Agbar, Enerkem and Repsol intend to build a waste to chemicals plant in Tarragona

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Type of post: NEWS.

The joint venture Ecoplanta Molecular Recycling Solutions (Agbar, Enerkem and Repsol) will build a waste to chemicals plant in Tarragona (Spain). The project has been selected to move into stage 2 of the European Union Innovation Fund, which focuses on highly innovative technologies and big flagship projects within Europe to bring on significant emission reductions.
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The plant will process around 400,000 tons of non-recyclable municipal solid waste from its surrounding regions and produce 220,000 tons of methanol. This methanol will be used as raw material to produce circular materials or advanced biofuels, contributing to avoid 200,000 tons of CO2 and reducing the waste that ends up in the landfill.

The facility will be co-managed by Repsol and Agbar, whilst Enerkem will be the key technological partner. The plant is projected to be in operation in 2025 after taking the project’s final investment decision by the first quarter of 2022. The project already obtained the Integrated Environmental Authorization and the approval of the Environmental Impact Statement from the local authorities.

The plant will use gasification technology to transform municipal solid waste into high value-added products such as methanol. Enerkem is the owner of this patented state-of-the-art technology, the first to be tested on an industrial scale, after a rigorous scale-up from pilot to demonstration to commercial scale that took place over a decade, in its commercial demonstration plant in operation in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada). Moreover, a new facility is under construction in Varennes (Québec, Canada).

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