Press Releases

Launch of first BTL project in France using Carbo-V technology from CHOREN Signature of EPC agreement for 45-MW synthesis gas plant

Last month, CHOREN Industries and the French group CNIM (Constructions Industrielles de la Méditerranée SA) signed an EPC agreement (engineering, procurement and construction). The agreement covers the design and construction of a synthesis gas production facility using biomass feedstocks, whereas CHOREN provides extensive engineering and other technical services.

Freiberg, 29 January 2010

CNIM has been commissioned by CEA (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique) as general contractor for the construction of a BTL (biomass to liquids) plant in Bure-Saudron, in the northeast of France.
The plant is planned to produce at least 23,000 metric tonnes of high-quality bio-synthetic fuel annually. The biomass feedstock, mainly from wood residue, will come from the rural area between Paris and Strasbourg.

CHOREN will supply the technology for the thermochemical conversion of biomass into a high-purity, high-energy synthesis gas, which, after gas conditioning, is converted into BTL fuel via Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis.
Use of a 45-MW gasifier of the same type as that in CHOREN’s own BTL plant in Freiberg, Germany, is planned.

Once engineering work has been completed in 2010, the start of construction is currently scheduled for 2011, with commissioning planned by the end of 2014.

"This project is a great success for the use of our Carbo-V technology and also a major milestone on the path to preparing the European market for other BTL projects, even on a considerably larger scale", said CHOREN’s Chief Technical Officer Olaf Schulze.

Contact
Dr. Ines Bilas
CHOREN Industries GmbH
Frauensteiner Straße 59
09599 Freiberg
Tel. +49 3731 2662-226
www.choren.com

Background

about CNIM:
CNIM is a French mechanical and plant engineering company with head offices in Paris and several production sites at La Seyne-sur-Mer near Marseille. With its more than 3,000 employees, the CNIM Group develops and builds industrial plants worldwide, e.g. for energy production or waste incineration, as well as manufacturing the related major components such as boilers.
www.cnim.com
http://www.cnim.com/hi/actualites18.htm

about CEA:
CEA is the French Atomic Energy Commission, which is expected to be soon nominate as Alternatives Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives).
Set up in 1945, the CEA is overseen jointly by the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industry.
As a state research centre, CEA carries out both basic and applied research. Another major field of activity is the transfer of technological innovation to industrial application.
In addition to carrying out research into nuclear energy, CEA is also active in the renewable energies sector. With its more than 16,000 employees and 9 regional research centres, CEA offers extensive expertise.
www.cea.fr
http://www.cea.fr/le_cea/actualites/biocarburants_bure-saudron-27987

about CHOREN:
CHOREN is an internationally leading supplier of technologies for the production of synthesis gas from carbon-containing solids. A gasification process yields a high-purity, high-energy synthesis gas, which can be used to produce BTL, to generate electricity, particularly in CHP plants, and as a source material for traditional synthesis gas products such as ammonia or methane.
Based in Freiberg, Germany, the company’s minority shareholders include Volkswagen and Daimler. CHOREN is also represented outside Europe with subsidiaries in the USA and China.

about BTL:
BTL (biomass to liquids) is a high-purity synthetic biofuel that is completely free of sulphur and aromatics. BTL burns with extremely low emissions and is virtually CO2-neutral, since its combustion only releases the quantity of CO2 that was captured during the growth of the biomass feedstock.
There is no need to convert the existing infrastructure for the transport and storage of BTL. BTL is entirely compatible with current and future diesel engine technology.