Clariant has signed a second license agreement for its sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology, this time with Poland’s Orlen Poludnie, part of the Orlen Group.

Orlen Poludnie will build a plant at Jedlicze in southeastern Poland, using available land and integration potential with its refinery at the site. Production capacity is planned to be 25,000 t/y.

The Polish firm said the agreement supports its intention to build a full-scale commercial plant for producing cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues, further strengthening its position in the country as a frontrunner in biofuels and bio-component technologies.

“We invest in modern technologies and focus on high-margin products as they will be crucial to maintaining our leading position in the region in the coming years,” said Daniel Obajtek, president of PKN Orlen’s managing board.

In September 2017, Clariant signed a first sunliquid license with Enviral, Slovakia’s largest producer of bioethanol.  The 50,000 t/y plant was planned to be integrated into Enviral’s existing facilities at Leopoldov.

The Swiss company also announced in October 2017 that its board of directors had approved plans to invest in a full-scale commercial sunliquid plant in Romania. The plant, with a capacity of 50,000 t/y, is intended to be a flagship facility, confirming competitiveness and sustainability of the technology at commercial scale.

Construction was due to start last year with the plant anticipated to deliver its first batch of product in 2020. Clariant said at full capacity, the plant will process roughly 250,000 t/y of wheat straw and other cereal straw, sourced from local farmers. Co-products from the process will be used to generate renewable energy with the goal of making the plant independent from fossil energy sources.