EIB to provide advisory support to two advanced biorefinery projects

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has recently signed three agreements with leading European innovators to collaborate on the development and potential financing of new projects that address climate change by developing first-of-a-kind demonstration plants. Two of them are advanced biorefinery projects.
Press release: “EIB to provide advisory support to three first-of-a-kind climate action projects”, 3/7/2020.

Figure 1. EIB to provide advisory support to two advanced biorefinery projects

Under a partnership with the European Commission delivered through the InnovFin Advisory programme, the EIB will provide strategic financial advice and support to:
- RenFuel Lignolproduktion AB: A production plant for lignin oil (LIGNOL®) from lignin in black liquor from the pulp industry in Sweden. RenFuel’s plant plans to extract 70,000 tons of lignin, which will result in an annual production capacity of approximately 185,000 tons of LIGNOL®.
Related posts:
- “Rottneros to provide RenFuel with lignin for the production of Lignol”, 7/9/2017.
- “Preem, RenFuel and Rottneros assess the construction of the world's first lignin plant for biofuels”, 29/5/2018.
- Bioforever: A demonstration-scale wood-to-ethanol biorefinery in the Netherlands. With a processing capacity of 35,000 tons of wood waste, it will produce 8,000 tons of ethanol per year.
Related posts:
- “BIOFOREVER project – Boosting the next generation biorefining industry in Europe”, 7/9/2016.
- “Alkol Biotech and BRD sign LOI for non-woody lignocellulosic biomass sourcing for BIOFOREVER biorefinery”, 13/1/2018.

The promoters and the EIB, through InnovFin Advisory (a programme supported by the European Commission to advise companies on how to structure their projects in order to improve their access to finance) will work on bringing the projects to maturity. The EIB will provide extensive knowledge sharing to each promoter and help them navigate the financing schemes that exist within and beyond the EIB, in order to bring these types of project to life. The Bank offers numerous options for companies looking for funding, such as corporate loans, project finance or venture debt.

This Project Development Assistance (PDA) is available to project promoters to increase the investment readiness of projects in innovative renewable energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS), smart energy systems and storage. The funding for the PDA originates from the NER 300 programme, which was set up by pooling together around 2,000 M€ of overall support for innovative low-carbon technology, focusing on the demonstration of environmentally safe CCS and innovative renewable energy technologies on a commercial scale within the EU.

Future similar innovative climate action projects will also have the opportunity of PDA support, which will combine financial advice with technical and operational support at relevant points in the cycle, under the upcoming Innovation Fund. The next PDA will be available from 2021 onward.

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