An expression of interest from organizations has also been issued by EIT in this regard.
The ETI’s new bioenergy feedstock improvement process project involves development of a pre-treatment system, featuring biomass chipping, screening, washing and drying, in order to operate within energy conversion plants or fuel supplier applications.
Upon selecting partner, ETI will procure a semi-commercial scale technology demonstration project involving pre-treatment operations.
The project will then assess the costs and benefits of applying feedstock improvement processes to a set of biomass feedstock types.
Additionally, the project will focus on challenges involved in any scale-up and commercial deployment of the process.
ETI bioenergy program manager Geraint Evans said: "The ETI believes it has identified an opportunity to accelerate the demonstration of a biomass and waste wood feedstock improvement process.
"We therefore want to identify and understand both the opportunities and challenges involved in scaling up such improvement processes to commercial deployment."
ETI said it expects the interested parties to demonstrate their access to the required feedstocks, to a waste site with waste handling permits and to test facilities.
Over a period of 12-18 months, the participants are also required to show how they would design, supply, install, commission and test the process and technology.
Evans said: "It is likely that it will involve commercially viable technologies that have not yet collectively been commercially deployed in the UK in a biomass or wood waste feedstock improvement system environment."
Image: ETI’s new bioenergy feedstock improvement process project is intended to help improve the feedstock process. Photo: Courtesy of Energy Technologies Institute LLP.
