Our 51-year-old mission: Ensure Guadeloupe’s fuel supply

Created in 1970, SARA has been held by 2 shareholders since 2015: RUBIS holds 71% and SOL PARKLAND holds 29%.

The SARA hydrocarbon depot covers 10 ha located in Pointe Jarry in the heart of its industrial park. The SEVESO site neighbours the EDF PEI power plant on its west site and SICA Gardel and SIGL on its east side. Backed by its 25 employees, one hundred or so subcontractors and a storage capacity of 103 million litres of hydrocarbon, the SARA depot is a major actor in local industry and plays a strategic role in the Guadeloupean economy.

While the site’s main access point for tankers and other vehicles is reached from the RN10 road, the SARA depot boasts a privileged seaside access via quay 10 and is truly a key contributor to Guadeloupe’s Grand Port Maritime.

There are no less than three to four vessels on average that moor each week to load and unload fuels, totalling 178 in 2021. This activity is subject to national, European and international regulations and is bound by strict procedures. Compliance with directives on safety, security and environmental protection is an integral part of operations and SARA staff remains constantly watchful.

 

Our ambition: Support the region’s energy and ecological transition

SARA pledges its commitment to the challenge of preserving our planet and promoting sustainable development in our regions and therefore defines itself based on the following 3 main objectives:

  • Reduce our environmental footprint by developing internal and external low-carbon energy production projects
  • Promote employment and training for our industrial jobs to showcase them as upcoming trades created by new energy sectors
  • Develop actions to target issues related to health, education and the environment

 

We also listen to and support our customers in this shift. In this mindset, the SARA depot has supplied VLSFO since 2020 as part of its aim to comply with IMO 2020 regulations which mandate a maximum sulphur content in marine fuels. This product actively contributes to better environmental protection. Moreover, global experts estimate a 70% reduction in total sulphur oxide emissions created in the shipping industry.

But since SARA is looking to go even further, it has positioned itself as the producer and supplier of carbon-free fuels such as hydrogen and BioNGV for land, air and sea mobility.

Starting this year, SARA will deploy the SOLARé project on its site, which involves a roof-top solar photovoltaic system enabling 70% self-sufficiency. In the long run, the depot will be able to:

  • Relieve Guadeloupe’s power grid
  • Reduce 190 tCO2/yr, which equals the yearly emissions for 48 Guadeloupean homes
  • Reinject the surplus into the power grid in order to reduce the carbon in Guadeloupe’s energy mix

 

Beginning in 2023, SARA will provide attractive hydrogen & electricity solutions for oil tankers and more broadly for maritime industries.

Lastly, between 2025 and 2030, the SARA depot will develop and deploy modular hydrogen production solutions to suit customer needs, on a local and global scale.

Innovative and agile, this new strategy will make it possible to produce hydrogen-based electricity, produce and distribute biogas and capture carbon.

This approach aligns SARA with the Air Climate Energy Plan (PCAE) of Guadeloupe’s Grand Port Maritime as it aims to be an active contributor to the decarbonisation of the energy mix on the Guadeloupean archipelago.

 

Pedro SELGI

Regional director, SARA Guadeloupe