Advanced biomass advancements A review of 2014 suggests that it may be the year “advanced biomass” with coal-like properties made the commercial break. In general terms torrefaction, steam-treated, and hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) can be described as three generic pathways to transform a solid biomass feedstock into essentially the same type of end product, an advanced biomass fuel with coal-like properties. As for conventional “white pellets”, wood is the dominant raw material though other sources such as straw are used. Wet residues, such as sewage sludge, manure and biogas digestate can be used in the HTC pathway. Apart from claims of both reduced CAPEX and OPEX for the biomass fuel end-user, other advantages often touted when compared to conventional pellets include broader geographical and biological feedstock base, other end-use applications apart from energy, hydrophobicity and negligible biodegradation (off-gassing) in storage. Since 2007 an estimated 70–80 projects have been initiated though far from all have survived beyond the lab let alone setup a commercial plant. However a review of 2014 media flow suggests that 2014 may well be the year that advanced biomass, just like cellulosic biofuels, makes the break. To illustrate, an alphabetical news roundup of what has caught our attention and indeed imagination in 2014: ANDRITZ – At the beginning of 2014 global technology suppliers Andritz explained that its one-tonne-per-hour ACB demo plant in Frohnleiten, Austria had been taken over by the client, the municipality of Frohnleiten. The other Andritz one-tonne-per-hour demo plant in Str. Stenderup, Denmark designed for large-scale plants up to 700 000 tonne per annum per reactor-remains in use for continued feedstock testing amongst presumptive clients though no further commercial developments have been reported. ARBRAFLAME – In June the Norwegian company Arbaflame announced a cooperation agreement with Treklyngen with joint plans to build a 200 000 tonne-per-annum biocoal plant utilising Arbaflame’s steam treatment technology at a closed paper mill in Follum. A decision has been made to proceed with the first phase of the basic engineering and tendering process. A final investment decision is expected to be taken in early Q2. The company has a 40 000 tonne-per-annum commercial demo plant in Grasmo built 2003. In November it was confirmed that the company is to supply Ontario Power Generation (OPG) Thunder Bay power plant with up to 7 500 tonnes. ARTERRAN RENEWABLES – Canadian HTC technology developer and presumptive advanced biomass producer made the headlines in June for its novel approach to financing. In order to raise funds for production scaleup the company launched the Green Energy Asset Backed Coin, GENERcoin (GEC), it’s own digital currency. Like other “crypto currencies” the idea is that it can be bought and traded, except the backing is the biofuel to be produced by the company. Each GEC is a receipt and claim for a predetermined unit of energy of the biofuel. To incentivise trading GEC for renewable energy, each coin sold by the company is at a discount. According to a statement the company has committed 11 200 tonnes of its advanced pellets in 14 kg bags. In December the company announced a partnership with Digital Currency Labs, a US-based financial technology and strategic advisory firm, to establish the asset-backed model. AREVA – In 2012 the French energy major Areva Group acquired French torrefaction technology developers Thermya. Thermya had three licensed 34 Bioenergy International PS1 2015 20 000 tonne-per-annum installations, two in France and one in Spain. In January it was revealed that Areva have since been engaged in a full process and product development approach to deliver industrial-scale EPC torrefaction plants, and is currently constructing a 2.5 tonne- per-hour prototype plant. BIOENDEV – In 2008 the Swedish biomass technology developer BioEndev AB, a university spinoff, acquired a pilot torrefaction from a joint venture with Umeå University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. In 2012 an improved and scaled-up version was built closer to Umeå University for its own and third-party R&D. In October 2013 it broke ground for a 16 000 tonne-per-annum industrial demonstration torrefaction and pellet plant in Holmsund, on the Baltic coast. The new 7 million EUR plant is a three-year joint project with BioEndev, Umeå Energi, SCA and the Swedish Energy Agency. The plant is nearing completion and scheduled for start-up early this year. RIVER BASIN ENERGY – US-based torrefaction developers River Basin Energy announced in October that it, together with the “Project BioForce” consortium, are to build a 10 000 tonne-per-annum demonstration plant at the EMO coal and iron ore terminal in Rotterdam, Europe’s largest coal terminal. The objective is to simultaneously achieve sustained torrefied biomass and biocoal production and a working prototype of a large-scale biomass hub utilising coal-handling equipment only. SOLVAY – In mid-March, Belgium-based international chemical company Solvay Group revealed that their global business unit Solvay Energy Services had entered into a joint venture with the US firm New Biomass Energy (NBE) forming a new entity, Solvay Biomass Energy. NBE have a commercial 80 000 tonne-per-annum torrefied pellet plant in Quitman Mississippi that has been operational since 2011 and they were the one of the first with trans-Atlantic shipments of torrefied pellets to European utilities. According to the press statement Solvay Biomass Energy will increase production capacity at the Quitman facility to 250 000 tonnes by the end of 2014. SUNCOAL – In 2008 the German HTC technology developer commissioned its pilot plant in Ludwigsfelde and in January 2012 it reopened the revamped pilot with a view to commercialisation of its plant concept. In November it announced that Stadtwerke Halle in Berlin will be the first municipality in Germany to operate a HTC facility converting 10 000 tonnes of green waste to 2 500 tonnes of biochar per year. THERMOGEN INDUSTRIES – In 2011, Cate Street Capital bought back its former Millinocket paper mill facility in Maine, New Hampshire and the originally approved plan was to build a 100 000 tonne-per-annum torrefied pellet plant using microwave technology from Scottish firm Rotawave. However the project seems to be dogged by regulatory, financing and tax debt issues. In March it announced a technology switch and capacity increase (see Zilkha). According to local newspapers, Bangor Daily News and Maine Biz, the revised project plan needed renewed approval of the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) for the loan guarantee on account of the change in technology and scope, the new plan for the plant was quoted as being US$140 million, double the original. In April, FAME approved the plan though loan guarantee was reduced from US$20 million to 16 million. In June a revised air emissions permit application was submitted PELLETS
Bioenergy nr 1 - 2015
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