Paris / Fos-sur-Mer -- H4 Marseille Fos, a joint-venture between Hy2gen, a global leader in renewable hydrogen and its derivates, and French developer H2V, and EDF today signed a strategic partnership agreement that secures the vast majority of the power supply for the first Euro-Mediterranean e-SAF project on a long-term basis. At its core is a diversified, low-carbon electricity mix of renewable energy and nuclear power that will supply the production of sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) at the Fos-sur-Mer site from 2032. As part of this partnership, a ten-year nuclear power supply agreement (CAPN: Contrat d'Allocation de Production Nucléaire) was also concluded – the first of its kind that EDF has signed with a hydrogen and synthetic fuel producer.  

 

A flagship project for the decarbonisation of aviation
With this project, H4 Marseille Fos supports the EU's goal of reducing dependence on fossil energy imports and ensuring a long-term, secure and reliable supply of sustainable fuel to the strategically important aviation sector. RFNBO fuels such as e-SAF thus make a dual contribution: to aviation's climate footprint and to Europe's security of supply. With power supply now secured, the project takes an important step toward the final investment decision (FID), targeted for 2028.

 

From 2032, the plant will produce 75,000 tonnes of e-SAF annually using methanol-to-jet technology, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 84 percent compared to fossil kerosene – equivalent to around 240,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent avoided each year.

 

The project thus makes a significant contribution to the European goal of achieving a 10 percent share of e-SAF in aviation fuels by 2040 (ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation), while also supporting France's revised national hydrogen strategy. H4 Marseille Fos represents investments of €1.6 billion in France and the creation of 165 direct jobs.

 

Hy2gen enables independent fuel production for Europe
H4 Marseille Fos is designed around methanol-to-jet technology. This also makes it possible to process e-methanol delivered by ship into e-SAF on site. This technological option is of strategic importance in the long term: it enables the import of e-methanol – which can, for example, be produced competitively in Africa – into Europe, making it usable there industrially.

 

This makes the project a contributor to the resilience of Europe's fuel supply: rather than remaining one-sidedly dependent on fossil energy imports, H4 Marseille Fos creates a flexible production chain that links European demand with globally available, cost-effective renewable resources – creating a robust, diversified supply base for sustainable aviation fuel in Europe.

 

Why low-carbon electricity matters for RFNBO certification
To produce RFNBO hydrogen (Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin), EU Delegated Regulation 2023/1184 generally requires the use of renewable electricity. For bidding zones with particularly low-carbon electricity generation, Article 4 of the regulation provides for a recognised exception: where the average carbon intensity of grid electricity is below 18 g CO2 equivalent per megajoule, grid electricity – combined with supplementary PPAs for renewable electricity and compliance with the temporal and geographic correlation criteria – can be counted as fully renewable.

 

The French mainland electricity grid meets this threshold – not least because of the high share of low-carbon nuclear power in its generation mix. For H4 Marseille Fos, this means: the combination of nuclear power sourced through EDF and additional renewable energy PPAs creates a solid regulatory basis for the RFNBO certification of the hydrogen produced at the site – and therefore for its eligibility toward European e-SAF quotas. At the same time, the high share of nuclear power in the French grid provides an exceptionally stable and predictable carbon footprint for the project.

 

A competitive, diversified electricity mix as the basis for the investment decision

Electricity accounts for around a third of the total production cost of e-SAF. For a project of this scale, a competitive and predictable power supply is therefore a key success factor. H4 Marseille Fos relies on two complementary building blocks:

• Renewable energy: Through EDF Power Solutions France, additional Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for electricity from renewable sources are being developed and incorporated into the project's electricity mix.

• Low-carbon nuclear power: Through the CAPN, EDF is making available to H4 Marseille Fos a capacity of around 150 MW from its nuclear fleet – for ten years starting from the beginning of commercial operations in 2032. This covers a substantial share of the annual power requirement of around 2.8 TWh on competitive and predictable terms.

 

The agreement provides for a balanced allocation of opportunities and risks relating to the electricity volumes actually produced, following the structure that EDF has already established in other CAPN agreements with industrial customers.


Voices on the partnership:

Alexis Martinez, Managing Director H2V – Project Director H4 Marseille Fos:
“The signing of this CAPN with EDF is a decisive step for the H4 project. It secures, for ten years, part of the largest cost component of an e-SAF project – namely low-carbon electricity, which accounts for almost a third of total costs – and creates the long-term planning certainty that is indispensable for the final investment decision. This is a strong signal for the entire aviation decarbonisation industry in France.

 

Cyril Dufau-Sansot, CEO of Hy2gen:
“With this CAPN, H4 Marseille Fos reaches a new milestone in the development of the first Euro-Mediterranean e-SAF project. EDF is providing us with a long-term low-carbon power supply framework – a necessary condition for the competitiveness of an e-SAF project of this scale.”

 

About Hy2gen 

Hy2gen AG, headquartered in Wiesbaden, develops, finances, builds and operates plants worldwide for the production of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives, known as RFNBOs (renewable fuels of non-biological origin). The company's goal is to support its customers in decarbonising energy-intensive, hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping, aviation, and the chemical, fertiliser and steel industries, using energy carriers and fuels produced via power-to-X processes. In doing so, Hy2gen is an important accelerator of the energy transition and makes a significant contribution to achieving climate targets. The company has been a first mover in the market since 2017 and is now active in five countries worldwide. Hy2gen's current project pipeline comprises 3.4 GW of electrolysis capacity in planning and under construction, plus a further 15 GW of electrolysis capacity in development. In early 2022, Hy2gen raised €200 million from renowned investors, followed by a further €47 million in 2025.

 

About H4 Marseille Fos

H4 Marseille Fos is a German-French joint venture between H2V (SAMFI-Invest group), Hy2gen and the Marseille Fos Port Authority. Its goal is to produce 75,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (e-SAF) annually from 2032 in Fos-sur-Mer, from low-carbon hydrogen and locally captured CO2. Supported by the Région Sud, Marseille Provence Airport and VINCI Airports, as well as Hy24 and Technip Energies, the project aims to establish the Fos industrial and port zone as a European reference site for aviation decarbonisation.

 

Source:   Fuel Cells Works