Beta Renewables unveils EUR150 million bioethanol plant in Italy

Beta Renewables, a company controlled by Italian chemicals group Mossi & Ghisolfi, has opened a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, the Crescentino bio-refinery in northern Italy. Investment in the plant is EUR150 million (USD202.5 million).
The plant has an annual production capacity of 75 million liters of bioethanol, earmarked for the European market. The bioethanol has various applications and could be used in the production of alcohol, chemicals and fuel. The Crescentino project has developed a technology for biofuels production from non-food agricultural materials, transforming the cellulose and hemicellulose contained in biomass into simple sugars. The bioethanol produced in Crescentino is derived from rice straw, wheat straw and from Arundo donax, the common giant reed.
The engines of most cars currently sold on the market can function with a fuel mix containing 15% ethanol, Beta Renewables CEO Guido Ghisolfi said. The market is very large and ethanol could be competitive as long as oil prices remain above USD70 per barrel, he said.
The company plans to open new plants in southern Italy — in Sicily, Sardinia and Apulia — while Beta Renewables’ Proesa technology for ethanol production from biomasses will be sold worldwide. Beta Renewables has already signed accords in Brazil, Colombia and the U.S.A.
The growth envisaged by the company’s business plan will be supported by the current shareholders — the controlling group M&G Chemicals, U.S. fund TGP and Denmark’s Novozymes. According to the daily Milano Finanza, a Japanese investor will soon enter the project.
Furthermore, M&G Chemicals is preparing its stock market debut and the prospect for the listing has already been filed. The initial public offering (IPO) will take place by the end of the year with a floating capital of at least 30%.
(October 10, 2013)