CMA CGM and ENGIE set to co-invest in the Salamander project, to produce second-generation biomethane

The CMA CGM Group, a global player in sea, land, air and logistics solutions, and ENGIE, a global leader in low-carbon energy and services, announced plans to co-invest in the Salamander project – the first industrial and commercial unit for second-generation biomethane production – and their intention to produce up to 200,000 tons of renewable gas annually worldwide by 2028, to meet the needs of CMA CGM and the shipping industry.
 
Majority-owned by ENGIE and the CMA CGM Group, the site is being considered to be located in Le Havre, backed by the support of the Havre Seine Métropole urban community via the investment program “Le Havre, Ville portuaire intelligente” (Le Havre, a smart port city). The unit will be fueled by dry biomass from local wood-waste sources, along with solid recovered fuel, and will produce the biomethane via pyrogasification process. The site will aim to produce 11,000 tons of biomethane annually, starting in 2026.
 
The two groups plan to finalize their investment decision in late 2022. A funding request has been submitted to the European Commission's Innovation Fund. By developing the renewable gas industry and the Salamander project, both CMA CGM and ENGIE will help achieve the energy independence and energy transition goals set forth by the European Commission in the RepowerEU plan.
 
The CMA CGM Group and ENGIE have taken this opportunity to state their intention to produce together, up to 200,000 tons of annual production of renewable gas in Europe and worldwide by 2028, both to meet CMA CGM's needs and those of the shipping industry. The Salamander project will help reach that target.
 
The CMA CGM Group, which aims to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050, already has a fleet of 30 dual-fuel "e-methane ready” ships in operation – a figure that will rise to 77 by the end of 2026
 
The dual-fuel engine technology developed by CMA CGM, which currently runs on LNG, is already capable of using bioLNG, as well as synthetic methane. This fuel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 67% compared with Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) from well to wake (the complete value chain). Against this backdrop, CMA CGM and ENGIE are pledging their commitment to promoting the development of the renewable gas sector at an industrial scale.
 
Salamander is the concrete translation of both groups' desire to promote production and distribution sectors for renewable gas in Europe – particularly in France. It is the application on an industrial scale of 10 years of research and development conducted by ENGIE1 within the framework of the GAYA project, which has demonstrated the technical, economic and environmental viability of producing renewable gas.
 
The Salamander project also reflects CMA CGM’s close-knit connection with the Le Havre region, where the site is being considered. CMA CGM is the largest local maritime company in terms of market share, operating in the region since 1994. Its roots can even be traced back to 1863 as CGM. 15 weekly connections serve the port of Le Havre – an illustration of its strategic importance to the CMA CGM Group – and the local office employs a staff of over 400 employees.
 
CMA CGM and ENGIE have also been working together for several months within the Coalition for the Energy of the Future, launched at the end of 2019 during the “Assises de l’Economie de la Mer” by Rodolphe Saadé and supported by President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron. The two companies continue to work within the Coalition to ramp up the development of the energies and technologies of the future, to support new models of sustainable mobility and reduce the climate impact of transport and logistics.
 
Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group, a global player in sea, land, air and logistics solutions, serves more than 420 ports around the world across 5 continents, with a fleet of 580 vessels. The Group transported 22 million TEU containers (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2021. With its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, a global logistics player which transported 474,000 tons of air cargo and more than 21 million tons of inland freight, and its air cargo division CMA CGM AIR CARGO, the CMA CGM Group is constantly innovating to provide customers a comprehensive and increasingly efficient offering, thanks to new shipping, inland, air freight and logistics solutions.

Present in 160 countries through its network of more than 400 offices and 750 warehouses, the Group employs 150,000 people worldwide, including 2,900 in Marseille where its head office is located.