FAQ

The project is sponsored by ENGIE, a leading French industrial energy group specializing in low-carbon energy and services. It is present in 31 countries.

With 97,300 employees, 82.6 billion in sales and 8.1 billion in growth investments, ENGIE is pursuing an ambitious decarbonization strategy, with the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.

Between 1.2 to 1.7Bn€ will be invested for this project alone.

FRANCE KEREAUZEN will be the first large-scale production unit for low-carbon synthetic fuel in France.

The project involves a particularly innovative process for producing sustainable aviation e-fuels. It will integrate a complete value chain of renewable hydrogen production and local CO2 recovery, which will react together to produce e-kerosene.

The FRANCE KEREAUZEN project is thought with a circular economy mindset. It will reuse existing infrastructures, including the site where the plant will be set up, pipelines to Paris airports and storage facilities in Le Havre. In addition, it will be one of the first CGU projects to valorize biogenic CO2 (approximately 290,000 tonnes/year), which will be mainly supplied by pipeline in the Normandy industrial basin, thanks to the involvement of ZIP industrialists.

FRANCE KEREAUZEN has very stringent resource requirements. The water and CO2 loops will be closed as far as possible (approximately 98%), to ensure the efficiency of the project and its industrial processes.

Le Havre, France’s leading port for energy and chemicals, is a major industrial zone. It offers the infrastructure for FRANCE KEREAUZEN’s development and the export of its production.

The region is also a pioneer in decarbonization and energy transition, in which many local companies have already invested.

The project will create jobs in the region, with more than 100 permanent direct jobs in the operational phase.

In 2022, FRANCE KEREAUZEN was the winner of the call for projects “Development of a French production sector for sustainable aeronautical fuels”. As such, the project benefited from a contribution from France 2030 to finance part of its pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.

In September 2024, the Normandy Region validated the granting of funding from the Fonds de Transition Juste (Just Transition Fund) for additional studies from FRANCE KEREAUZEN.

Sustainable aviation fuels are non-fossil fuels designed to decarbonize air transport. They are divided into two categories: biofuels and e-fuels.

Biofuels are produced from biological sources, such as biomass, while e-fuels are produced from electricity.

ENGIE has made the industrial choice to produce an e-kerosene with FRANCE KEREAUZEN, combining local recycled CO2 and renewable hydrogen: it will have a very low carbon content and its production will not require biological raw materials.

The e-fuels produced by FRANCE KEREAUZEN will be drop-in fuels, ready for use in today’s aircraft.

The e-fuels produced will be used by airlines. They will be able to fuel existing aircraft without any modification.

Air France is a partner in the project, and FRANCE KEREAUZEN will supply the Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports via pipelines.

E-fuels are one of the main levers for decarbonizing air transport. The carbon footprint of the e-fuel produced by FRANCE KEREAUZEN will be 4 times smaller than that of fossil kerosene.

The aviation sector needs to decarbonize. Various regulations are forcing it to do so. ENGIE is offering a compliant solution with FRANCE KEREAUZEN, which anticipates two European regulations applicable from 2030:

• The RED III directive (2023), which calls for 42.5% renewable energies in general consumption by 2030, including 14.5% in transport and 5.5% in sustainable aviation fuels.

• The ReFuelEU Aviation regulation (2023), which calls for a minimum level of sustainable aviation fuels from 2025 (2%) and sustainable aviation e-fuels from 2030 (1.2%). By 2050, these rates will rise to 70% and 35% respectively.

The e-fuel produced by FRANCE KEREAUZEN will be transported to Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly via existing Trapil pipelines.

First, the FRANCE KEREAUZEN project reuses existing infrastructure, including the site where the plant will be located, pipelines to Paris airports and storage facilities in Le Havre.

FRANCE KEREAUZEN is also recycling its own CO2: around 290,000 tonnes/year, which will come from the Normandy industrial basin, thanks to the involvement of the local industries.

The water and CO2 loops will be as closed as possible, to ensure the efficiency of the project and its industrial processes.

Construction of the plant is expected to take approximately 3 years.

During the operating phase, FRANCE KEREAUZEN will not cause any nuisance, as the plant is located in the industrial port zone of Le Havre, at a distance from residential areas. Moreover, during operation, commodities will be transported by river, rail or pipeline. Where road transport is involved, it will be directed onto routes already used by Le Havre’s manufacturers. There will be no impact on traffic.

At the same time, ENGIE is discussing with local elected representatives and associations to keep the nuisance caused by the construction of the FRANCE KEREAUZEN plant to a minimum.

The plant will be built on a site previously occupied by a cement plant, in the industrial port zone of Le Havre. The FRANCE KEREAUZEN’s construction will therefore have no impact on land use, and there will be no additional soil artificialization.

FRANCE KEREAUZEN will sign long-term supply contracts with other companies, such as RTE for electricity and industrial companies in Le Havre for CO2 recycling.

It’s also worth noting that, while the FRANCE KEREAUZEN project will generate energy, it will also produce low-carbon energies: e-kerosene, e-naphtha, as well as zero-emission heat, which will benefit industries in Le Havre.

The FRANCE KEREAUZEN project should create more than 100 direct and indirect jobs in the region, both during construction and operating phases.

Studies related to the type and number of jobs involved are currently underway.

As provided by the French Environment Code, FRANCE KEREAUZEN will refer the matter to the Commission nationale du débat public (CNDP) with a view to organizing a consultation with the general public. The CNDP will define the terms and conditions.

ENGIE is planning two years of consultation, from the preliminary consultation to the public inquiry.