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EDF, H4 Marseille Fos Secure Nuclear Power Deal for Synthetic Aviation Fuel Project

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French utility EDF and H4 Marseille Fos said on Thursday they have signed a long-term nuclear power supply contract to support a planned 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) synthetic fuel production facility in southern France.

The Nuclear Production Allocation Contract will provide H4 Marseille Fos with access to about 150 megawatts of capacity from EDF's existing nuclear fleet for 10 years from the expected start-up of the facility in 2032.

The agreement seeks to provide greater certainty over electricity costs for the project, which will require about 2.8 terawatt-hours of power per year once fully operational.

Electricity accounts for nearly one-third of the total cost of producing sustainable synthetic aviation fuel.

The Fos-sur-Mer facility will produce about 75,000 metric tons of synthetic SAF per year from 2032 using methanol-to-jet technology, with the companies estimating it could cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 84% compared with fossil-based kerosene.

The project is projected to avoid about 240,000 mt of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.

The European Union has set a target for synthetic fuels to account for 10% of aviation fuel consumption by 2040 under its ReFuelEU Aviation regulation.

Cyril Dufau-Sansot, CEO of Hy2gen, said the agreement marked a key step towards developing the first Euro-Mediterranean e-SAF project.

The aviation sector has been under increasing pressure to reduce emissions, with SAF viewed as one of the few scalable options for decarbonizing long-haul flights, where battery and hydrogen technologies remain limited.

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