Shell has confirmed it will not restart construction of its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park in Rotterdam.
The project, initially expected to produce up to 820,000 tons of fuel annually, would have been one of Europe’s largest converters of waste products into SAF. Roughly half of the output was slated for aviation use, but following a technical and commercial review, Shell concluded the facility would be “insufficiently competitive.”
Machteld de Haan, Shell’s Downstream, Renewables and Energy Solutions president, said the decision reflected the need to prioritize projects that balance affordability with customer demand.
Shell will not restart construction of Rotterdam biofuels plant. Read more:https://t.co/5X5Hk3IKnc
— Shell (@Shell) September 3, 2025
“This was a difficult decision, but the right one, as we prioritise our capital towards those projects that deliver both the needs of our customers and value for our shareholders,” de Haan said in the company’s release.
She emphasized that Shell will continue to trade and supply SAF at scale through its other facilities and resources, despite halting new Rotterdam production.
Aviation industry leaders warned the cancellation highlights policy gaps that could slow progress toward European and global net zero goals.
“We are witnessing a disappointing chain of events with several oil majors and SAF players either halting or canceling their SAF plans in the region,” Preeti Jain, head of net zero research and programs at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told AVweb. “Policies to support SAF need to start with much stronger production incentives, not just relying on mandates, so that SAF can be competitive with traditional jet fuel and adopted by airlines.”
Another great consequence of the 2024 election of our very popular President Trump, whose administration is slashing all this claptrap green slime. This statement typifies the strong-arm tactics used by crony companies working with their friends in government to force consumers to buy a product they do not want. “Policies to support SAF need to start with much stronger production incentives, not just relying on mandates, so that SAF can be competitive with traditional jet fuel and adopted by airlines.” So, in other words, it is not enough that we force the airlines to use SAF, but we must steal from taxpayers to make sure they do not go bankrupt in the process of using SAF. It’s time to nominate Trump for another Nobel Prize, this one in economics.