German utility RWE's renewable unit RWE Innogy and Dutch company Topell
Energy said Monday they are laying the foundation stone for the first
commercial-scale plant for the production of biocoal pellets.
The plant at Duiven in the Dutch province of Gelderland will have an
annual production capacity of 60,000 tons and will be realized by Topell
Nederland, they said in a statement.
Costing Eur15 million ($18 million) to build, the plant is due to be
commissioned early in 2011, the statement added.
RWE's Dutch subsidiary Essent will be the first company to use the
biocoal pellets over a period of five years in the Amer coal-fired power
plant, it said.
"As a leading operator of coal-fired power plants, we consider it to be
our responsibility to reduce the CO2 emissions of electricity generation as
much as possible," RWE board member Leonhard Birnbaum said.
"Our intention was to commercialize a new process for the production of
efficient biocoal, which significantly improves and extends the potential
applications of biomass," he added.
The process developed by Topell enables the continuous production of
biocoal pellets on an industrial scale, since the manufacturing process is
highly flexible in terms of raw material input, the statement said.
Biocoal is easily transported and when co-fired with conventional coal,
no additional infrastructural measures are required, such as separate storage
and pulverization, it added.
RWE is currently also building one of the world's largest plants for the
manufacture of biomass pellets with an annual production capacity of 750,000
tons for some Eur120 million in the US state of Georgia, the statement said.
Energy said Monday they are laying the foundation stone for the first
commercial-scale plant for the production of biocoal pellets.
The plant at Duiven in the Dutch province of Gelderland will have an
annual production capacity of 60,000 tons and will be realized by Topell
Nederland, they said in a statement.
Costing Eur15 million ($18 million) to build, the plant is due to be
commissioned early in 2011, the statement added.
RWE's Dutch subsidiary Essent will be the first company to use the
biocoal pellets over a period of five years in the Amer coal-fired power
plant, it said.
"As a leading operator of coal-fired power plants, we consider it to be
our responsibility to reduce the CO2 emissions of electricity generation as
much as possible," RWE board member Leonhard Birnbaum said.
"Our intention was to commercialize a new process for the production of
efficient biocoal, which significantly improves and extends the potential
applications of biomass," he added.
The process developed by Topell enables the continuous production of
biocoal pellets on an industrial scale, since the manufacturing process is
highly flexible in terms of raw material input, the statement said.
Biocoal is easily transported and when co-fired with conventional coal,
no additional infrastructural measures are required, such as separate storage
and pulverization, it added.
RWE is currently also building one of the world's largest plants for the
manufacture of biomass pellets with an annual production capacity of 750,000
tons for some Eur120 million in the US state of Georgia, the statement said.
