The company – Anhui M&G Guozhen Green Refinery CO, Ltd (the "Green Refinery JV") – will employ PROESA technology licensed by Beta Renewables to convert 970,000-1,300,000 metric tons per year of agricultural residues into cellulosic ethanol, glycols and by-products such as lignin in Fuyang City (Anhui Province, PRC).
The biomass will be supplied by Guozhen under a long term fixed price agreement, and the enzymes needed for the conversion of the biomass will be supplied by Novozymes as earlier announced.
M&G and Guozhen shareholding in the Green Refinery JV are 70% and 30% respectively and the total joint venture investment is estimated to be around USD 325 million, to construct what will be by far the largest cellulosic (i.e. using non food biomass) bio-refinery in the world.
The two companies further expect to soon announce the creation of a second JV, to convert the lignin into steam and electricity.
Marco Ghisolfi – M&G Chemicals CEO – said "I am excited about the completion of this first very important step towards the creation of the world largest second generation bio-refinery in Fuyang City and I would like to take the opportunity to thank Gouzhen management as well as the Fuyang City authorities for their partnership in this ground breaking and transformational enterprise".
LiWei – Chairman of Guozhen Group – saidthisis a veryimportantprojectnotonly for Guozhen Group and M&G butalso for Fuyang city asitwill create a green and sustainableenvironment for Fuyang and bolster the local economy.
