The Canadian subsidiary of US biotechnology pioneer BioAmber has nailed down a $7 million grant to support the ongoing construction of a $135 million bio-succinic acid plant currently under construction in Sarnia, Ontario.

The grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is on top of a $7.5 million grant SDTC provided to BioAmber Sarnia in 2012.

When the Canadian plant using corn-derived feedstock goes on stream in early 2015, BioAmber said it expects it to be the world's largest succinic acid production facility.

"BioAmber secured this additional funding after expanding the scope of the Sarnia plant, nearly doubling the production capacity from 17,000 t/y to 30,000 t/y," the company said in a statement.

"The SDTC grant also supports the switch to BioAmber's second-generation yeast, which proved to be significantly more cost competitive than the bacteria-based fermentation originally designed to operate in Sarnia," it added.

"Commercializing an innovative, clean technology that is cost disruptive to the petrochemical industry is a major undertaking, and it needs government support to become a reality," Mike Hartmann, BioAmber's executive vice president, said."