Air Liquide, AkzoNobel, Enerkem and the Port of Rotterdam sign agreement to cover the initial investment of the Rotterdam waste-to-chemistry project

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

In October 2016, Rotterdarm was selected as location to build a waste-to-chemicals plant by a partnership comprised of Air Liquide, AkzoNobel, AVR, Enerkem and Van Gansewinkel in collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam, the City of Rotterdam, the province of South Holland and InnovationQuarter (see post, 10/10/2016). That decision marked the beginning of a new phase for the members of the consortium to finalize the business case.

The project has just taken a significant step forward with the sign of a project development agreement covering initial investments by Air Liquide, AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, Enerkem and the Port of Rotterdam (see press release, 16/02/2018). The facility will be the first of its kind in Europe to provide a sustainable alternative solution for non-recyclable wastes, converting waste plastics and other mixed wastes into new raw materials.

Figure 1. Infographic of the project (extracted from the press release)

The initial investments, which cover detailed engineering, the setup up of a dedicated joint venture and completing the permitting process, will be worth 9 M€. The consortium aims to take the final investment decision (FID) for the estimated 200 M€ project later in 2018 and has appointed Dutch Rabobank as the lead advisor for the financing process. Realization of the project is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate policy, which have agreed to develop the necessary mechanisms and regulation.

Factsheet of the project

Location	Botlek area of the Port of Rotterdam (The Netherlands).
Feedstock and processing capacity	360,000 tons of waste (it represents the total annual waste of more than 700,000 households and a CO2 emission savings of about 300,000 tons).
Products and production capacity	220,000 tons (270 million litres) of sustainable methanol for the chemical industry and the transportation sector.
Technology	Enerkem’s proprietary technology. The plant will have two production lines or twice the input capacity of Enerkem’s commercial-scale plant in Edmonton (Canada).
Final Investment Decision	2018.