAF+ is planning to build. Last October, SAF+ announced a similar initiative with another French green hydrogen producer H2V that aims to produce 80,000 tonnes of e-SAF annually by 2030 at a site in the Marseille Fos industrial seaport area in southern France. The moves follow an MoU signed by SAF+ with the Air France-KLM Group in July 2023 for the supply of e-SAF starting in 2030.
The proposed complex in Le Havre would be connected to the hydrocarbon transport network in order to transport the e-SAF to airports in the Paris region, as well as in northern and eastern France via existing infrastructure, also aiming for the 2030 date.
Lhyfe has already gained a head start in producing green and renewable hydrogen through the electrolysis of water at production units powered by renewable energy. In 2021, it inaugurated the first industrial-scale plant in the world to be interconnected with a wind farm, with the world’s first offshore green hydrogen production pilot platform inaugurated in 2022. Two further sites followed last year and the company has several sites under construction or expansion across Europe.
“Green and renewable hydrogen is now a mature solution that has established itself as one of the pillars of decarbonisation,” said Lhyfe founder and CEO, Matthieu Guesné. “It can and must now be deployed as quickly as possible, including in the aviation industry.”
SAF+ is a coalition of international players from across the value chain and has a pilot plant in its home city of Montreal. It is currently developing a portfolio of projects around the world and is aiming for its first commercial-scale plant to come on stream in 2028.
“This agreement between Lhyfe and SAF+ shows our shareholders and stakeholders that our European strategy is well on track,” commented SAF+ CEO Jean Paquin. “Demand for SAF in the coming years will be exponential, so we now need to be able to demonstrate that viable solutions will be put in place in the short term.”
The company’s other French partner, H2V, is a subsidiary of industrial group SAMFI-Invest and has been working since 2016 with the aim of mass producing green hydrogen. Its most mature projects established to date are located in Dunkirk (500 MW), Thionville (400 MW) and also the 36-hectare Marseille Fos (600 MW) site, where the preliminary consultation process was completed in December.
“Our strategy is to prioritise green hydrogen for sectors that have no other decarbonisation alternatives, such as the aviation and maritime sectors, which urgently need innovative solutions to reduce their CO2 emissions,” explained Alexis Martinez, Managing Director of H2V.
Photo: Lhyfe’s world-first offshore pilot site off Nantes, France, is producing 440 kg per day of green hydrogen using the offshore wind farm as its energy source and sea water as its water source
More News & Features
Aircraft lessor Jackson Square teams with Future Energy Global to help boost SAF production
New Zealand could meet 25% of domestic jet fuel needs with SAF from wood waste, finds report
Airbus enters partnerships with airlines Wizz and EVA to help prepare for SAF introduction
T&E analysis of business travel emissions finds those companies with targets achieve the most reductions
European aviation players launch Project SkyPower to drive investment in e-SAF and meet EU and UK mandates
Malaysia to produce SAF from palm oil waste, while Thailand pumps first SAF shipments to Bangkok’s airports