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Tuesday, April 12, 2022
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Technip Energies and Clariant Sign a Cooperation Agreement for the Implementation of sunliquid® Cellulosic Ethanol License Projects

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Technip Energies and Clariant announced today that they have signed a cooperation agreement for the implementation of Clariant’s sunliquid® cellulosic ethanol technology.

By choosing Technip Energies, sunliquid® customers can benefit from combining Clariant’s proven technology with Technip Energies’ deep experience as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to build advanced biofuel plants.

The sunliquid® process converts agricultural residues, woody materials or municipal solid wastes into advanced biofuel. The bio-sourced feedstock is converted into cellulosic sugars, which is then fermented into cellulosic ethanol.

The process design is completely integrated and based upon proven process technology. The innovative technology involves enzymes that are produced as part of the process and tailored to respective raw materials to deliver the highest possible sugar yields.

End of 2021, Clariant completed the construction of its first full-scale commercial sunliquid® cellulosic ethanol plant in Podari, Romania, which is currently started-up and will be fully operational in 2022. The plant will process approximately 250,000 tons of straw to produce 50,000 tons of cellulosic ethanol per annum.

The cellulosic ethanol produced by the sunliquid® process can be used as a drop-in solution for fuel blending and offers further downstream application opportunities into sustainable aviation fuels and bio-based chemicals. In addition, it can be further processed into green ethylene and ethylene derivatives, and other sugar-derived chemicals using other proprietary technologies offered by Technip Energies.

Wei Cai, Chief Technology Officer of Technip Energies, stated: “We are very proud to extend our partnership with Clariant. sunliquid® may be proposed in combination with other Technip Energies’ technologies in the biofuel and sustainable chemicals value chains enabling a full service offering to our clients. Together with Clariant, we provide a reliable model to accelerate the introduction of novel and sustainable technologies to the market. This alliance will bring our clients a sustainable technology and flexible project execution model.”

Christian Librera, Vice President & Head of Business Line Biofuels & Derivatives at Clariant commented, “Customer focus is a core theme of Clariant’s new purpose-led strategy. The cooperation with Technip Energies will enhance the service offerings we provide to our customers and thus will accelerate the sunliquid® footprint with the ultimate aim of transitioning to an emission-free mobility.”

 

About Technip Energies

Technip Energies is a leading Engineering & Technology company for the energy transition, with leadership positions in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), hydrogen and ethylene as well as growing market positions in blue and green hydrogen, sustainable chemistry and CO2 management. The company benefits from its robust project delivery model supported by extensive technology, products and services offering.

Operating in 34 countries, our 15,000 people are fully committed to bringing our client’s innovative projects to life, breaking boundaries to accelerate the energy transition for a better tomorrow.

Technip Energies is listed on Euronext Paris with American depositary receipts (“ADRs”). For further information: www.ten.com.

 

About Clariant

Clariant is a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company based in Muttenz, near Basel/Switzerland. On 31 December 2020, the company employed a total workforce of 13 235. In the financial year 2020, Clariant recorded sales of CHF 3.860 billion for its continuing businesses. The company reports in three business areas: Care Chemicals, Catalysis and Natural Resources. Clariant’s corporate strategy is led by the overarching purpose of ‘Greater chemistry – between people and planet’ and reflects the importance of connecting customer focus, innovation, sustainability, and people.

Sunliquid® is an innovative biotechnological method for manufacturing cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues such as cereal straw, corn stover or sugar cane bagasse. In the completely integrated process, highly optimized, raw material-specific biocatalysts decompose cellulose and hemicellulose in high yields under stable processing conditions into fermentable sugar. The process-integrated production of the biocatalysts offers flexibility and reduces production costs. In the next step, an optimized fermentation organism simultaneously converts C5 and C6 into ethanol with high yields and short reaction times. A highly optimized purification process is instrumental in enabling all the energy required for the process to be derived from the process byproducts like insoluble lignin. Since July 2012, Clariant has been operating a precommercial plant in Straubing, Germany, which produces up to 1,000 metric tons of cellulosic ethanol every year, confirming technical and economic performance. In September 2018, Clariant broke ground for its first-of-its-kind commercial facility in Podari, Romania, which is now completed. Clariant licenses its sunliquid®technology platform globally. So far, five license agreements have been concluded with renowned industry players in Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria and China.

www.clariant.com

www.sunliquid.com

 

Contacts Clariant

Caroline Schmid

Global Marketing Manager Biofuels & Derivatives

[email protected]