E-fuel offtake models are evolving beyond traditional bilateral agreements as collective buying alliances in the aviation and maritime sectors emerge as a potential solution to one of the biggest barriers facing hydrogen and e-fuel project development.
Securing long-term offtake agreements remains one of the biggest challenges facing hydrogen and e-fuel projects, with producers and buyers often struggling to align on pricing, contract duration and financing structures.
According to Argus, collective procurement initiatives are increasingly being viewed as a way to help unlock project financing, particularly in aviation and maritime transport where companies are under growing pressure to reduce Scope 3 emissions.
Initiatives such as the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (Saba) and the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (Zemba) aggregate demand from major corporates including Amazon, Ikea, Microsoft and Mondelez.
The pooled purchasing model is designed to support adoption of fuels such as e-SAF, e-methanol and biomethane while helping buyers secure more competitive terms.
Supporters of the model argue that aggregated demand can provide the long-term visibility needed for hydrogen and e-fuel developers to move ahead with investment decisions. Producers increasingly require larger and longer-duration commitments in order to secure financing for new projects.
The maritime sector is already beginning to see practical deployment. Hapag-Lloyd, one of the winners of Zemba’s latest tender, plans to use e-methanol on a transoceanic route from 2027.
While collective procurement is unlikely to solve all challenges facing the hydrogen and e-fuels industry, the report argues that it is already helping create more credible long-term demand signals for developers and investors.
Source: Pamela Machado
