Netherlands-headed sustainable energy technology company Biomass Technology Group (BTG) was awarded the EUBIA Award, a major European prize, during the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE), the world’s largest congress on biomass, currently taking place in Lisbon, Portugal.
BTG was awarded the prize in particular due to its successful application of pyrolysis technology for producing sustainable oil from biomass. BTG-BTL, a sister company of BTG, recently joined up with TechnipFMC to win an order worth EUR 25 million.
A production plant will be built in Finland that will use BTG-BTL’s advanced technology to produce oil from waste flows such as wood waste. The initial order is for a single facility, but the client has already expressed interest in another three plants, bringing the total value of the order up to EUR 100 million. The construction of a single production plant will generate a minimum of 100 full-time jobs in the Netherlands.
“Great contribution”
The European Biomass Industry Association (EUBIA) Award was presented during the first day of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EUBCE) currently taking place in Lisbon, Portugal to René Venendaal, CEO of BTG. The prize is an initiative of EUBIA, and, according to EUBIA, BTG has made a ‘great contribution to the development of the biomass industry and associated market’.
This makes it very clear how much our contribution is appreciated, and it is actually a prize for our entire body of work. I also see this as an incentive to further develop and roll out our innovative technologies so that we can work towards a more sustainable economy, said René Venendaal.
Venendaal also emphasised the important role of the European Commission (EC) within the framework of the company’s ambitions.
The EC’s programmes were of great assistance in developing this technology. Over the long term, pyrolysis oil can be used not only to wean the Netherlands off of its natural gas reservoirs in the province of Groningen but also to serve as an excellent source of fuel in gradually making refineries more sustainable, Venedaal explained.
The development and production of sustainable oil from biomass (woodchips) was mentioned in particular and EUBIA also pointed to the order won by BTG-BTL for a production plant in Finland worth millions.
This is an example of how decades of research, development, commitment and innovation can result in clean energy, employment opportunities, and sustainable growth of the biomass sector’, comments Giuliano Grassi, Secretary General of the EUBIA.
