UAE-based clean energy-focused developer Masdar announced today a new agreement with France-based energy company TotalEnergies, to assess the development of a commercial green hydrogen to methanol to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) project in Abu Dhabi.

According to Masdar, the focus of the new project will be to help decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors, such as the aviation and maritime industries. The project will utilize green hydrogen from renewable energy powered electrolysis, in addition to capturing and utilizing CO2 from industrial sources as a feedstock, for the production of green methanol and SAF.

Founded in 2006, Abu Dhabi-based Masdar develops utility scale renewable energy and green hydrogen projects around the world. The company has set goals to scale its global renewable energy capacity to 100 GW, and production of green hydrogen to 1 million tonnes by 2030. The company recently raised $1 billion in a green bond offering aimed at supporting investments in new greenfield renewable energy projects.

The new agreement follows the completion of a test flight in December 2023 by Masdar and TotalEnergies demonstrating the potential for converting Methanol to SAF.