Shell International Petroleum Co Ltd and the Lufthansa Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for exploring the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at airports across the globe.
The parties intend to agree on a contract for a total supply volume of up to 1.8 million metric tons of SAF starting in 2024, over a term of seven years. If a definitive agreement is reached it would be one of the most significant commercial collaborations for SAF in the aviation sector, as well as the largest SAF commitment of both companies to date.
SAF is the most significant way to decarbonise aviation over the decades to come. Our relationship goes beyond commercial arrangements, it is strategic and aligned regarding the view that SAF holds the key to achieving a sustainable aviation future.
Jan Toschka, President, Shell Aviation
“I am very happy to see the relationship between Shell and the Lufthansa Group moving towards reaching our respective sustainability goals. It is encouraging to see large flagship carriers coming to us to discuss SAF supply deals, knowing there will be a lot of things to be defined and determined at a later stage, including established price markers. The potential SAF purchase agreement contemplated under the MoU, by its anticipated volume size, term period and geographic scope, is expected to be a milestone if concluded and shows the way forward for decarbonisation in the aviation industry”, said the President of Shell Aviation.
The cooperation would enable the Lufthansa Group to promote the availability, market ramp-up and use of SAF as an essential element for a CO2-neutral future of aviation. The group is already the largest SAF customer in Europe and aims to remain one of the world’s leading airline groups in the use of sustainable kerosene. The MoU builds on Shell’s ambition to have at least ten percent of its global aviation fuel sales as SAF by 2030.
“We are happy to enhance our long-standing global business with Shell by signing this MoU. As an industry we have to work jointly towards making flying more sustainable and to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050″, said Lufthansa‘s Head of Fuel Management Supply.
Shell is very experienced with the global handling of Jet fuel and that is one key element for our trust for smooth operations of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, too.
Katja Kleffmann, Head of Fuel Management Supply Lufthansa Group
The airline group has been involved in SAF research for many years, building up an extensive network of partnerships, and it is driving forward the introduction of sustainable next-generation aviation fuels in particular. They say they are especially focused on the forward-looking power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies, which use renewable energies or solar thermal energy as energy carriers.
By using SAF, customers of the Lufthansa Group can already fly CO2-neutral. In addition, they can document their reduced carbon emissions with audited certificates and have the savings credited to their individual CO2 balance.
The group also stated it assumes responsibility for effective climate protection with a clearly defined path toward CO2 neutrality: By 2030, the company’s own net CO2 emissions are to be halved compared to 2019, and by 2050, the Lufthansa Group wants to achieve a neutral CO2 balance. To achieve this, the company relies on accelerated fleet modernization, the continuous optimization of flight operations, the use of sustainable aviation fuels and innovative offers for its customers to make a flight CO2-neutral.
