BUCHAREST: Switzerland-based specialty chemicals company Clariant said on Tuesday it will start the construction of a cellulosic ethanol plant in Romania in 2018. The new plant will be located in southwestern Romania and will have a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes of cellulosic ethanol, Clariant said in statement filled to the NASDAQ bourse. The size of the investment was not disclosed. The ethanol will be obtained from agricultural residues using its sunliquid technology, a registered trademark of the company. The plant is anticipated 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. At full capacity, the new plant will process approximately 250.000 tonnes 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. “The investment also brings substantial economic benefits to the region. By locally sourcing feedstock, greenhouse gas savings can be maximized and additional business opportunities arise in the region along the value chain,” Clariant head of start-up business, biofuels and derivatives Markus Rarbach said. In August 2016, Romania’s finance ministry said that Clariant had requested a 68 million lei state aid for its plant in Romania. In January 2017, the ministry denied Clariant’s request. Clariant is a speciality chemicals company, formed in 1995 as a spin-off from Sandoz. Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland, the public company encompasses 110 operating companies in 53 countries, with manufacturing sites located in Europe, North America, South America, China and India.
