Technological watch
Avantium celebrates the First Piling Ceremony for its FDCA Flagship Plant
Avantium N.V., a leading technology company in renewable chemistry, today celebrated the First Piling Ceremony for its FDCA Flagship Plant at the Chemie Park Delfzijl site in the Netherlands. This world’s first commercial FDCA factory is set to produce 5 kilotonnes of FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) per annum, the key building block for the 100% plant-based, recyclable plastic material PEF (polyethylene furanoate).
The First Piling Ceremony represents the start of the construction of the FDCA Flagship Plant. Construction is planned to be completed by the end of 2023, enabling the commercial launch of PEF from 2024 onwards. Over the years, PEF has attracted the interest and support of many partners – varying from commercial partners, governments, engineering and supply chain partners as well as financial and grant partners. With the support of these partners within the PEF value chain, Avantium is now ready to build and operate the world’s first FDCA Flagship Plant, meeting the growing global demand across a range of end-product markets. One of the first enablers of the FDCA Flagship Plant is the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), which supported the FDCA Flagship Plant with a “PEFerence” Horizon 2020 grant1.
CBE JU Head of Programme Virginia Puzzolo comments: “The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking goal is making the European industries green and competitive. Today, we are marking a clear example of this European green renaissance: the €25 million of CBE JU funding for the PEFerence project contributes to transforming the traditionally gas area around Delfzijl into a more sustainable and competitive region. We, at CBE JU, are delighted to contribute to bringing into the market disruptive circular technologies like producing plant-based FDCA in this Flagship Plant.”
The new FDCA Flagship Plant is located near Avantium’s demonstration plant for plantMEG™ (mono- ethylene glycol) and its pilot biorefinery, producing glucose and lignin from non-food biomass. The Northern Netherlands is furthermore a prime location for green chemistry in the Netherlands, with the ambition to achieve a fully sustainable chemical industry by 2050. Avantium fits perfectly into this ambition, with the FDCA Flagship Plant supporting the transition to a circular economy and helping to shift the chemicals industry away from fossil resources and towards sustainable feedstocks. The FDCA Flagship Plant will bring increased innovation to the region. In addition, Avantium will create around 50 highly skilled jobs, for which the recruitment has already started, and provide significant indirect employment opportunities.
Avantium CEO Tom van Aken comments: “Avantium is proud to be the first company in the world that is constructing a commercial facility for the production of FDCA, the key building block of PEF. I strongly believe that PEF has the potential to become a major polymer to be used across many applications and markets worldwide, helping us on the path to a circular economy. We are pleased with the support of our partners for our FDCA Flagship Plant. Today everyone can see how our plans for a commercial FDCA facility are becoming a reality.”
About AvantiumAvantium is a leading technology development company and a forerunner in renewable chemistry. Avantium develops novel technologies based on renewable carbon sources as an alternative to fossil-based chemicals and plastics. The company currently has three technologies at pilot and demonstration phase. The most advanced technology is the YXY® plant-to-plastics–technology that catalytically converts plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the key building block for the sustainable plastic PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Avantium has successfully demonstrated the YXY® Technology at its pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and will start construction of the world’s first commercial plant for large-scale production of PEF in 2022.
The second technology is Ray Technology™ and catalytically converts industrial sugars to plant-based MEG (mono-ethylene glycol): plantMEG™. Avantium is scaling up its Ray Technology™ and the demonstration plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands opened in November 2019.
The third technology is called the Dawn Technology™ that converts non-food biomass into industrial sugars and lignin in order to transition the chemicals and materials industries to non-fossil resources. In 2018, Avantium opened the Dawn Technology™ pilot biorefinery in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Next to developing and commercialising renewable chemistry technologies, the company also provides advanced catalysis R&D services and systems to customers in the refinery and chemical industries. Avantium works in partnership with like-minded companies around the globe to create revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions from invention to commercial scale.
Avantium’s shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels (symbol: AVTX). Its offices and headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
1 The FDCA Flagship Plant is supported with a “PEFerence” Horizon 2020 grant awarded by Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 744409
The First Piling Ceremony represents the start of the construction of the FDCA Flagship Plant. Construction is planned to be completed by the end of 2023, enabling the commercial launch of PEF from 2024 onwards. Over the years, PEF has attracted the interest and support of many partners – varying from commercial partners, governments, engineering and supply chain partners as well as financial and grant partners. With the support of these partners within the PEF value chain, Avantium is now ready to build and operate the world’s first FDCA Flagship Plant, meeting the growing global demand across a range of end-product markets. One of the first enablers of the FDCA Flagship Plant is the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), which supported the FDCA Flagship Plant with a “PEFerence” Horizon 2020 grant1.
CBE JU Head of Programme Virginia Puzzolo comments: “The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking goal is making the European industries green and competitive. Today, we are marking a clear example of this European green renaissance: the €25 million of CBE JU funding for the PEFerence project contributes to transforming the traditionally gas area around Delfzijl into a more sustainable and competitive region. We, at CBE JU, are delighted to contribute to bringing into the market disruptive circular technologies like producing plant-based FDCA in this Flagship Plant.”
The new FDCA Flagship Plant is located near Avantium’s demonstration plant for plantMEG™ (mono- ethylene glycol) and its pilot biorefinery, producing glucose and lignin from non-food biomass. The Northern Netherlands is furthermore a prime location for green chemistry in the Netherlands, with the ambition to achieve a fully sustainable chemical industry by 2050. Avantium fits perfectly into this ambition, with the FDCA Flagship Plant supporting the transition to a circular economy and helping to shift the chemicals industry away from fossil resources and towards sustainable feedstocks. The FDCA Flagship Plant will bring increased innovation to the region. In addition, Avantium will create around 50 highly skilled jobs, for which the recruitment has already started, and provide significant indirect employment opportunities.
Avantium CEO Tom van Aken comments: “Avantium is proud to be the first company in the world that is constructing a commercial facility for the production of FDCA, the key building block of PEF. I strongly believe that PEF has the potential to become a major polymer to be used across many applications and markets worldwide, helping us on the path to a circular economy. We are pleased with the support of our partners for our FDCA Flagship Plant. Today everyone can see how our plans for a commercial FDCA facility are becoming a reality.”
About AvantiumAvantium is a leading technology development company and a forerunner in renewable chemistry. Avantium develops novel technologies based on renewable carbon sources as an alternative to fossil-based chemicals and plastics. The company currently has three technologies at pilot and demonstration phase. The most advanced technology is the YXY® plant-to-plastics–technology that catalytically converts plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the key building block for the sustainable plastic PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Avantium has successfully demonstrated the YXY® Technology at its pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and will start construction of the world’s first commercial plant for large-scale production of PEF in 2022.
The second technology is Ray Technology™ and catalytically converts industrial sugars to plant-based MEG (mono-ethylene glycol): plantMEG™. Avantium is scaling up its Ray Technology™ and the demonstration plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands opened in November 2019.
The third technology is called the Dawn Technology™ that converts non-food biomass into industrial sugars and lignin in order to transition the chemicals and materials industries to non-fossil resources. In 2018, Avantium opened the Dawn Technology™ pilot biorefinery in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Next to developing and commercialising renewable chemistry technologies, the company also provides advanced catalysis R&D services and systems to customers in the refinery and chemical industries. Avantium works in partnership with like-minded companies around the globe to create revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions from invention to commercial scale.
Avantium’s shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels (symbol: AVTX). Its offices and headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
1 The FDCA Flagship Plant is supported with a “PEFerence” Horizon 2020 grant awarded by Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 744409
This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme
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