CropEnergies opts for climate-neutral energy solution for new production plant
Mannheim / Magdeburg / Zeitz, 13 September 2023
GETEC will build a plant for climate-neutral energy supply and the supply of e.g. steam and compressed air on the site of the Zeitz Chemical and Industrial Park in Elsteraue for CE Biobased Chemicals GmbH (CEBC), a 100% subsidiary of CropEnergies AG. The sustainable energy solution will thermally utilise not only biomass but also liquid and gaseous production residues and will supply CropEnergies' new production plant for renewable ethyl acetate, which is unique in Europe, with heat and electricity. It thus forms another important building block in CropEnergies' sustainability strategy. The project is being implemented under contracting, with GETEC investing over 50 million euros.
Dr Stephan Meeder, CEO of CropEnergies AG: "Producing sustainable, renewable products from biomass is the goal of CropEnergies. With the construction of the plant for renewable ethyl acetate in the Zeitz Chemical and Industrial Park, CropEn-ergies is taking the next step in the implementation of our strategy."
Hendrik Banse, Managing Director of CE Biobased Chemicals GmbH: "The first pro-duction plant of the new Biobased Chemicals business unit is an extremely im-portant milestone for us. Renewable products for the chemical industry can be pro-duced here with a very small CO2 footprint. The climate-neutral energy supply by GETEC is an important part of this concept."
"We are delighted to implement this sustainable project for CropEnergies. GETEC can contribute its extensive experience and expertise in the field of waste-to-value and residue recycling to the project and thus form a further building block in CropEnergies' sustainability ambitions. With the GETEC solution, CropEnergies avoids CO2 emissions of over 35,000 tonnes per year compared to a standard gas boiler," says Dr Thomas Stephanblome, CEO of GETEC Platform Germany.
The construction of the new ethyl acetate plant in Elsteraue is the first major step for CropEnergies in a new field of business: the production of sustainable biochemi-cals from renewable raw materials. The new production plant will be the first of its kind in Europe. It will produce 50,000 tonnes of renewable ethyl acetate per year from sustainable ethanol and with the use of renewable energy sources, which thus has a significantly smaller CO2 footprint than conventional ethyl acetate produced on the basis of fossil raw materials. CropEnergies is thus contributing to the decar-bonization of basic chemicals used in numerous everyday products and is thus opening up new sales markets in the growing area of renewable products for the chemical industry.
Thanks to a convincing holistic solution approach and GETEC's local presence in the Zeitz Chemical and Industrial Park with existing customers Radici, Infra-Zeitz and Puralube, and its experience in implementing the waste-to-value biomass plant in Podari, GETEC was able to win the tender for supplying energy to the new produc-tion site.
The new energy solution consists of a biomass boiler system with additional steam generators that thermally utilise the customer's liquid and gaseous production resi-dues. A steam turbine generates the electrical energy required in the new plant. Supplying the production process with compressed air and nitrogen completes the holistic supply approach. Commissioning is planned for the end of 2025. As part of the project development, GETEC has also applied for funding from the German Fed-eral Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection as an investment cost subsidy.
About CropEnergies AG
Sustainable products from renewable biomass are the business of CropEnergies. Founded in Mannheim in 2006, the member of the Südzucker Group is the leading European producer of sustainably produced, renewable ethanol. With a production capacity of 1.3 million cubic metres of ethanol per year, CropEnergies produces neutral as well as technical alcohol (ethanol) for a wide range of applications at locations in Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and France: from climate-friendly fuel, beverage production or cosmetic products to pharmaceutical applications, for example as a basis for disinfectants or as a starting material for innovative biochemicals.
Thanks to highly efficient production plants, ethanol for fuel applications reduces CO2 emissions by an average of more than 70 percent across the entire value chain compared to fossil fuel. In addition, more than 1 million tonnes of high-grade protein food and animal feed products as well as biogenic carbon dioxide, which is used in beverage production, among other things, are obtained annually from the use of biomass. CropEnergies AG (ISIN DE000A0LAUP1) is listed on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
About GETEC Group (G+E GETEC Holding GmbH)
GETEC is a leading partner to industry and the real estate sector for intelligent, efficient and green energy solutions in Europe. Our promise "Energy for more" is the guiding principle for over 2,400 employees who use excellent engineering know-how, as well as proven regulatory and sustainability expertise, to navigate our customers through an increasingly complex energy world while reducing their environmental footprint. With 12,000 plants generating more than 6.1 GW of thermal energy, GETEC is active in a total of nine countries from its four regional platforms in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy, generating a turnover of more than EUR 1.5 billion in 2022.
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