Several fuel suppliers have urged the Dutch government to fix rules for transporting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) via the multinational Central European Pipeline System (Ceps) to bring the Netherlands in line with its neighbours.
Ceps could be the cheapest way to move SAF blends and is used in other countries, but Dutch rules force suppliers to use separate routes for deliveries to count towards regulatory requirement. Switzerland-based trading firm Vitol, Shell and Finnish refiner Neste raised the issue at a Dutch parliamentary round table this week.
Dutch rules require proof of physical SAF delivery at an airport. But Ceps mixes fuels, so suppliers cannot guarantee that SAF injected at one point reaches a particular airport. Suppliers want a system to link certified input and withdrawal so deliveries can count under ReFuelEU Aviation and the EU ETS.
Belgium and Germany recognise such deliveries, Neste said. The Netherlands is working on a solution, but for now it is a bottleneck.
The barrier mainly concerns how Dutch emissions regulator NEa interprets European rules, Dutch aerospace research institute NLR's Martin Nagelsmit said. The infrastructure ministry is working on the issue and further questions or pressure from lawmakers could move the issue forward, he said.
Neste flagged physical constraints. Its Rotterdam plant moves SAF by boat to a terminal connected to Ceps. The Rotterdam Ceps pipeline section is full, so even a direct connection would have limited use. Neste suggested examining connections for new plants, more capacity and more efficient use of the pipeline.
The Netherlands was the largest EU market for SAF in 2025, with Amsterdam Schiphol the largest airport user, and Dutch airline KLM the top supplier. But the latter said more support is needed after the loss of HBE incentives, which allowed SAF deliveries to generate tradeable credits for sale to companies with road fuel obligations.
KLM was among several Dutch stakeholders that debated the design of a planned €90mn ($101mn) Schiphol SAF support scheme announced in September. Neste and Dutch SAF developer SkyNRG said the scheme should be restricted to European-made SAF physically delivered to Schiphol. Shell said the scheme should only support SAF above the mandate.
The Dutch government and Schiphol aim to jointly fund the scheme, which is subject to European Commission approval.
An earlier Schiphol incentive from 2022–24 paid airlines per tonne of qualifying SAF used at the airport, subsidising 40,000t in total.
A Dutch military target of 10–15pc SAF in 2027 should help spur demand, a defence ministry representative said. Deliveries to Leeuwarden air base have contained around 5pc SAF since October. The military targets 30pc SAF by 2030, but it is a small buyer with kerosene consumption in peacetime equivalent to 1–2pc of Schiphol's demand.
