The Netherlands-headed Dimeta B.V., the joint venture of global off-grid energy distributor SHV Energy BV, and UGI International, has announced that it intends to locate its first commercial-scale renewable dimethyl ether (rDME) production plant at Teesworks in the UK.
An error occurred
On your profile you can see what subscriptions you have access to and more information.
Is some of the information wrong – please contact our customer service.
Please reload the page
Do you want to read the whole article?
- Six editions per year
- Full access to all digital content
- The E-magazine Bioenergy international
- And more ...
The announcement marks a big step forward for Dimeta in its commitment to bring rDME to Europe and the United States by 2024.
We are thrilled to announce Teesworks as the intended site for our first industrial-scale rDME production facility. The strong strategic alignment between the Teesworks management team, Dimeta, and LPG industry stakeholders has been crucial to the plant development so far, said Søren Jacobsen, CEO of Dimeta.
Affordable drop-in renewable fuel
rDME is an affordable drop-in fuel that can be safely blended into LPG and bioLPG with no change to existing infrastructure. It can also be used as a 100 percent replacement for more polluting fuels, such as coal and heating oil.
Dimeta will supply rDME at a commercial scale from its Teesworks plant as a high-value, efficient alternative fuel for individuals and businesses.
There is an urgent need to bring rapid and affordable low-carbon heating solutions to more than a million households and businesses in the UK that are not connected to the natural gas grid. The use of non-recyclable waste will reduce the UK’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and enable off-grid heating customers to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, said Søren Jacobsen.
Teesside a leading industrial cluster
Dimeta plans to produce 50 000 tonnes of rDME each year at the Teesworks production facility. The Teesside area is one of the UK’s leading industrial clusters for de-fossilization.
KEW Technology is the provider of gasification technology to the first commercial rDME plant and a partner in its development.
Once the plans are approved, the plant will bring additional investment and employment opportunities to the local area. Dimeta expects to create more than 250 new jobs during construction and more than 50 skilled full-time jobs during the operational phase, expected by the middle of 2024.
This crucial first step is part of a plan to introduce a viable, new renewable product to the off-grid energy market, starting in the UK. Dimeta will introduce the first commercial molecules of rDME into the market later this year.
Dimeta will offtake all rDME produced in the first production plant, with the majority provided to the JV partners SHV Energy and UGI International, and at least 20 percent made available to other LPG retailers to advance the de-fossilization of the entire LPG industry.
