Masdar, one of the world’s leading renewable energy companies, announced that TotalEnergies is adding its expertise in the energy sector to a Masdar-led initiative focused on green hydrogen to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Senior executives from Masdar, Siemens Energy and TotalEnergies signed a collaboration agreement on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2022, to act as co-developers for a demonstrator plant project, which will be established at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainable urban development. The agreement was signed by Francois Good, Senior Vice President, Refining and Petrochemicals Africa Middle East and Asia at TotalEnergies, Dietmar Siersdorfer, Managing Director Middle East and UAE, Siemens Energy, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.

Francois Good, Senior Vice President, Refining and Petrochemicals Africa Middle East and Asia at TotalEnergies, said, “We are very pleased to partner with Masdar and Siemens Energy to meet the challenge of decarbonizing air transport through sustainable aviation fuel from green hydrogen. In this project, TotalEnergies brings its expertise in renewables energy as well as SAF manufacturing and marketing advanced sustainable fuel production with the aim of acting directly on the carbon intensity of the energy products used by our customers. This is in-line with our strategy of building a multi-energy company with the ambition to get to net zero by 2050 together with society.”

Dietmar Siersdorfer, Managing Director Middle East and UAE, Siemens Energy, said, “Green hydrogen has a vital role to play in the decarbonization of many industries, with the aviation sector presenting an excellent opportunity. With deep expertise in electrolyzers and plant integration we understand that collaboration is vital to success. We’re excited to have a longstanding and strong partner such as TotalEnergies bring its expertise to help accelerate this landmark project.”

Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar, said, “Today’s signing and the participation of TotalEnergies as a co-developer represents a significant step forward for this exciting project. The demonstrator plant will help to establish the commercial viability of green hydrogen as an essential decarbonized fuel of the future, and will support Abu Dhabi’s development as a green hydrogen hub. While the hydrogen market is still at a comparatively early stage, we firmly believe that by working together with international partners on projects such as this, we can help the hydrogen market develop its full potential and it will really take off in the years to come.”

Masdar announced ahead of ADSW 2021 last year that it was collaborating with Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, Etihad Airways, Lufthansa Group, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Siemens Energy, and Marubeni Corporation on the demonstrator plant initiative. Having joined the initiative, the aim now is that TotalEnergies will offer its expertise in SAF production, offtake and supply the partner airlines .

Since January 2021, the partners in the initiative have completed a range of evaluations on technology suppliers, feasibility studies and conceptual designs, while working closely with regulators on compliance issues. The aim is to proceed to the front end engineering design (FEED) stage later this year.

By leveraging their respective areas of expertise across the energy spectrum, and their local and global market reach, the co-developers believe that the demonstrator project can pave the way to commercial production of SAF, helping to reduce production costs and making it commercially viable.