Synthetic fuels
in Europe:
the market, the players,
the projects

Europe's first commercial Power-to-Liquid plant — INERATEC ERA ONE in Frankfurt-Höchst — became operational in June 2025. Capacity: 2,500 tonnes per year of synthetic fuel. This is significant as a proof of concept and commercial milestone, but represents a tiny fraction of Europe's mandated SAF requirements alone (millions of tonnes annually by 2030).

The largest operational e-fuel supply chain in Europe is in maritime shipping: European Energy's Kassø plant in Denmark produces 42,000 tonnes per year of e-methanol, primarily contracted to Maersk for its growing fleet of dual-fuel methanol vessels. Yara Eyde launched commercial ammonia container shipping on the Oslo–Hamburg route in 2026.

In aviation, bio-SAF (primarily HEFA from used cooking oil) dominates current supply. Synthetic PtL e-kerosene remains pre-commercial at scale — the ReFuelEU 0.7% PtL sub-mandate from 2030 is the first binding demand signal that will pull investment into large-scale e-kerosene production.

ReFuelEU requires 2% SAF blend at EU airports from 2025 — rising to 6% in 2030, 20% in 2035 and 70% in 2050. EU aviation consumed approximately 40 million tonnes of jet fuel in 2024. At 70% SAF by 2050, Europe needs ~28 million tonnes per year of sustainable aviation fuel — a volume the biofuel feedstock market cannot supply.

The entire global SAF production in 2025 was approximately 1.2 million tonnes — against an eventual EU demand of 28 million tonnes for aviation alone. Add shipping (FuelEU Maritime), industry (RED III) and road transport (2035 ICE exemption) and the supply deficit is enormous.

This gap is the core investment thesis for European synthetic fuel producers. The mandates create contractual demand certainty — airlines and shipping companies must buy synthetic fuel regardless of cost premium, because the alternative is regulatory non-compliance. The commercial question is purely who can supply at scale, and at what cost.