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Located in Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, near Marseille, France, the La Mède complex includes a biorefinery with a production capacity of 500,000 metric tons of renewable diesel per year, an AdBlue production plant, a logistics and storage hub, an industrial-scale training center, a solar farm, a production unit for recycled fuels and a test platform for the production of microalgae.

The La Mède complex now encompasses:

• A biorefinery with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes of biofuel per year.
• An 8-megawatt solar farm that can supply 13,000 people.
• A unit to produce 50,000 cubic meters per year of AdBlue®, an additive that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions from trucks.
• A logistics and storage hub with a capacity of 1.3 million cubic meters per year.
• A training center offering real facilities and able to host 2,500 learners a year.

The biorefinery can produce 500,000 tonnes of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a premium biofuel. La Mède will produce both biodiesel and biojet fuel for the aviation industry. It was specifically designed to process all types of oil. Its biofuels will be made:

• 60 to 70% from 100% sustainable vegetable oils (rapeseed, palm, sunflower, etc.).
• 30 to 40% from treated waste (animal fats, cooking oil, residues, etc.) to promote a circular economy.

As part of an agreement with the Government in May 2018, Total has pledged to process no more than 300,000 tonnes of palm oil per year — less than 50% of the total volume of raw materials needed — and at least 50,000 tonnes of French-grown rapeseed, creating another market for domestic agriculture.