French oil giant TotalEnergies has entered an agreement with German rendering company SARIA to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its Grandpuits refinery in Seine-et-Marne, France.
The agreement would help TotalEnergies secure a feedstock supply – used cooking oils (UCO) and animal fats – to produce SAF and would increase the facility’s production capacity to 210,000 tonnes/year, 25% higher than forecast in the initial project announced in 2020, the company said on 26 September.
As part of the agreement, TotalEnergies said it would take 50% of SARIA’s production capacity to supply animal fat esters to the refinery, while SARIA would take an equivalent stake in Grandpuit’s biofuels business, which TotalEnergies would continue to operate. SARIA will also directly supply UCO.
“This strategic partnership with SARIA… reinforces the conversion of the Grandpuits refinery into a zero-crude platform oriented towards SAF,” Bernard Pinatel, TotalEnergies president (Refining & Chemicals), said.
“SAF is the most efficient solution to immediately reduce CO2 emissions from air travel, and its development is fully in line with the company’s climate ambition to get to net zero by 2050.”
The project was subject to regulatory approval and the legal process for notifying and consulting TotalEnergies’ employee representatives, the company said.
Family-owned SARIA’s activities comprise converting products of animal origin and other organic materials into ingredients for the food, animal feed, pet food, pharmaceutical, and energy sectors.
