Photanol to build a CO2-to-chemicals demo plant at AkzoNobel site in Delfzijl



Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

In early 2017, the Blog featured the profile of one of the most promising companies in the field of algal biorefining: “Photanol - Cyanobacteria for the next generation of biobased chemicals”. The last section of that post highlighted its plans for the construction of a multi-use demonstration plant in the near future (2018-2019). Last Friday, Photanol and AkzoNobel announced that the planned facility will be built at AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals’ Delfzijl site.

Figure 1. Cyanobacteria (extracted from Photanol website)

The companies formed a partnership in 2014 to jointly work on a technology using cyanobacteria that mimics the way plants use photosynthesis to produce chemical building blocks (for instance, organic acids) from carbon dioxide. These have applications in biodegradable plastics, personal care products and as intermediates for the chemical industry.

Photanol has closed a substantial new financing round (8 M€) to the demonstration of its technology. The commitment of new shareholders (GROEIfonds, Innovatiefonds Noord-Nederland and Investeringsfonds Groningen) as well as the continued support of the Dutch Government and existing shareholders (UvA Ventures Holding and Icos Capital) allow for the construction of the plant. It is expected to be operational in 2020.

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