French renewables company IBN-One, a joint venture between Cristal Union and Global Bioenergies, has awarded a contract for initial engineering work on its proposed bio-isobutene plant to a consortium of Technip and IPSB, a specialist engineer in sugar and biotechnologies. The plant will be the first in France that converts renewable resources into isobutene. Global Bioenergies has granted IBN-One a non-exclusive technology license for the plant which will have a capacity of 50,000 t/y.

The first front-end engineering design phase will run for 12 months and precedes the detailed engineering studies, contracts for which will be awarded at a later date. Bernard Chaud, chairman and CEO of IBN-One and director of industrial strategy at Global Bioenergies, said that during this first phase, engineers will specify the equipment design and the connections between the plant’s different sub-units, as well as its integration at a Cristal Union sugar beet site.

IPSB will be responsible for engineering the plant’s upstream segment, which is dedicated to the intake of raw material from the neighboring sugar mill and converting it to bio-isobutene by fermentation. Construction is expected to start in early 2018.