The facility at the Eastern Economic Corridor of Innovation at Wangchan Valley in Rayong province is currently under construction and scheduled to be fully operational in 2024.

“The Bio Base Asia Pilot Plant is the first of its kind in Thailand and ASEAN countries with a unique mission to develop and scale up sustainable bio-based products and processes,” said Wim Soetaert, CEO of Bio Base Asia Pilot Plant. “Bio Base Asia Pilot Plant consists of two separate pilot facilities for non-GMP and GMP activities.

The non-GMP facility serves the industry that is active in biochemicals, biomaterials and other relevant bioproducts, while the GMP facility will focus on applications in food, feed, cosmetics and nutraceuticals. The services broadly cover biomass pretreatment, industrial biotechnology (microbial fermentation and biocatalysis), green chemistry and downstream processing operations to transform low-value biomass raw materials into a wide range of high-value bioproducts.

Thailand has abundant resources of biomass, including sugarcane, cassava and palm oil, with more than 40 million t/y currently under-utilized. BBEPP said the excess presents ample opportunity for biorefinery technology that enables the conversion of biomass to energy, chemicals and biomaterials, significantly raising the value of these crops and their byproducts.

Soetart added that the Thai government has a clear mission to become a leader in the bio-based economy and offers a strong bio-based ecosystem with excellent research groups and a fermentation industry in Rayong. The NSTDA is funding the facility’s investment costs and equipment and is also contributing its established platform for bio-based process and product development along with its customer network.

The partners have been working together since they signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2019.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist