August 9, 2024
Port of Moerdijk Authority and biocommodities producer, Perpetual Next signed a letter of intent for a far-reaching collaboration today. As part of the collaboration, Perpetual Next will move into Industrial Park Moerdijk in mid-2025 to construct a biomethanol plant with a capacity of 220,000 tonnes. The port authority will support the plant by bringing into contact parties that can purchase by-products and facilitate connection to the local hydrogen and oxygen grid. Collaborations with suppliers of feedstock - residual waste on which the plant runs - are also being pursued.
Port of Moerdijk - which is home to many chemical and heavy industrial businesses - is the most inland seaport in the Netherlands. The port authority therefore has a strong focus on sustainability and encouraging the green chemical industry. Perpetual Next is a familiar face at the Industrial Park in Moerdijk. It has owned a digestion plant there for years, transforming low-grade food waste into biogas. It was recently granted a licence to refine the biogas produced into green gas.
Growing demand for biomethanol
René Buwalda, CEO of Perpetual Next, says: "We are already working with major local partners in Moerdijk. Together with the Port of Moerdijk, we want to further increase our presence in this leading port, with the first big step being the construction of a biomethanol plant. Demand for biomethanol has boomed worldwide and continues to grow. We are taking advantage of that development." Perpetual Next announced in July that it had secured feedstock for an annual production of 440,000 tonnes of biomethanol in the US and Europe.
Last March, Perpetual Next and US-based TSI signed an agreement to produce the world's largest reactors for torrefaction, the thermochemical process that is used to make biomass more suitable for use as a semi-finished product, amongst other things. Buwalda says: "We expect to reach a final agreement with the Moerdijk Port Authority in the near future to make this new plant at Port of Moerdijk a frontrunner in global biomethanol production."