Inbicon opens 1.4 Mgy demonstration cellulosic ethanol plant in Denmark

In Denmark, Prince Joachim inaugurated the 1.4 Mgy, demonstration-scale Inbicon cellulosic ethanol plant in Kalundborg, which is utilizing wheat straw as its initial feedstock. The plant is the largest cellulosic ethanol facility in Europe, and second globally only to the KL Energy project in Upton, WY.

Inbicon and its parent company DONG Energy, the state oil, power and gas firm, confirmed that Inbicon will license its technology for use outside of Denmark, while DONG CEO Alders Eldrup said that the company expects to “construct a few factories also in Denmark.

Inbicon, a DONG Energy technology subsidiary, has invested $80 million in the project, which is co-located with a DONG Energy power plant, and utilizes waste heat from the power plant as a critical cost-reducing inputs in its system.

The plant opening was timed to coincide with the COP 15 Climate Change conference in Copenhagen where the successor to the Kyoto Treaty is scheduled to be finalized. A number of official vehicles at COP 15 will utilize E85 cellulosic ethanol produced by the Inbicon plant. The remainder will be supplied to Statoil Hydro under a long-term offtake agreement, and will appear in E10 ethanol blends in Danish service stations commencing in 2010.

In addition to ethanol, the plant is expected to produce 13,000 metric tons of lignin pellets — which will be supplied to the DONG Energy power plant to replace coal — and 11,000 metric tons of molasses that will be utilized in animal feed.

Inbicon’s technology allows the molasses to be converted to biogas or processed into ethanol if economics warrant further processing of the C5 (xylose) sugars. Currently, only the C6 (glucose) sugars are processed into ethanol, although the company is continuing to improve its technology.

A unique feature of the technology is symbiotic relationship with power production — utilizing waste heat from power gen to eliminate the use of natural gas and costly heating infrastructure in a free standing ethanol plant, which also reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with production. In addition, the company has pioneered a proprietary pretreatment process and proprietary designs on its first-stage hydrolysis units, where enzymes are first introduced to capture sugars from the lignin and cellulose – both innovations are designed to reduce the energy intensity of the process, thereby reducing emissions and cost.

Inbicon CEO Niels Henriken confirmed that he expected that Inbicon technology would next surface in Southeast Asia, with several sites and projects under consideration. However, a team of executives from Minnesota’s Great River Energy were on hand for the Kalundborg opening, and confirmed that they expect to license or partner with Inbicon on a 20 Mgy cellulosic ethanol project planned for the Spiritwood complex in North Dakota. Like Kalundborg, the Spiritwood project is planned as a symbiosis to capture and convert waste streams from the Great River Energy’s CHP plant currently in operation at Spiritwood.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Inbicon to complete $50 million cellulosic ethanol demo project in Denmark; announces 20 Mgy New Ethanol project for North America

In Denmark, Inbicon announced a series of technical and marketing initiatives for bringing commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol to North America. In a partnership with G-Team, and under the New Ethanol...

Solazyme, Inbicon, Novozymes, Danisco among companies outfitting Copenhagen conference with advanced biofuels

In Denmark, companies such as Inbicon and Solazyme are outfitting limos, cars and anything short of chariots with renewable fuels, as green-oriented companies aim for the Copenhagen climate summit lim...

Danisco, Inbicon, Novozymes and Statoil to supply biofuels to Copenhagen climate change treaty conference

In Denmark, the national government indicated that the Partnership for Biofuels, a consortium including Danisco, Inbicon, Novozymes and Statoil, will supply straw-based ethanol at the Climate Change C...

Inbicon signs MOU to license cellulosic ethanol technology for 18 Mgy North Dakota project

In Denmark, Inbicon — which opened its pilot-scale 1.4 Mgy cellulosic ethanol plant in Kalundborg two weeks ago, announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Otoka Energy and Grea...

20 Mgy Inbicon Biomass Refinery model debuts; can reduce external energy inputs at ethanol plants by 50-100 percent

In Colorado, Inbicon introduced a new 20 Mgy engineering model of its Inbicon Biomass Refinery and announced an agreement with Global Ethanol to tailor the 20 MMgy model to the company's operations. I...

Denmark’s BioGasol receives $13 million grant for 1.3 Mgy CE demonstration plant

In Denmark, the Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme awarded BioGasol a $13 million grant for a 1.2 Mgy cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant with a capacity of 5 million liters ...