Chementator Briefs

Biomethane

Last month, NextChem, a subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) was awarded a contract by ENGIE subsidiary Storengy (Bois-Colombes Cedex, France; www.storengy.com) to perform an advanced basic-engineering study for a plant that will produce second-generation biomethane from the pyrogasification of waste wood. Once the project has reached the final investment decision targeted by the end of 2022 and is granted the related permitting, NextChem, in association with another Maire Tecnimont Group subsidiary, will act as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the methanation package of the project, which is set to be implemented in Le Havre, France as part of the Salamander project. The plant will produce 11,000 ton/yr of equivalent biomethane.

NextChem will be responsible for the engineering and cost estimating for the synthesis gas (syngas) purification, methanation unit and methane upgrading of the plant. Comessa (Strasbourg, France; www.comessa.com) will be responsible for the design and supply of the chemical reactor. The technology to be used in the plant has already been successfully applied to the Gaya pilot plant near Lyon, owned by ENGIE, which validated the feasibility to produce biomethane. This will be the first commercial project in the world of its kind to inject into the grid methane produced through pyrogasification of waste wood.