Haffner Energy, Atoba Energy sign SAF offtake agreement

Haffner Energy announced Feb. 20 it is joining forces with Atoba Energy to accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) projects and facilitate project financing.

Atoba Energy is a midstream SAF aggregator while Haffner Energy focuses on biomass-to-fuel solutions including SAF.

Haffner Energy has already announced the development of a couple of SAF projects, notably Paris-Vatry SAF in France, where the company said full-scale production is expected to be reached by 2030—when the next stage of the European SAF mandate kicks in.

Partnering with SAF aggregator Atoba will significantly enhance SAF offtake then, Haffner Energy stated.

“We are particularly excited about this partnership with Atoba, as it will facilitate the financing of our SAF projects, starting with Paris-Vatry,” said Philippe Haffner, co-founder and CEO of Haffner Energy.

“One of the most crucial challenges in securing financing for SAF production facilities is the ability to obtain offtake contracts that guarantee the purchase of SAF at a stable price for periods exceeding five years,” he said.

“The key advantage provided by Atoba is that it offers this guarantee while significantly reducing risks and commitments for airline clients,” Haffner stated. “This will facilitate and accelerate their engagement in SAF procurement. As such, it is a win-win model for all stakeholders and we are extremely pleased that Atoba has identified us as a strategic and unique player in the SAF ecosystem.”

The SAF market is facing challenges in expanding at the rate demanded by environmental needs and regulatory mandates, the company noted.

While producers need long-term, stable pricing contracts to amortize their investments, airlines seek assurance of optimum market prices in the context of a still-immature industry with diverse competing technologies.

This conflict of expectations currently hinders the development of SAF production projects.

According to Haffner Energy, Atoba’s unique business model brings the solution.

“We are delighted to launch an offtake agreement with Haffner Energy, a company that has demonstrated for decades the quality and robustness of its biomass transformation technological and industrial solutions,” said Arnaud Namer, Atoba Energy’s co-founder and CEO. “Haffner Energy plays a key role in unlocking second-generation feedstocks, which are essential for both alcohol-to-jet and gas Fischer-Tropsch SAF pathways. At Atoba, we strongly believe that a variety of technologies and pathways are required to meet our aviation decarbonization targets, as the best production route and feedstock depend on the specific regional characteristics. Having Haffner Energy in our portfolio of SAF producers is an essential brick in our aggregation strategy, reinforcing our ability to provide diversified, reliable and scalable SAF solutions to the market.”

Also based in France, Atoba is said to “uniquely unlock the SAF financial stalemate through its upstream and downstream SAF-offtake portfolio management. By offtaking from diversified producers and technologies like Haffner Energy, Atoba mitigates technological and pricing risks associated with the various SAF production pathways, and enables the closing of long-term offtake agreements among airlines, jet-fuel distributors, SAF producers and financial institutions, which are essential for scaling the industry.”