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Biomass Energy

Friday
28 Feb 2025

2 French Firms Team up to Accelerate SAF Projects

28 Feb 2025  by rigzone   
France-based energy firms Haffner Energy and ATOBA Energy have partnered for the development and financing of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects.

 


'This will facilitate and accelerate their engagement in SAF procurement'.

Haffner Energy is a solutions provider for converting biomass into clean energy, while ATOBA Energy focuses on “solving the financial dilemma between producers and final offtakers,” the two companies said in a joint news release.

Haffner Energy said it designs, manufactures, supplies, licenses, and operates proprietary disruptive clean fuel solutions, including critical technology for SAF production, using biomass residues such as agricultural and municipal waste.

The company has announced the development of a couple of SAF projects, incliding the Paris-Vatry SAF project in France, where full-scale production is expected to be reached by 2030 when the next stage of the European SAF mandate kicks in, it said.

ATOBA said it “uniquely unlocks the SAF financial stalemate through its upstream and downstream SAF offtake portfolio management”.

By offtaking from diversified producers and technologies like Haffner Energy, ATOBA mitigates technological and pricing risks associated with the various SAF production pathways, and enables the closing of long-term offtake agreements among airlines, jet-fuel distributors, SAF producers, and financial institutions, which are essential for scaling the industry, it stated.

“We are particularly excited about this partnership with ATOBA, as it will facilitate the financing of our SAF projects, starting with Paris-Vatry. One of the most crucial challenges in securing financing for SAF production facilities is the ability to obtain offtake contracts that guarantee the purchase of SAF at a stable price for periods exceeding five years,” Haffner Energy co-founder and CEO Philippe Haffner said.

“The key advantage provided by ATOBA is that it offers this guarantee while significantly reducing risks and commitments for airline clients. This will facilitate and accelerate their engagement in SAF procurement. As such, it is a win-win model for all stakeholders and we are extremely pleased that ATOBA has identified us as a strategic and unique player in the SAF ecosystem,” he added.

“We are delighted to launch an offtake agreement with Haffner Energy, a company that has demonstrated for decades the quality and robustness of its biomass transformation technological and industrial solutions. Haffner Energy plays a key role in unlocking second-generation feedstocks, which are essential for both Alcohol-to-Jet and Gas Fischer-Tropsch SAF pathways,” ATOBA Energy co-founder and CEO Arnaud Namer said.

“At ATOBA, we strongly believe that a variety of technologies and pathways are required to meet our aviation decarbonization targets, as the best production route and feedstock depend on the specific regional characteristics. Having Haffner Energy in our portfolio of SAF producers is an essential brick in our aggregation strategy, reinforcing our ability to provide diversified, reliable, and scalable SAF solutions to the market,” he added.

Further, ATOBA said it provides long-term SAF contracts to airlines and jet-fuel resellers at optimized market SAF pricing indexes. The company brings high security and competitiveness to the SAF supply chain for its airline partners via offtake from diversified producers and technologies. The company’s aggregation strategy allows the SAF industry to scale by providing producers with long-term offtake agreements that support their final investment decisions for their SAF production plants.

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