Technip Energies, Airbus, Safran and Tereos Join Forces to Develop a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production Project in France

• Rebound: a joint venture to develop a production capacity of 160,000 tons of Alcohol-to-Jet SAF per year at the Port of Dunkirk, strengthening European energy sovereignty and supporting France’s industrial leadership in the energy transition.

Paris, 09 June 2026 – Technip Energies, Airbus, Safran and Tereos entered into an agreement to create Rebound, a joint venture to develop a large-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production project at the Port of Dunkirk, in Northern France.

The project will use the Alcohol-to-Jet (AtJ) technological pathway to produce approximately 160,000 tons of SAF per year, making it one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe and contributing to European energy sovereignty.

With this agreement, the partners commit to fund the project’s development phase, including engineering studies and other activities required to consider a Final Investment Decision (FID).

SAF is widely recognised as the primary lever to decarbonise aviation. Under the European Union’s Refuel EU Aviation regulation, SAF blending mandates will rise progressively, reaching 6% by 2030 and 70% by 2050, driving an eightfold increase in demand between 2030 and 2050. Among the available production pathways, Alcohol-to-Jet is emerging as a scalable and cost-competitive option which converts advanced ethanol, produced from agricultural and forestry residues, into drop-in aviation fuel that can be blended with conventional jet fuel and used in existing engines and aircraft.

In this project development phase, Technip Energies will act as the project’s lead developer and engineering service provider, bringing its expertise in technology scaling and complex project execution. Airbus and Safran, world-class leaders in global aerospace, join as industrial partners, offtake facilitators and potential SAF offtakers. As a European leader in ethanol production, Tereos, a French agricultural cooperative, intends to supply and source the advanced ethanol required for the project. Together, the four partners cover the value chain from feedstock supply to aviation end-use, under a single European-led initiative.

A key milestone was already reached: the Port of Dunkirk awarded Technip Energies an industrial site in Northern France, which will offer, upon finalisation of the joint venture, strong logistical advantages to Rebound for feedstock and product transport, as well as a streamlined permitting pathway.

The partners will progress through a disciplined, stage-gated development process. Steps ahead include the selection of the technology licensor, permitting activities, launch of pre-FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) and FEED activities, finalisation of feedstock supply and SAF offtake agreements, and securing the financing for the construction of the asset.

The creation of the joint venture is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals and is expected to be finalised in the second half of this year.

Source: Technip Energies