Climate-neutral energy solution for Clariant Bioethanol plant has started production

With the official opening of Clariant's bioethanol plant in Podari, Romania, GETEC's climate-neutral biomass cogeneration plant has also started producing energy smoothly and on schedule. GETEC supplies the entire bioethanol plant with heat and electricity from lignin, which is the residual material left over from bioethanol production. A doubly climate-neutral and innovative solution, which is the ideal sustainable complement to the new method of bioethanol production. 

"Residual materials are valuable raw materials. This lighthouse project shows this in two respects and thus testifies to the sustainability claim of Clariant and GETEC. Circular Economy will and must play an increasingly important role in energy production if we want to achieve climate targets and the energy transition is to succeed. We are building both sustainable and economical solutions for our customers and are thus jointly treading the path to Net Zero. We are proud of this," says Thomas Wagner, CEO of the GETEC Group. 

Dr. Thomas Stephanblome, platform CEO of GETEC Plattform Deutschland, adds: "The project was a technological challenge that our project team mastered superbly. In the future, our focus will be even more on incorporating our customers' local conditions, such as accumulating residual materials, into energy production and thus significantly conserving valuable resources. With Lignin-to-Energy, GETEC has developed exactly the right sustainable energy solution for this highly innovative method of bioethanol production by Clariant. We look forward to further milestone projects."

The carbon neutral biomass plant designed by GETEC supplies Clariant's cellulosic bioethanol plant in Podari with a revolutionary technology whereby lignin - a residual product of the bioethanol production process - is converted into climate neutral energy. The combination of using lignin from wheat straw in a fluidized bed boiler is also unique in the world. In combination with a backpressure steam turbine, the boiler supplies steam and electricity to the Clariant plant. GETEC has taken over all services for this, from planning, financing and construction to operation, maintenance and repair.