Nador West Med is moving into a new segment of the energy industry. Shell Trading Rotterdam B.V., a subsidiary of British energy giant Shell plc, has signed a long-term supply agreement with Green Sky Manara LLC, a subsidiary of Green Sky Capital, covering output from a planned production facility at the port of Nador.
In a statement, Shell said the agreement grants it exclusive rights to purchase approximately 150,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) a year, or an equivalent volume of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a form of renewable diesel. The contract also covers bionaphtha and biopropane produced at the facility.
The plant is scheduled to begin operations in October 2028. The agreement therefore represents a commercial commitment to future production, rather than a supply arrangement already in operation.
“This agreement supports Shell’s strategy of helping customers access lower-carbon fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel, while developing resilient and commercially viable supply chains,” said Richard Jory, Shell’s executive vice president for products trading.
A market taking shape
Sustainable aviation fuel is one of the options available to the aviation industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over a fuel’s entire life cycle. It does not, however, eliminate those emissions. Its environmental performance depends in particular on the feedstocks used and the production process.
According to details provided by Shell, SAF from the Nador facility is expected to be made using feedstocks such as used cooking oil, animal fats, vegetable oils and other lipid-based materials.
The fuel will have to meet ASTM D7566, the technical standard governing synthetic aviation turbine fuels, and be accompanied by documentation certifying its sustainability under a voluntary certification scheme approved by the European Commission, such as ISCC EU.
Read also : Dakhla Atlantic, Nador West Med and major road projects: Timelines and budgets
The Moroccan agreement forms part of Shell’s wider portfolio of SAF supply contracts across several markets. The group already has offtake agreements linked to production facilities in Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and the United States.
It also follows an earlier long-term agreement involving a production project being developed by Green Sky Capital in Egypt. Using the HEFA (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids) process, that facility is expected to supply up to 145,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel annually from late 2027.
Shell says it is one of the world’s leading SAF traders and suppliers, with the fuel available at more than 80 airports across 18 countries.
