May 29 2014
St1 Biofuels Oy will deliver an Etanolix® plant producing waste-based bioethanol to North European Oil Trade Oy in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Etanolix® plant will produce ethanol for transport fuel, using feedstocks such as biowaste and process residue from local bakeries and bread from shops that is past its sell-by date. The plant currently under construction at the St1 refinery in Gothenburg will have an annual production capacity of 5 million litres of bioethanol. The refinery will operate the Etanolix® plant, which will be fully integrated into the refinery functions and logistics. The production will start up in early 2015.
In Finland, St1 has four Etanolix® plants and one BionolixTM plant that produces ethanol from biowaste from shops and households. These plants produce domestic ethanol from biowaste and food industry process residue for transport fuel.
Scalable Etanolix® concept responds to challenging global biofuels mandates
The Gothenburg project has been selected for inclusion in the Life+ programme of the European Commission, which provides funding for projects for instance on energy, the climate, environmental management, industry and production, waste management and environmental policy. This project is the first in which an ethanol production plant is being built and integrated at an existing oil refinery to produce waste- and residue-based ethanol on a sustainable basis. Thanks to its feedstocks and production technology, the ethanol produced at the Etanolix®plant will be almost carbon-neutral. The plant will be fully integrated into the functions and logistics of the refinery, which will yield significant synergy benefits in the use of residual heat and cooling and in product distribution. The St1 refinery personnel will be responsible for operating the plant.
“Our Etanolix® concept – producing waste- and residue-based ethanol – is now a finished export product. Building a plant in Gothenburg is a significant launch on the international market for us. Our Etanolix® concept meets the growing challenges of global biofuels mandates and smart waste usage. Ethanol produced using our technology generates virtually no lifecycle fossil emissions,” says Patrick Pitkänen, Head of Business Development and Sales at St1 Biofuels.
This is the first biofuel production plant owned by NEOT, which is an oil and biofuel wholesale trading company. “By investing in biofuel production of our own, we are strengthening our sourcing of biofuels and supporting our strategy of fulfilling growing biofuels mandate,” says Henrikki Talvitie, Managing Director of NEOT.