Masdar, TotalEnergies join hands for SAF facility in UAE

Clean energy developer Masdar and French energy giant TotalEnergies have signed an agreement to assess the viability of developing a commercial green hydrogen to methanol to SAF project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The two firms aim to capture and utilise CO2 from an industrial source to be used as a feedstock, in addition to green hydrogen from renewable energy powered electrolysis.

The agreement between the two firms builds on successful test flight in December 2023 that demonstrated the potential for converting methanol to SAF.

Masdar has made multiple investments in the SAF space including a partnership with Boeing to explore SAF production in the UAE and partnered with TotalEnergies, Siemens and Marubeni to certify production pathway for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from methanol.

UAE has set a voluntary SAF target of providing 1% of fuel supplied to national airlines at UAE airports using locally-produced SAF by 2031.

The country is also developing a national regulatory framework for SAF by exploring potential policies to support the long-term economic operation of SAF facilities in the UAE.