Axens has announced the launch of the ERA project, or Ethanol to Refuel Aviation, France’s first industrial-scale sustainable aviation fuel production unit based on advanced bioethanol.
The project is designed to reinforce Axens’ position in the sustainable aviation fuel sector while supporting France’s energy sovereignty and reindustrialization. The facility, which is currently undergoing site selection in France, is expected to have an annual production capacity of 50,000 tonnes of SAF and is scheduled to begin operations in 2030.
The ERA project will be carried out by a dedicated project company named Safiris. It is currently in the engineering phase and will use Jetanol® technology, developed by Axens and IFP Energies nouvelles. The technology converts bioethanol into sustainable aviation fuel and bio-naphtha through dehydration, oligomerization and hydrogenation.
Axens said the project will help expand SAF production beyond current pathways based mainly on used cooking oils and animal fats. The company said advanced ethanol sourced from European feedstocks will be used at the facility, supporting the development of new SAF sources derived from biomass residues.
The launch comes as France and the European Union increase requirements for sustainable aviation fuels. France set SAF blending targets in 2020, while the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation requires more than 1 million tonnes per year of SAF to be incorporated for flights departing from France by 2035. The regulation also mandates an increasing share of SAF in aviation fuels supplied in Europe, reaching 6 percent by 2030 and up to 70 percent by 2050.
Axens said the ERA project is aligned with France’s and the European Union’s goals for reindustrialization and the energy transition. The project is expected to support the creation of a new industrial value chain based on local resources, reduce dependence on imports of fossil jet fuel and SAF, contribute to the decarbonization of aviation, and create direct and indirect jobs linked to the advanced ethanol value chain.
The ERA project also complements Axens’ other industrial initiatives, including the NACRE project, an advanced bioethanol production facility at the Lacq site that has obtained its construction permit, and the MACARON project, a battery materials production facility in Valenciennes for which a construction permit application has recently been submitted.
Axens said it is evaluating several potential sites in France and finalizing an industrial and financial partnership within Safiris. Through the ERA project, the company aims to demonstrate the key success factors required for an industrial project producing new low-carbon molecules and to share the experience with its licensees.
