A tripartite agreement to develop a factory to produce sustainable aviation fuel in the Kingdom

Today, Saudi Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, Total Energies, a diversified global energy company that produces and markets energy, and the Saudi Recycling Investment Company (SRIC), a major company that collects and converts organic materials into products, announced today… Sustainable in the Kingdom, announced the signing of a joint development and cost-sharing agreement to evaluate the potential development of a sustainable aviation fuel plant in the Kingdom.
This announcement coincides with the official visit of the President of the French Republic to the Kingdom, and the cooperation aims to benefit from the areas of excellence and experience of each company to develop a plant for the production of sustainable aviation fuel in the eastern region of the Kingdom.
The evaluation will focus on harnessing innovative engineering and technical solutions that seek to recycle and process municipal or circular economy waste (used cooking oils and animal fats) to produce sustainable aviation fuel.

Addressing aviation emissions

Commenting on this, Saudi Aramco President and Chief Executive Officer, Eng. Amin Hassan Nasser, said: “With expectations of growth in demand for air transport, it has become necessary to address aviation emissions through low-carbon alternatives, and this is an area in which major global energy companies such as: Aramco can Saudi Arabia and Total Energies must play an important role through cooperation to help meet this need. Addressing transportation emissions requires a wide range of approaches, as Saudi Aramco seeks to find a number of potential innovative solutions. We also seek opportunities to contribute to global efforts to reduce emissions.”
He continued: “At Saudi Aramco, we have a well-established partnership with Total Energies, and the new cooperation demonstrates our determination to explore ways to benefit from our common strengths, as we aim to establish a sustainable aviation fuel plant in the Kingdom with the Saudi Investment Recycling Company, and with the expansion witnessed by the tourism and aviation sectors.” In the Kingdom, this will benefit both local and international airlines.”

Sustainable aviation fuel

Total Energies Chairman and CEO, Patrick Pouyanné, said: “We are pleased to collaborate with Saudi Aramco and the Saudi Investment Recycling Company to study sustainable aviation fuel production in the Kingdom, and by leveraging our expertise, we can move forward together to decarbonize air transport.” “Sustainable aviation fuel is at the core of our company’s transformation strategy, as we strive to meet the aviation industry’s demand to reduce its carbon footprint.”
The CEO of the Saudi Investment Recycling Company, Engineer Ziad Al-Shiha, explained: “In line with our commitment to support the ambitious sustainability goals of Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative, we are placing great emphasis on increasing rates of converting waste into renewable resources.”
He added: “The new partnership with Saudi Aramco and Total Energy to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a plant to produce renewable aviation fuel represents a qualitative step in achieving our mission, and we believe that this step will contribute greatly to enhancing our efforts to develop the circular economy in the Kingdom.”