CMA CGM Group launches $1.5B fund for pushing forward the energy transition

In France, CMA CGM Group announced that it is creating a Special Fund for Energies, backed by a five-year, $1.5 billion budget, to accelerate its energy transition and achieve net-zero carbon by 2050. 

The Fund will invest to support the industrial production of new fuels, as well as low-emission mobility solutions across the Group’s business base (maritime, overland and air freight shipping; port and logistics services; offices). It will help to support a global innovation platform developed alongside large corporations, SMEs, start-ups, and the academic and scientific community.

The Fund has been tasked with (a) driving forward the emergence of industrial-scale production facilities for biofuels, biomethane, e-methane, carbon-free methanol, and other alternative fuels, and (b) increasing and securing volumes in line with Group needs, in partnership with other major industrial groups with expertise in these technologies, or with investment funds or promising start-ups. 

The Fund follows on from projects that have already been identified and launched:

The Salamander Project will produce 11,000 tonnes of second-generation biomethane per year starting in 2026. As part of the partnership with Engie, its target is to generate 200,000 tonnes of renewable gas per year by 2028, to serve the needs of CMA CGM and the entire shipping industry. 

A biomethane production and liquefaction project, developed with Titan, will produce up to 100,000 tonnes by 2025, with the possibility of doubling output by 2027.

As a partner in the Jupiter 1000 project in Fos, the CMA CGM Group aims to continue working with the consortium led by GRTgaz on means to mass-produce low-carbon e-methane for its ships and provide solutions to the challenges of decarbonizing gas networks and managing the intermittent nature of certain renewables.