Clariant, the Switzerland-based specialty chemicals company, will invest in a new plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues in Romania.

The new plant will be built in the southwestern part of Romania. It will produce cellulosic ethanol using the sunliquid technology, a biotechnological method for manufacturing the bio-fuel from agricultural residues such as cereal straw, corn stover or sugarcane bagasse.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 50.000 tons. It will be a flagship site, confirming the competitiveness and sustainability of the sunliquid technology, the company said.

Since July 2012, Clariant has been operating a pre-commercial plant in Straubing, in Germany, which produces up to 1,000 metric tons of cellulosic ethanol from around 4,500 metric tons of raw material every year.

“After five years of operating our pre-commercial sunliquid plant in Straubing, Germany, and thorough process demonstration, we are now ready to scale-up to the next level,” Markus Rarbach, head of Start-up Business Biofuels & Derivatives at Clariant, said. “It is the next big step into an attractive market and a significant advancement in the successful commercialization of this highly innovative and sustainable technology. […] By locally sourcing feed-stock, greenhouse gas savings can be maximized and additional business opportunities arise in the region along the value chain.”

The start of construction for the plant is set for 2018. The plant is expected to deliver its first batch of product in 2020. Peak sales from the sunliquid cellulosic ethanol plant are expected to be in the mid double-digit million range, the company said.

At full capacity, the new plant will process approximately 250.000 tons of wheat straw and other cereal straw annually, which will be sourced from local farmers. Co-products from the process will be used for the generation of renewable energy with the goal of making the plant independent from fossil energy sources. Therefore, the resulting cellulosic ethanol is an almost carbon neutral advanced biofuel, Clariant said.

Clariant was established in 1995 as a spin-off from Sandoz. The company reports in four business areas: Care Chemicals, Catalysis, Natural Resources, and Plastics & Coatings. In the financial year 2016, Clariant recorded sales of CHF 5.847 billion for its continuing businesses. At the end of 2016 it employed a total workforce of 17,442.

editor@romania-insider.com